This was revolutionary but flawed in execution as the spring is traveling in the wooden stock without a metal tube to guard and guide the spring. The recoil/buffer spring is contained in the wooden buttstock. The one piece bolt carrier and long stroke gas piston is similar to the M1 Garand, and the tilting lock bolt is similar to the Soviet Tokarev SVT-38 and SVT-40, in concept but not in execution. The Sturmgewehr's operating mechanism is both evolutionary and revolutionary. A number of devices were designed to allow the Sturmgewehr to fire around corners, or out of an armored vehicle, by attaching a tube at the muzzle to catch and direct the bullets at an angle. It wasn't uncommon to see Sturmgewehrs that were produced late in 1945 to be stamped MP-43.Įarlier guns typically had threaded muzzles with a protective nut over the threads, and later 1945 guns might have plain muzzles.
The weapons production and procurement in Nazi Germany was a tangled web of surprising inefficiency and confusion. Small changes to enhance production were done and the weapon was retyped the MP-44, and finally, once Hitler was made aware of the weapon and it's effectiveness, he approved it and for propaganda purposes the new "Wunderwaffe" was called the Sturmgewehr, or Storm Rifle (assault rifle). The Wehrmacht and Falschirmjaegers of the Luftwaffe also received them and used them to good effect. Mass production of the new weapon was undertaken, in secret, and most of the new weapons were supplied to the Waffen SS for use on the Eastern Front. At this point in the war, Hitler didn't want any more new rifles, he wanted an increase in production of sub machine guns, so the new weapon was type classified as the MP-43, or Machine Pistol 43. Proof of concept was secured, and improvments were made, such as moving the gas port further back from the muzzle and modifying the weapon to fire from a closed bolt. If the jacket surrounding the barrel took a hit or became dented, it would restrict the movement of the piston.Ībout 10,000 of the Haenal "machine carbines" were produced between 1942 and early 1943, with many being sent to the East Front for field testing against the Soviets. This system was more reliable than the competing Walther MKb-42(W), which used a gas piston that encircled the barrel, like the earlier Gewehr 41(W). The MKb-42(H) used a bolt carrier with an attached gas piston and tilting bolt assembly, which would be used in the MP-43/MP-44/StG-44, although now firing from a closed bolt.
#ASSAULT RIFLE STORM RIFLE FULL#
He was one of the main men responsible for the creation of the first true submachine gun in WWI, the MPi-18, and the first modern assault rifle, starting with the early MKb-42 (H), which fired from an open bolt in both semi and full auto. Schmeisser was one of the most brilliant small arms designers that the Germans had, primarily working for Erma and Haenal. The first rifle that actually fired it, the SKS, wasn't even on the drawing board yet. The Soviets type classified the 7.62x39mm cartridge in 1943. The Soviets had a well developed spy network in Germany which fed many technical and military secrets to them. Many people find it hard to believe that the Soviets would devote the time, people, and materials needed to develop a wholly new cartridge for a weapon system that hadn't even been invented yet, while still fighting off the German invasion.
It's not hard to imagine where the Soviets got the idea and or plans for what became their 7.62x39mm cartridge. It was decided to concentrate on the 7.92x33mm cartridge.
Polte and Geco were developing intermediate power cartidges, two that showed the most promise were a 7.62x38mm and a 7.92x33mm. German development of assault rifle concept went back to the 1930's, with some very innovative designs being tested as early as 1935, two years after the Nazi Party came to power. In another thread that was started about a new book coming out about the Kalashnikov system, I mentioned the fact that it seems highly likely that Hugo Schmeisser, the father of the Sturmgewehr 44, had a lot of input on the design of the weapon that ultimately became type classified by the Soviets as the AK-47.
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