The lethal force of German quality is the Sturmgever 44 assault rifle, which changed the tactics of warfare. At the end of the 30s, the most powerful armies in the world were equipped with two types small arms: a submachine gun for close combat and various types of rifles and carbines for positional combat.
Characteristics of the German assault rifle Sturmgever
The first ones perfectly helped military units cope with the tasks at close range, but were useless for firing at a distance of more than 500 m. The rifles had an aiming and lethal range measured by several kilometers, but their rate of fire was insufficient for close combat.
Therefore, it became necessary to create a weapon that would occupy a niche between PP and rifles. And they became an assault rifle - "Sturmgever" (MG-44), which became a role model in the design of modern machine guns. Thus, the German machine gun STG 44 Sturmweger can be considered the prototype of all modern weapons.
The history of the creation of the Sturmweger STG 44 assault rifle (sturmgewehr)
| the date | Event |
| Early 1940 | Creation of an intermediate cartridge 7.92 × 33 mm Kurz (short) |
| Mid 1940 | The beginning of the development of new small arms under the intermediate cartridge by Walter |
| Late 1940 | Creation by Schmeisser of a sample of a new weapon under an intermediate cartridge |
| 1942 | Field tests of two samples |
| 1943 | Adoption of prototypes under the marking MP-43A (or MP-431) |
| 1944 | Launch of a modified version of Schmeisser under the marking StG.44 (MG.44) |
Rifle cartridges are inconveniently sized for use in automatic weapons. The lethal force of pistol cartridges at a distance of more than 200 m was insufficient. The development of an intermediate cartridge made it possible to move on to the creation of a fundamentally new weapon for effective combat at medium range.
The Walter company began to develop a prototype weapon for an intermediate cartridge in the middle of 1940 according to the terms of reference government controlled Armaments.
At the end of the same year, Hugo Schmeisser's company presented a ready-made Hewer sample (Sturmgewehr stg 44), which was still quite raw, but already had positive feedback from experts.
In 1942, samples from two competing firms were field tested. The weapons of the Walther company turned out to be rather complicated in design, capricious and not very easy to use.
Schmeisser's stormtrooper was approved with the condition of eliminating the identified minor flaws.
this year, an assault rifle under the marking StG.44 was launched into the series
In 1943, an experimental batch of MP-43A was delivered to some units on the Eastern Front for testing in combat conditions. And as a result - the launch in the series in 1944 under the marking StG.44 ("Sturmgever 44" - assault rifle 44).
The performance characteristics of the rifle
| Parameter | Meaning |
| Cartridge type | 7.92x33mm Kurtz |
| Caliber, mm | 7,92 |
| Weight without cartridges, kg | 4,6 |
| Weight with cartridges, kg | 5,22 |
| Total length, mm | 940 |
| Barrel length, mm | 419 |
| barrel rifling | right-sided, 4 pcs |
| USM | striker type |
| recharge principle | removal of powder gases |
| Rate of fire, rds / min | 500 |
| Fuse type | flag on the left side at the top of the pistol grip |
| Aim | front sight with a namushnik, the presence of a mount for an optical sight |
| Sighting range, m | 800 |
| Effective range, m | 300 |
| Muzzle velocity, m/s | 685 |
| ammunition supply | detachable magazine for 30 rounds |
Design and device
The main innovative idea implemented in this weapon is the use of powder gases to reload the cartridge. For this, a gas outlet pipe is used, and the skew of the shutter produces locking.
Photo by Sturmweger. Scheme of incomplete disassembly StG.44 Gas chamber regulation is not provided. The removal of its plug with the auxiliary rod is carried out with a special punch when cleaning the weapon. The shutter stem is integrated with the gas piston.
USP trigger type allows you to fire both single shots and bursts. The return spring is placed in the butt, which does not allow you to create a modification without a butt.
Scheme-section Sturmgever STG 44 - Photo The main sight is front sight, there are guides for mounting an optical sight. But there was no need to replace the usual one with an optical one in combat conditions - their effectiveness is almost the same.
