Stg 44 for shooting from cover. German assault rifle Sturmgever: description, performance characteristics. About sights

Among the variety of small arms created by designers in the last century, we can highlight the samples that had the greatest impact on the further development of weapons. The appearance of some of them can be called a real turning point in the history of the development of small arms. A vivid example of this can be the history of the first Sturmgewehr (Stg.44) assault rifle, which can be safely called the predecessor and inspiration for the appearance of such legendary weapons as the AK-47 assault rifle and the FN FAL rifle.

The German automatic rifle Sturmgewehr 44 was really good for its time: for the first time, this weapon had a place for installing an underbarrel grenade launcher, an optical sight, and other attachments. According to legend, the name for this weapon (Sturmgewehr, which means "assault rifle") was invented personally by Hitler. However, all of the above is nothing more than "cherry on the cake", and the most important achievement of the Stg.44 was its ammunition, which caused a real revolution in the weapons business.

The Sturmgever was indeed the weapon of the elite. For him, even the world's first infrared night vision sight Zielgerät 1229 Vampir was developed. It consisted of the sight itself (weighing 2.25 kg) and a rechargeable battery (13.5 kg), which the fighters carried in a wooden box behind their shoulders. "Vampire" was actively used in the last year of the war, although its range did not exceed one hundred meters.

The history of the creation of this weapon began before World War II, in the mid-thirties of the last century.

A bit of history

After the Nazis came to power in Germany, the rapid rearmament of the German army began. It also affected small arms. The German army leadership wanted to have more advanced small arms than their potential opponents. The Germans considered the creation of an intermediate cartridge, as well as new weapon systems for it, to be one of the promising areas for the development of small arms.

At that time, the armies of the world mainly used either pistol or rifle cartridges. The rifle ammunition had excellent accuracy and range, but was unnecessarily powerful. This led to an increase in the mass of weapons, to the complexity of its design, to a decrease in the amount of ammunition carried. The flight range of a rifle bullet reached two kilometers, but most of the fire contacts took place at distances of 400-500 meters (and even less in urban conditions). In addition, the production of such ammunition required more resources.

The rifle cartridge was not suitable for creating a new generation of automatic weapons.

The pistol cartridge was not powerful enough, and its ballistics can hardly be called ideal. It is effective at distances up to 200 meters, which is clearly not enough for the main weapon of an infantryman. Numerous submachine guns made before and during the war were a clear confirmation of this.

Work on the creation of an intermediate ammunition has been carried out since the beginning of the twentieth century, but the Germans managed to create the first production model: in 1940, the Polte weapons company introduced an intermediate cartridge 7.92 × 33 mm Kurz.

Even before the start of the war in Germany, the concept of re-equipping the army with a system created for an intermediate cartridge was developed. At that time, the German army had three main types of small arms: a submachine gun, a repeating rifle and a light machine gun. The new automatic weapon, made under the intermediate cartridge, was supposed to completely replace the submachine gun and magazine rifle, as well as partially the light machine gun. The German military expected to significantly increase the firepower of rifle formations with the help of new weapons.

In 1938, the Wehrmacht Ordnance Department entered into an agreement with the arms company C.G. Haenel, owned by Hugo Schmeisser, a contract for the creation of an automatic carbine for a new intermediate cartridge. The new weapon received the abbreviation MKb.

At the beginning of the 40th year, Schmeisser handed over to his customers the first samples of a new weapon made under the 7.92 × 33 mm Kurz cartridge. In the same year, another well-known German arms company, Walther, received a similar task.

At the very beginning of 1942, both companies presented their modified MKb models (MKbH and MKbW), they were shown to Hitler. Walther's weapons were deemed too complex and capricious. The Schmeisser sample was distinguished by a simpler device and a solid design, it was more convenient to disassemble.

The new weapon received the designation MKb.42 and was sent to the Eastern Front for further testing. Front-line tests finally confirmed the superiority of the sample created by Haenel, but the military nevertheless demanded some changes to the design.

