STG44 rifle is undoubtedly the leading product in the history of modern light weapons, both in terms of design principle and appearance, is superior to the contemporaries, even if it is taken out now, it is the first to equip automatic rifles with 7.92mm X33mm intermediate power bullets, making it the first true assault rifle in history, because of its excellent performance soon made it known as the German army after MP40 and MG42 another new favorite.
STG44 assault rifle picture
The fast and slow machine is located on the left side of the receiver
The STG44 assault rifle was designed and produced at the end of World War II, and the time of equipping the troops was only from July 1944 to May 1945, and the production was only more than 400,000 units, so the gun did not play much role in the war, but its design concept was valued by many countries, and it also set a benchmark for the post-war assault rifle to become the main equipment of infantry.
Inscription on the receiver
Actual combat has shown that standard rifle ammunition is too powerful for automatic rifles, it is difficult to control the accuracy when firing bursts, and the gun body is long, the weight is not convenient for individual soldiers, so from the 30s of the 20th century, Germany began to study intermediate gun bullets with higher power than submachine guns lower than bolt-action rifles, so that the advantages of submachine guns can be combined with automatic rifles, so that the rifle is easier to control and achieve automatic burst shooting.
A ruler placed horizontally
The biggest success of the STG44 rifle is largely the correct choice of bullets, in 1941 after repeated experiments, after testing, Germany successfully developed a 7.92mm X33mm short cartridge, its length is shorter than the 7.92mm X57mm rifle bullet used by the German army at that time, the warhead is lighter, that is, the ammunition called intermediate power, because the length becomes shorter, the firing of gunpowder is reduced, equipped with this gun, the effective range is also shortened to less than 400 meters.
The 30-round curved magazine weighs moderately and can be carried in large quantities by individual soldiers
STG44 rifle bullet muzzle velocity, range is lower than traditional rifles, but it is within a range of 400 meters, burst shooting is easier to control, accuracy is also better, can shoot in bursts, and the firepower is fierce, the weight is moderate, easy to carry, and the performance of the rifle and submachine gun is well combined.
Old photos of World War II
In the early days of STG44 development, advanced concepts led Hitler to not accept this weapon, he believed that the new gun should use new ammunition, could not effectively use the original large stock of Mauser rifle bullets, and had to produce new ammunition, which undoubtedly increased the cost. And the consumption of bursts is staggering, which also increases the pressure on logistics. So at first he refused.
However, some military representatives who had seen the test shooting of the gun were not willing to give up this weapon, they knew the firepower of this gun from their hearts, but they could not disobey the Fuhrer's order not to equip this new assault rifle, so they thought of a way to put the gun model into the equipment under the name MP40/MP44 submachine gun, at this time the gun was called a submachine gun.
MP43 photos
MP44 photos
After being put into actual combat use, it turned out that because the STG44 assault rifle, from bottom to top, the gun has been praised, in actual combat, three or four German soldiers armed with STG44 assault rifles can suppress a squad of American soldiers with M1 Garand rifles, or the same number of Soviet soldiers using Bobosha submachine guns, and require more of this new submachine gun, which was finally agreed by Hitler and personally named the gun Sturmgewehr4, abbreviated as STG44.
The STG44 did not immediately retire after World War II, and it was used by many Third World armies, guerrillas and some other armed forces, and we can still see the use of STG44 assault rifles in the news to this day.