MP 44 automatic, photo with standard sight for StG.44 
The power supply of the stormtrooper was provided by a removable double-row magazine for 30 rounds. Due to the weakness of its spring in real conditions, it was loaded 5 rounds less.
Of the design flaws, the following should be noted:
- sights turned out to be unsuccessful - they did not provide the desired accuracy at medium and long distances;
- relatively large weight;
- weak receiver;
- low elasticity of the magazine spring;
- the forearm is not very convenient for the shooter.
These shortcomings are the result of the "dampness" of the weapon. Designers in Germany were engaged in their elimination until the end of the war.
Sturmgewehr 44 and Kalashnikov assault rifle
There is an opinion that his Kalashnikov assault rifle was copied from the Schmeisser STG 44, there are arguments for and against this assumption. Visual comparison shows that the layout and general form they are similar, but there are significant differences in the device. A common idea is the use of an intermediate cartridge and the removal of powder gases for reloading.
Another fact that makes you think. After the capitulation of the Nazi troops, Hugo Schmeisser, the creator of the Sturmgwehr, worked in a design bureau in Izhevsk. Kalashnikov at that time created his creation in Kovrov, but was on a business trip to Izhevsk several times.
There is no confirmed data on whether he met with Schmeisser or not. It is possible that after looking closely at the Sturmgewehr 44, Kalashnikov consulted with his German counterpart on some issues.
At the same time, it is known that the leader of Kalashnikov was the well-known Soviet weapons designer Sudayev, who developed his own version of an assault rifle with a vapor tube, the layout of which can be seen in the picture below.
Of the significant differences between the AK-47 and StG.44, the following cannot be ignored:
- the size and location of the return spring;
- barrel lock type;
- bolt handle position
- disassembly principle.
Whether the Kalashnikov technical team used the brainchild of Schmeisser as the basis for the creation of the AK-47 or not, one can only guess. But the two main ideas that made it possible to create a new generation of small arms, the German designer implemented in his weapons earlier - the use of an intermediate cartridge and the removal of powder gas for reloading.
Sturmweger rifle modifications
The German designers had practically no time for fine-tuning and creating modifications.
The appearance of the stormtrooper before the end of World War II led to the fact that it did not have official modifications (except for modern airsoft models).
It can be noted that prototypes of special devices were invented and manufactured - nozzles for shooting from shelters (“crooked” barrel) and an infrared sight for firing at night. "Crooked" barrels had very low firing accuracy, there was no practical benefit from them.
Sturmgever - photo with a choke tube - "crooked barrel" for shooting from around the corner And infrared sights had two drawbacks that did not give them a "green light" for widespread use: the range of aimed fire was only up to 100 m and the need to carry an additional satchel with a battery. And with high humidity, their image was very blurry. I had to use a moisture meter to correct aimed shooting.
Sturmgever 44 - photo with night vision scope with battery There were even attempts to use an underbarrel grenade launcher, but they were unsuccessful - effective ammunition had not yet been developed at that time.
Advantages and disadvantages
The advantages are the following:
- simplicity of design and mechanics - the ability to produce a large number in a short time;
- good ones fighting qualities when firing at medium range;
- high rate of fire;
- ergonomics and compactness;
- a small number of spare parts in combat units;
- simple instructions for use, which can be mastered without special training.
But the Sturmgewehr 44 also has a number of shortcomings that the Germans simply did not have time to fix:
- unsuccessful sight options, both front sight and additional optical;
- the inconvenience of the forearm - with intense fire it heated up, burned the hands and required a pharmacy for the shooter;
- weak return and magazine springs;
- weak connection of the butt - in hand-to-hand combat it often broke, and there was no point in drilling for additional fastening of the butt, since the work of the return spring was disrupted;
- a lot of stamped parts that bent on impact - the functioning of the weapon became problematic.