By the middle of 1943, the Schmeisser rifle was put into service and the name was changed once again. Now this weapon was designated by the abbreviation MP-43A (MP-431). More than 14 thousand units of this system were manufactured. This was followed by a slight refinement of the weapon, as a result, it received the name MP-43 and practically did not change until the very end of the war. At the beginning of 1944, the rifle received a new abbreviation - MP-44.

In September 1943, the new rifle was subjected to large-scale military tests; the 5th SS Viking Panzer Division on the Eastern Front was armed with it. The rifle received the most flattering reviews, it significantly increased the firepower of infantry units.

The new weapon was demonstrated to Hitler. Prior to that, he received a large number of excellent reviews about him from the generals and the leadership of the military-industrial complex of Germany. The fact is that Hitler was against the development and adoption of a new class of rifles. On the other hand, it is believed that the final name of this automatic rifle - "assault rifle" or StG.44 - was invented personally by the Fuhrer.

The Sturmgever entered service with the Waffen-SS and selected units of the Wehrmacht. In total, about 400 thousand units of these weapons were produced before the end of the war (for comparison, the MP-38/40 was produced during the entire war about 2 million pieces). These weapons began to appear only at the final stage of the war and did not have a significant impact on its course. The problem was not its quantity (it is quite impressive), but the lack of ammunition for the Stg.44.

The catastrophic situation with ammunition for the new assault rifle is also noted in their memoirs by German generals. However, in general, Stg.44 proved to be the best in terms of accuracy, simplicity of design, and its manufacturability.

After the end of the war, the Sturmgever was used by the police of the GDR, the German army, and the armed forces of several other European countries. There is information that in Syria, the warehouses, where several thousand units of these weapons were located, were seized by the opposition and now these machine guns are actively used by both sides of the conflict.

Device

Automation Stg.44 works by removing part of the powder gases from the bore. Gases move back the bolt carrier with the bolt. The bore is locked by tilting the bolt (as opposed to turning the bolt in a Kalashnikov assault rifle).

The trigger mechanism of the hammer type. Stg.44 is capable of both single fire and burst fire. The safety lock blocks the trigger.

Food is produced from a box-shaped double-row magazine with a capacity of 30 rounds. Sector sight, it allows you to shoot at a distance of up to 800 meters.

The recoil spring is housed inside the wooden stock, making it impossible to create a modification with a folding stock.

Advantages and disadvantages of Stg.44

"Sturmgever" can be called a revolutionary model of small arms. However, like any new weapon, the Stg.44 had its own "childhood illnesses". The developers simply did not have enough time to eliminate them. In addition, we should not forget that Stg.44 is the first weapon of its kind.

Disadvantages:

• too much weight compared to a conventional rifle;
• fragility of the receiver;
• unsuccessful aiming devices;
• weak spring in stores;
• the absence of a forearm.

Advantages:

• excellent shooting accuracy at short and medium distances;
• convenience and compactness;
• excellent rate of fire;
• good ammunition characteristics;
• versatility in combat conditions.

As you can see, the shortcomings of the Stg.44 are not critical, and they could be easily eliminated with only a small upgrade of the weapon. But Germany no longer had time to correct mistakes.

In April 1945, the Americans occupied the town of Suhl in Thuringia, where Hugo Schmeisser's company was based. The gunsmith himself was arrested, but after the Americans were convinced that he was not a Nazi and did not commit crimes, the designer was released. The Americans were absolutely not interested in his weapons. They believed that their M1 carbine was much better than the Stg.44.

They thought differently in the Soviet Union. Work on the creation of weapons for an intermediate cartridge began in the USSR as early as 1943, immediately after the appearance of the first German captured samples. After the city in Germany, where the Schmeisser enterprise was located, went to the Soviet zone of occupation, all the technical documentation for the Stg.44 was removed from the plant.

Further more. In 1946, serious people came to the 62-year-old Schmeisser and made him an offer from the category of those who are not refused. He, as well as the employees of his company, together with their families, went to the USSR, and more specifically, to the city of Izhevsk, where at that time hard work was underway to create a new machine gun.