A unique and extremely rare German-made blanked assault rifle (automatic) shp mp 44 or stg 44 sturmgewehr - Stg 44 Sturmgewehr. Factory-finished Hammer weapon. Number 5793. Caliber blank 7.62x39mm. The history of the Stg 44 assault rifle began with the development by Polte AG (Magdeburg) of an intermediate cartridge 7.92 × 33 mm of reduced power for firing at a distance of up to 1000 m, in accordance with the requirements put forward by the HWaA (Heereswaffenamt - Wehrmacht Weapons Department). In 1935-1937. numerous studies have been carried out, as a result of which the initial tactical and technical requirements of the HWaA for the design of weapons under new cartridge were redesigned, which led to the creation in 1938 of the concept of light automatic small arms, capable of simultaneously replacing submachine guns, magazine rifles and light machine guns in the troops. On April 18, 1938, the HWaA entered into a contract with Hugo Schmeisser, owner of C.G. Haenel Waffen und Fahrradfabrik ”(Suhl, Thuringia), a contract for the creation of a new weapon, officially designated MKb (German Maschinenkarabin - automatic carbine). Schmeisser, who headed the design team, handed over the first prototype of the assault rifle to the HWaA in early 1940.
At the end of the same year, a contract for research under the MKb program. received by Walther under the leadership of Erich Walther. A variant of the carbine of this company was presented to the officers of the artillery and technical supply department of the HWaA in early 1941. According to the results of firing at the Kummersdorf training ground, the Walther submachine gun showed satisfactory results, however, fine-tuning its design continued throughout 1941. In January 1942, the HWaA demanded that C.G. Haenel" and "Walther" to provide 200 carbines each, designated MKb.42 (H) and MKb.42 (W), respectively.
In July, an official demonstration of prototypes of both companies took place, as a result of which the HWaA and the leadership of the Ministry of Armaments remained confident that the modifications of the machine guns would be completed in the very near future and production would begin at the end of summer. It was planned to produce 500 carbines by November, and by March 1943 to increase the monthly production to 15,000, but after the August tests, the HWaA introduced new requirements in the TTZ, which briefly delayed the start of production. According to the new requirements, the tide for the bayonet had to be mounted on the machines, and it was also possible to mount rifle grenade launcher. In addition to this, C.G. Haenel had problems with a subcontractor, and Walther had problems setting up production equipment. As a result, not a single copy of the MKb.42 was ready by October.
The production of assault rifles grew slowly: in November, Walther produced 25 carbines, and in December - 91 (with a planned monthly production of 500 pieces), but thanks to the support of the Ministry of Armaments, the firms managed to solve the main production problems, and already in February the production plan was exceeded (1217 machine guns instead of a thousand). A certain number of MKb.42s, by order of the Minister of Armaments Albert Speer, went to the Eastern Front to undergo military trials. During the tests, it was found that the heavier MKb.42(H) was worse balanced, but more reliable and simpler than its competitor, so the HWaA gave its preference to the Schmeisser design, but required some changes to it.
It is a real German Schmeiser, and not the MP 38/40 submachine gun developed by Heinrich Volmer, which is often shown to us in films about the Great Patriotic War. It was this rifle that became the prototype of the legendary Kalashnikov assault rifle and the equally famous FN FAL, the Belgian assault rifle. It was on it that there was already a regular place for an optical sight, an underbarrel grenade launcher and other attachments. Thanks to this weapon, the designations “intermediate cartridge” and “assault rifle” appeared in modern military terminology. All of these statements are true!
The creation of this weapon dates back to before World War II, from the moment the 7.92x33-mm "intermediate cartridge" (7.92mm Kurz) was developed in the 30s of the last century. This cartridge was average in power between a cartridge for a pistol (9x19mm "parabellum") and a cartridge for a rifle (7.92x57mm).
This cartridge was developed at the initiative of the German arms firm Polte, and not by order of the German military department. In 1942, the German armaments department HWaA gave Walter and Henel an order to develop weapons for this cartridge.
As a result, samples of automatic weapons were created, which were called MaschinenKarabiner (from German - automatic carbine). The sample, which was created by Henel, was designated MKb.42 (H), and the sample of Walter, respectively, Mkb.42 (W).
Based on the test results, it was decided to develop the design developed by Henel. The development was carried out under the guidance of the legendary German gunsmith Hugo Schmeiser. Significant transformations were made to the design, for example, the USM design was taken from the model of Walter.
Further work on the development of an automatic carbine took place already under the designation MP 43 (MaschinenPistole, from German - submachine gun). The change in the name of the development was due to the fact that Hitler was against the mass production of automatic weapons, referring to the fact that then millions of rifle cartridges in warehouses would remain unused. Did not change Hitler's bad attitude to new models of automatic weapons and a demonstration of the capabilities of an automatic carbine. Further development of this weapon was carried out under the personal control of the Reich Minister of Arms of Germany, Albert Speer, secretly from the Fuhrer.
But still latest weapons was badly needed by Germany. The firepower of the infantry of the Wehrmacht by the middle of the war is already significantly less than the firepower of the infantry of the Soviet army, which is armed mainly with the Shpagin submachine gun. This fact required either the production of a large number of bulky and uncomfortable light machine guns, or the start of serial production of automatic carbines, in which the effective range of fire was up to 500 m versus 150 m for the PPSh. This also led to a change in the attitude of Hitler and the entire top of the Third Reich to automatic weapons. Already at the beginning of the 44th year, mass production of a new type of small arms, which received the name MP 44, began. The elite units of the Wehrmacht were primarily armed with these weapons. At the same time, ammunition for the MP 44 is being modernized: “Pistolen-Part.43m. E ”- the cartridge of the 1943 model has already become very similar to the current automatic cartridge, in the pool of which there was a steel core.
In October 1944, the sample received the designation personally chosen by Hitler, StG.44 (Sturmgewehr.44, from German - assault rifle of the 1944 model). The designation "assault rifle" has become so accustomed to this type of small arms that at present all types of small arms that have similar indicators are called assault rifles.
StG.44 (Sturmgewehr.44, from German - assault rifle model 1944)
The Sturmgewehr.44 automatic carbine was an individual small arms, which was built on the principle of automatic top removal of part of the powder gases that set the gas piston in motion. The barrel bore was locked by tilting the bolt down, behind the ledge in the receiver. The receiver was made from stamped steel sheet. The trigger mechanism with a pistol grip was attached to the receiver and, if not completely disassembled, folded forward and down. The butt was made of wood, attached to the receiver and removed during disassembly. Inside the butt was a return spring.
The trigger mechanism of the rifle allowed automatic and single fire. The StG.44 had a sector sight, an independent fire mode translator and a fuse, the bolt handle was located on the left and moved together with the bolt carrier during firing. To attach a rifle grenade launcher, a thread is made on the muzzle of the barrel. In addition, the Stg.44 could be equipped with a special hook-barrel device, which was intended for firing from trenches, tanks or other shelters.
Sturmgewehr.44 had the following performance characteristics
The caliber of the weapon is 7.92 mm.
Rifle length - 940 mm.
Barrel length - 419 mm.
The mass of the Sturmgewehr.44 without cartridges is 4.1 kg, or 5.22 kg with a full 30-round magazine.
The rate of fire is about 500 rpm.
Magazine capacity was 15, 20 and 30 rounds.
The initial speed of the bullet is about 650 m / s.
Advantages of the Sturmgewehr.44. The rifle effectively fires bursts at a range of up to 300 m and single shots at a range of up to 600 m. This is more than twice as high as that of the PPSh. For snipers, the MP-43/1 rifle was built, which made it possible to conduct aimed fire up to 800 meters. On a milled mount it was possible to install a four-fold optical sight or night infrared sight ZG.1229 "Vampire". When firing, the recoil was almost 2 times lower than that of the Mauser-98K carbine. This increased the accuracy and comfort of shooting.
Her shortcomings. First, it is a large mass. The rifle was almost a kilogram heavier than the Mauser-98K carbine. The wooden butt often broke during hand-to-hand combat. The flame that escaped from the barrel during firing greatly unmasked the shooter. A long magazine and high sights when firing from the prone forced the shooter to raise his head high, this significantly increased his profile. In order to reduce the height of the weapon, magazines with a capacity of 15 or 20 rounds were made.