Disputes about the relationship between the Kalashnikov assault rifle and Stg.44 are still going on and their intensity does not subside. Was the AK a copy of a German assault rifle? No, of course, they differ and very seriously. But to the question of whether the experience of Stg.44 was taken into account when creating the Soviet machine gun, one can unequivocally give an affirmative answer. To do this, just look at their appearance and design. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that when creating any successful scheme, all available results of predecessors are used. "Sturmgever" was not a secret for Kalashnikov, but it is not a prototype of his machine gun - but just one of the successful examples that turned out to be useful in creating a design that is fundamentally more advanced and versatile.

Specifications Stg.44:

• weight, kg: 5.2;
• length, mm: 940;
• barrel length, mm: 419;
• muzzle velocity, m/s: 685 (bullet weight 8.1 g);
• caliber, mm: 7.92;
• cartridge: 7.92 × 33 mm;
• effective range, m: 600;
• type of ammunition supply: sector magazine for 30 rounds;
• sight: sector;
• rate of fire, shots / min: 500-600.

If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

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 were carried out, as a result of which the initial tactical and technical requirements of the HWaA for the design of weapons for the new cartridge were revised, 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 Walter assault rifle showed satisfactory results, but the refinement of its design continued throughout the entire 1941 of the year. 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, a tide for a bayonet was to be mounted on the machines, and it was also possible to mount a 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.

As soon as a conversation about a Kalashnikov assault rifle starts somewhere on the network, a flock of schizoids will immediately run up with cries that the AK de is not a development of Kalashnikov, but a copy from the StG 44. And the opposite has been repeatedly proven, and even Western gunsmiths laugh at this. But in Russia, they don’t plow and sow fools, they themselves will be born. Especially those who like to spit and crap any achievements of their country. It is treated in only one way. Labor camps in Siberia.
For any person who held an AK, and even more so served with him, these fabrications are ridiculous. But for people with a fragile psyche, young people, they have a detrimental effect.
The story about Kalashnikov copying a German assault rifle was launched by the Americans back in the early seventies, in particular by Colt. It was necessary to somehow justify the failure with the release of the M-16.
The main statement of these gentlemen is that the AK-47 was developed by Hugo Schmeiser. The designer of the StG 44, who was in Soviet captivity and worked in Izhevsk.
But Kalashnikov developed his assault rifle in Kovrov. He appeared in Izhevsk only in 1949, already with a ready-made model of an assault rifle that had already been tested and put into service. Yes, and more than one Kalashnikov developed a new weapon for an intermediate cartridge. Yes, and Kalashnikov was not tested at first, a favorite. Why did such an eminent designer Schmeiser help him.
Another of the false fabrications. Like, how could an illiterate man-bast-worker Kalashnikov develop an assault rifle. Let's take a closer look at the personality of Hugo Schmeiser. He also did not have a higher technical education. This follows from his biography, the case brought against him by the NKVD. From childhood, he studied everything related to the production of weapons. He was a practical designer and not a theorist. Other engineers, more educated, were engaged in theory at his company.
Yes, and an automaton is not a nuclear reactor or a spaceship. There would be a theoretical base, and then you just need to competently embody everything in metal. And there was such a theoretical base in the USSR. It was created by Vladimir Fedorov, the great Russian gunsmith, creator of the world's first automaton. Unfortunately, in the twenties and thirties, it was not possible to realize all the ideas of this ingenious designer. But his achievements came in handy after the war. So Kalashnikov did not start from scratch at all.
As for plagiarism. Take a closer look at the American M-16. It is much more similar to the StG 44.
Below are pictures to illustrate.

AK-47 and StG 44 for comparison.

Disassembled StG 44 for comparison. Both samples are disassembled.
M-16.
Once again StG 44.

M-16 disassembled.
StG 44 disassembled, for comparison.
The Americans were well acquainted with the German machine gun and even had time to make war with it.