In total, during the years of World War II, more than 400 thousand automatic carbines Stg.44, MP43, MP 44 were manufactured.
The machine gun was an expensive trophy not only for Soviet troops but also among the allies. There is documentary evidence of the use of this weapon by the soldiers of the Soviet army during the storming of Berlin.
At the end of the war, Sturmgewehr.44 assault rifles were used by the GDR police and the Czechoslovak army. In Yugoslavia, rifles remained in service with the Airborne Forces until the 70s of the last century.
In addition, the assault rifle created by Hugo Schmeiser had a great impact on the post-war development of small arms. So, the design of the Belgian FN FAL and the Kalashnikov assault rifle were, if not copied, then made according to a scheme that is very similar to the Stg.44. Also very similar to the Sturmgewehr.44 is the modern US M4 automatic carbine.
The American TV channel "Military", which made a rating of 10 best rifles of the last century, put the Sturmgewehr.44 assault rifle in an honorable 9th place.
On the monument Mikhail Kalashnikov, opened on September 19, 2017 in Moscow, military expert Yuri Pasholok saw an explosion diagram of the German StG 44 assault rifle, developed in 1944 Hugo Schmeisser and outwardly reminiscent of the Kalashnikov assault rifle that came out later. Sculptor Salavat Shcherbakov, the author of the monument, told the radio station "Moscow Says" that
This message coincided with the newly activated (in connection with the opening of the monument) discussion that the Kalashnikov assault rifle could allegedly be developed by Schmeisser, who lived in the USSR for a short time after the war, or “copied” from the StG 44 (the abbreviation translates as Sturmgewehr, then there is an "Assault Rifle Model 1944"). Discussions on this topic regularly begin with new force despite the fact that weapons specialists have repeatedly pointed out the fundamental differences in the design of these machine guns, emphasizing that the reason for the comparison is the distant external similarity of weapons.
Rifle StG 44. Photo: Public Domain
What are the differences?
Shutter locking method
AK and StG 44 differ in the most important sign for the design of weapons - the method of locking the shutter. For AK, locking occurs by turning the bolt around the longitudinal axis, for StG 44 - by tilting the bolt in the vertical plane. The method of locking the shutter is a key element of the whole design, but little known ordinary people who are not versed in the structure of weapons. Thus, a lack of understanding of the significance of this difference affects the opinion about the similarity of different types of machine guns and rifles with each other.
Receiver
At the Kalashnikov assault rifle, it consists of the actual receiver with a section in the form of an inverted letter P with bends in the upper part along which the bolt group moves, and its cover attached to the top, which must be removed for disassembly. At StG 44, the tubular receiver has an upper part with a closed section in the form of the number 8, inside which the bolt group is mounted, and a lower one, which serves as a trigger box (USM). Differences in the design of the receiver lead to a different procedure for disassembling and assembling weapons.
Layout, disassembly order
The layout and, as a result, the order of disassembly of these machines also differ. StG 44 structurally involves the “breaking” of the weapon into two parts, one of which consists of a trigger and a butt, and the other consists of a receiver, chamber, barrel itself, forearm, gas venting mechanism, etc. This StG 44 scheme was then implemented in almost the same form in the design of the M16 rifle, various modifications of which are the main small arms of the US Army.
In the AK, the trigger mechanism (USM) is not detachable, for disassembly it is not necessary to disconnect the butt, and the return mechanism is completely located in the receiver.
Magazine mount
The store mount is also different. The StG has a rather long receiving neck, while the AK has a magazine that is simply inserted directly into the receiver window.
Fire translator and safety device
The German and Soviet machine guns also have a fire translator and a safety device: the StG has a separate two-way push-button type fire translator and a fuse located on the left in the form of a flag, AK has a fuse translator located on the right.
“The Kalashnikov assault rifle and the STG 44 differ from a technical point of view in many ways. These are two different systems: both in terms of weapons and cartridges. In Germany, earlier than in other countries, they invented a new type of weapon, which we call an automatic weapon. It's individual automatic weapon chambered for intermediate power.
Prototypes that underwent launch tests in 1942-1943 came across to Soviet soldiers as trophies. This did not start work on the machine gun in our country, but it made it possible to speed them up. Didn't do any copying. Both have automation based on the removal of powder gases. Both can fire bursts and single shots. But this does not mean they are closely related. Kalashnikov redesigned both the cartridge and the weapon. It is enough to put two cartridges side by side, and the difference will be noticeable. It is also enough to carry out an incomplete disassembly of the two machines, and differences will be visible.
The Kalashnikov assault rifle is much lighter than the German one. The locking system for AK is by turning the bolt on two stops, for STG 44 - by tilting the bolt.
When releasing the machine gun, the Germans tried to save as much as possible on materials, they widely used stamped metal parts, because of this it was not very convenient to hold the weapon in their hands. AK has better ergonomics. None of the German developments - neither the experimental ones, nor the STG 44 itself - were subsequently copied anywhere. There have been attempts to copy these weapons in Spain and Latin America, but to no avail. And the Kalashnikov assault rifle is still being copied, ”said AiF.ru specialist in firearms, historian, writer Semyon Fedoseev.
On September 19, in Moscow, at the intersection of the Garden Ring and Dolgorukovskaya Street, a monument was unveiled to the inventor of the most famous machine gun in the world. This date fell on Gunsmith's Day, a holiday established by V.V. Putin on the initiative of Kalashnikov himself.
A couple of days after the opening, experts in the field military history found that on the pedestal of the monument depicted an explosion diagram STG 44 (Sturmgewehr 44, a German assault rifle designed by Hugo Schmeisser, gunsmith of the Third Reich).
An old dispute about Kalashnikov borrowing parts and assemblies from STG 44. Recall that commentators-critics, who in 99.9% of cases turn out to be unforgivably far from the weapons theme, point to the external similarity AK and STG 44 as irrefutable proof that Russian weapons"licked" from german rifle. However, if you look at the internal parts and the operation of both rifles, you can see fundamental differences. In what relationship are Kalashnikov assault rifle and Sturmgewehr 44?
Maxim Popenker, official representative of the Kalashnikov concern, published an article on the Kalashnikov.Media website that answers this question well. So…
1. Who is Hugo Schmeisser and why is he often commemorated next to Kalashnikov?
Hugo Schmeisser (1884-1953) - German weapons designer and entrepreneur, hereditary gunsmith. He became famous for the development of several early automatic pistols for Bergmann, one of the first mass-produced MP 18 submachine guns (its priority is not without reason disputed by the Italians with OVP-1918 and Beretta-1918). In the context national history Schmeisser's weapons are most often commemorated in connection with the development of submachine guns for an intermediate cartridge. Indeed, in 1943, the Red Army received as a trophy the German Mkb 42 (H) machine gun designed by Schmeisser under the intermediate cartridge 7.9x33, which led to the creation in 1943 of its own intermediate cartridge 7.62x41 with somewhat better ballistics than the Germans and the deployment of active work on weapons for this ammunition.
It should be specially noted here that when Schmeiser was still engaged in mass production of his modified machine gun in Germany Stg 44, in the USSR, work was underway to create a whole family of weapons under an intermediate cartridge - carbines with manual reloading and self-loading, machine guns and light machine guns. Already in the summer of 1945, when Schmeisser, captured by the Americans in April 1945, was still in their captivity, military tests of the Sudayev AS-44 submachine gun chambered for 7.62x41 began in the USSR. In parallel with it, tests began on the Simonov SKS self-loading carbine under the same cartridge. In 1946, Schmeisser, along with a group of other German engineers, was sent to the USSR to transfer German experience.
Let me remind you that in those days it was normal practice - the first Soviet jet aircraft had engines german design, the first Izhevsk post-war motorcycle IZH-350 was a copy of the German DKW 350, the French at their factories assembled Walter pistols for their police from trophy parts and according to trophy documentation, and all American space rockets up to the "lunar" Saturn-5 were made under the guidance of the former SS-Sturmbannführer Wernher von Braun.