The article is devoted to the hottest topic in the arms world about the plagiarism of the Soviet machine gun by Mikhail Kalashnikov AK-47 with assault rifle Hugo Schmeisser (Hugo Schmeisser)StG-44(MP -43-Latin). For reference on Russian / domestic qualifications, automatic small arms using an intermediate cartridge are called "automatic", according to foreign classification, this type of weapon is called an "assault rifle", so the article will focus on "automatic weapons". The reason for the dispute is the poor education of people in this topic (technical and historical vacuum) and the unwillingness to look deeper into the essence of the dispute, plus a great desire to rewrite history based on arguments and distorted facts. Below in the article everything will be laid out on the "shelves" without "foam around the mouth", where, when and why.

Proponents of plagiarism insist solely on:

• AK-47 visually similar in layout to StG-44, the use of an intermediate cartridge and gas automatics, which had no analogues
• Hugo Schmeisser was brought to the USSR to create, the future AK-47
• Mikhail Kalashnikov could not create AK-47, since he had no technical education, experience in creating firearms, and after creation he did not create a single type of weapon. Simply put, there would not be enough "brains"

Visual similarity between AK-47 and STG-47

The design of the machines is similar in layout (visually) and there is nothing more in common between them. Technical similarities between AK-47 and STG-44, the same as that of a grinder and a perforator. If you look into the design of the machines, then the technical difference between them is HUGE, Exactly HUGE, the similarity of the machines: gas-operated automatics with a top location and an intermediate cartridge (7.62x41-mm AK-47, to be more precise, after 1948, 7.62x39 mm and 7.92x33 mm for StG-44).

Technical differences between AK-47 and StG-44

Machine	StG-44	AK-47
barrel caliber	7.92x33 mm	7.62х41/39 mm
Automation	Gas outlet, use of the upper receiver	Gas vented, using a guide rod
shutter stroke	longer, since it is necessary to remove the skew of the shutter, and then extract the sleeve	short, the sleeve is extracted immediately
Barrel lock	shutter skew	rotation of the larva with lugs
Fuse	flag	the fuse is combined with the fire translator in the flag switch
fire translator	button
	The receiver is made by milling	The receiver is made by stamping
Magazine mount	high mine under the store, store mount-push-button	shaft under the store immediately in the receiver, magazine mount-latch
Reciprocating mainspring	larger, half placed in the gate	smaller, placed inside the receiver on the guide rod
Not complete disassembly	removal of the butt and fracture of the receiver into two parts	removing the receiver cover
Protection of automation from dirt	hinged window - opens after the start of firing	protected directly by the shutter

From the table, we see that the technical approach to the automation of vending machines is completely different. Complete and incomplete disassembly of machines has nothing in common. Shutter yStG-44slides inside the upper receiver,AK-47the shutter slides along the grooves in the receiver. The difference is obvious in the reciprocating mainsprings and the way they are located. Due to the large return springStG-44, which is necessary to return the shutter with a long stroke (remove the skew of the shutter and make extraction sleeves), so the machinecannot be issued with or without a folding stock. USM machines are different.

Let's compare the layout right away AK-46, which turned into AK-47. Here we are immediately struck by the familiar way of not completely disassembling the machine by dividing the receiver into upper and lower parts. Which immediately hints at the similarity of assembly / disassembly with StG-44. But this disassembly-assembly method has been familiar to Kalashnikov since the beginning of 1942, when he created the Kalashnikov submachine gun of the 1942 model, and six months later he creates the Kalashnikov machine gun of 1942/43, the drawings of which were ready back in 1942. That is, a year and a half before the creation of the MP-43 (future StG-44).

Hugo Schmeiser was not a "pioneer" in the creation of automatic small arms. Gas venting automatics, locking the barrel with a skewed bolt, intermediate cartridges like StG-44 was used by John Garand to create the M1 Garbine rifle in 1923. It should also be noted that the use of gas-operated automatics in small arms began in early 1940, when the USSR began to produce small arms with gas-operated automatics from 1927 with the adoption of the DP-27 machine gun, and the first sample of the Degtyarev self-loading rifle was presented in 1917 .

Weapons with gas-operated automatics, rotary locking of the barrel and automatic firing, like an assault rifle AK-47 was created back in 1883 by the Mexican gunsmith Manuel Mondragon when creating the M1883 / M1908 automatic rifle. In 1923, this design was used by Isaac Lewis (photo-1, photo-2) when creating a machine gun. In the USSR, this design was used by Bulkin in 1944 when creating the AB-44 assault rifle.
How do we see automation schemes of machines AK-47 and STG-44 existed long before World War II. Logically, it turns out that Hugo Schmeiser himself plagiarized.

Hugo Schmeisser helped create the AK-47 with the USSR

This statement is not true, since Hugo Schmeiser was brought to Izhevsk in the USSR at the end of October 1946, he started work in November 1946, that is, two months before the final GAU competition. It turns out that Hugo Schmeiser arrived after Vasily Lyuty (the leading specialist of the GAU for small arms and mortar weapons) gave an opinion on the correction and modernization of the competitive AK-46 to level AK-47. Mikhail Kalashnikov worked in the city of Izhevsk, and Hugo Schmeiser in the city of Kovrov, between these cities 1000 km. If there was a need for the knowledge of Hugo Schmeiser to create an automaton, then he would have worked in Izhevsk. Also, remote work at that time was not possible due to the lack of modern technologies, graphic editors and analogues of the Internet. After returning to his homeland in June 1952 in Germany, Hugo Schmeiser did not publish information about his involvement in the creation AK-47. Additionally, there is information that Werner Gruner, the creator of the German MG-38 machine gun, who was in the field of electric welding and stamping, helped to manufacture the AK-47 by stamping. Then the question arises "why", if the AK-47, before the adoption of the AKM in 1959, was manufactured with a milled receiver, and not by stamping, like the STG-44. Plus, the USSR had experience in manufacturing PPSh and PPS to make weapons by stamping.

Not enough brains

At the time of creation AK-47 Kalashnikov had a technical education, which he received at the Moscow Aviation Institute (was sent for training in mid-1942, after the presentation of his second submachine gun), which was evacuated to Samarkand (Kazakh SSR) at the end of 1941. In the middle of 1942, he had experience in creating two submachine guns with different automation systems. Before the war, Kalashnikov was a tanker and created a device for more efficient firing from TT through the viewing slots of tanks. The first experimental submachine gun had gas-operated automatics - samples and drawings were not preserved. The second surviving experimental Klyushnikov submachine gun of the 1942 model with a semi-free shutter was distinguished by a screw clutch for slowing the shutter; this semi-free shutter was first used in the weapon design by Kalashnikov. In the middle of 1943, Kalashnikov presented a prototype machine gun, which he began to design at the same time as the submachine gun, but because of the busy work on the experimental Kalashnikov submachine gun of 1942. In October 1944, Kalashnikov presented the Kalashnikov SKK-44 self-loading carbine to the GAU, but preference was given to the Simonov SKS carbine, who was an eminent weapons designer. So that experience and technical education at the time of creation AK-47 Kalashnikov had. In 1943 he was transferred to the staff of the design bureau with a salary.

The second important point is that when creating AK-47 Kalashnikov worked in a team with Zaitsev Alexander Alekseevich, Solovyov Vasily Ivanovich. Also, when creating an automatic machine, designers had to communicate a lot with technologists, metallurgy specialists, and turning masters.

The third important point is the big technical difference between the AK-46 and AK-47, which was announced for testing for the GAU in 1946, that under the terms of the competition it was impossible to make serious technical improvements. Appearance for testing in December 1946 of a familiar design AK-47 associated with Vasily Lyuty. Vasily Lyuty was at that time one of the main members of the GAU commission, who recommended Kalashnikov to make technical changes and technical solutions from other automatic machines that took part in the competition. The main technical solutions were borrowed from the Bulkin AB-46 / TKB-415 assault rifle, which was in the lead throughout the competition. As we can see, Kalashnikova borrowed a bolt group with a rotary locking of the barrel and a receiver from the Bulkin assault rifle. Initially, the AK-46 had a different gas piston that did not have a rigid mount with the author and a different receiver design. Lyuty's task was to adopt modern weapons, which he did with the hands of Kalashnikov.