2. What is known about the cooperation between Schmeisser and Kalashnikov?
By and large, nothing. Mikhail Timofeevich worked on his machine gun in the city of Kovrov and at the Shchurovsky training ground in the Moscow region, taking part in competitions for a new machine gun in 1946 and 1947 along with many other designers who in one way or another had a noticeable influence on the final version of the AK-47 machine gun after the failure with AK -46. In particular, it is worth noting Bulkin from Tula with his TKB-415 assault rifle, who was one of the main competitors of Kalashnikov at the last stage of the 1947 competition.
In Izhevsk, where Hugo Schmeisser had been staying with a group of his former compatriots since 1946, Kalashnikov arrived at the beginning of 1948 with a more or less finished machine gun design. AK to put it into mass production.
It should also be noted that the design of the new machine at that time was secret, and the German engineers who worked in Izhevsk did not have access to secret work. In general, in the public domain at the IZHMASH museum in Izhevsk there is a fairly large amount of documents on the work of a group of German gunsmiths there, including personal characteristics on them, from which it follows that Schmeisser, unlike a number of his other colleagues who also found themselves in Soviet captivity (such like Gruner, for example), did not show much zeal in helping the winners and was engaged in not too serious developments like a new submachine gun or magazines for weapons. It can be assumed that Schmeisser could have given Soviet engineers some data on the technology of stamping weapon parts from sheet steel, but documentary evidence of this has not yet been found.
3. Is the design similarity between the Stg-44 and AK-47 a coincidence?
If we talk about external similarities, then yes, StG 44 and AK-47 are similar. How similar to each other are any other units of weapons similar in purpose. If we talk about external similarity, then it is appropriate to recall the engineering saying that form is determined by function. One appointment dictates similarity appearance, it should be noted that a similar STG 44 the general layout (stamped design, separate pistol grip, detachable box magazine, hinged down on the hinge block of the trigger mechanism with a handle) had, say, a Sudaev submachine gun of the 1942 model. On the other hand, similar to AK the layout (both externally and internally) had an automatic rifle (light machine gun) of the American Lewis (Lewis machine rifle) of 1923 - this system also had gas venting automatics with an overhead gas piston with a long stroke and locking with a rotary bolt.
If we talk purely about the automation device and the layout of internal components, then here, too, there are much more differences between the Kalashnikov and Schmeisser systems than coincidences.
Concerning STG 44, then its layout with a trigger assembly folded down, a return spring in the butt, a gas piston with a long stroke and a characteristic locking by a skew of the shutter in the vertical plane had more than an accidental resemblance to the device of the Czech ZB Vz.26 light machine gun. This similarity was especially noticeable in the early version. german machine gun Mkb 42 (H), however, in the "Sturmgever" in 1944, the Czech "ears" stick out in the most obvious way.
The Kalashnikov assault rifle, in terms of the locking unit and the trigger mechanism, is based on the American Garanda M1 system (which Mikhail Timofeevich himself confirmed in his memoirs). The concept of "hanging" the bolt group with large gaps to ensure high reliability in case of contamination was previously used by Sudayev in his AS-44 assault rifle, the design of the receiver with a separate cover and a characteristic return spring solution was previously implemented in the Bulkin TKB-415 assault rifle.
In short, both Schmeisser and Kalashnikov were engaged in solving the same engineering problem (that is, creating weapons on already known principles and under similar requirements), but their approaches were fundamentally different, as were the results - Kalashnikov assault rifle turned out to be noticeably lighter than the "Sturmgever", more flexible constructively (for STG 44 the creation of a variant with a folding butt would have resulted in a serious alteration of the design due to the spring located in the butt), and most importantly, it is much more reliable.
That is why, despite the fame, STG 44 after the war, they were not seriously copied in other combat samples, but AK became one of the most successful, massive and copied samples not only in its class, but in general among all military small arms of the 20th century.
For our more sophisticated readers - a complete disassembly of the StG 44. Those who are familiar with the device of the Kalashnikov assault rifle will see the differences in the systems of these rifles.