Initially AK-47 could be called AKZ-47-according to the abbreviations of the main designers of the Kalashnikov-Zaitsev assault rifle of the 1947 model. But one of the highest military officials considered that a modern and formidable weapon had been created, and the appearance of Zaitsev's name was not appropriate, after which Zaitsev and Solovyov found themselves in the "shadow" of Kalashnikov:
"An assault rifle is a formidable modern weapon. How will Zaitsev appear in its name? What does a bunny mean? This is not serious. Here is a Kalash - yes!"

Mikhail Kalashnikov did not know how to draw, yes, this is true, which is confirmed in his memoirs by Alexander Zaitsev, who was engaged in drawing work. But to be fair, but many gunsmiths of that time did not know how to draw and did not have a technical education. Hugo Schmeisser also did not know how to draw and had no technical education. You can remember about John Browning, who, without a technical education, became the most famous gunsmith in the world and created more than 50 types of small arms. Already at the age of 4, before being able to read and write, he already knew the name of all parts of small arms. Among domestic gunsmiths without a technical education, Mikhail Margolin should be singled out, having no education and being absolutely BLIND from the age of 18, he was able to create a small-caliber machine gun, a rifle, a sports pistol MTs-1 / MTsM. And to create more advanced weapons based on created weapons should not be surprising, none of the gunsmiths created anything from scratch and did not invent gunpowder in a new way. If you take any weapon, then you can easily see plagiarism in it. Plagiarism in the weapons world must be understood as a complete copying of a weapon, and not its individual components, and how it is possible to create what has been created, it remains only to modernize.
There is a rumor that Mikhail Kalashnikov is just a pseudo-designer who was taken to the gunsmiths and that after AK-47 they didn't create anything. But then the question arises who created the Saiga, AK-74, AKSU, APK, PK, PKM, PP "Bizon", PKT, RPK

Conclusion

Designs of automata AK-47 and StG-44 do not have common technical solutions, and plagiarism is out of the question. If we were talking about plagiarism, then there would be 100% copying of the machine. Stealing, copying, disassembling and creating an owl at that time was the norm / necessity, and all countries of the World did this, despite the norms of copyright morality .. Hugo Schmeisser could not help create the AK-47, since he was 1000 km away from Mikhail Kalashnikov, and technical shortcomings and recommendations for the creation AK-47 Vasily Lyuty were drawn up 1 month before the arrival of Hugo Schmeisser in the USSR, that is, the TOR for the creation AK-47 already embodied in metal. At the time of creation, Mikhail Kalashnikov had practical and theoretical experience in creating small arms, and also had a technical education, which he received in Samarkand (Kazakhstan) at the Moscow Aviation Institute, where he was sent by Anatoly Blagonravov, a year later was admitted to the design bureau in Kovrov. Mikhail Kalashnikov did not single-handedly create the AK-47, its creation was influenced by the design of the Bulkin AB-46 assault rifle and the supervision of Vasily Lyuty, who gave recommendations on finalizing the AK-46 and lobbied for the design of Kalashnikov. Do not forget about the help of Alexander Zaitsev and Vasily Solovyov, who ended up in the "shadow" of Kalashnikov. The domestic design school of small arms had outstanding gunsmiths (Shpagin, Degtyarev, Bulkin, Lyuty, Tokarev, Simonov, Shpagin, Dementyev, Sudayev, ....) rich experience in creating successful models of small arms. Domestic gunsmiths did not need the help of German captured gunsmiths.
Well, a couple of questions for believers that all the same AK-47 is a plagiarism of STG-44:

• What prevented the military from sending Hugo Schmeisser to the same design bureau with Kalashnikov to help?
• If it is believed that the AK-46 is a copy of the StG-44, well, so be it, but the AK-46 was not produced, and the AK-47 has little in common with the AK-46 design.

P.S. For people who, after facts and arguments, continue to believe in Kalashnikov's plagiarism, then this is their right .... "
Shit everywhere: shit designs, shit contest, shit constructor... But how did the "candy" turn out?

The Haenel / Schmeisser MP.43 assault rifle is the predecessor of the famous Stg.44 "Sturmgever". Left side view

The Haenel / Schmeisser MP.43 assault rifle is the predecessor of the famous Stg.44 "Sturmgever". Right side view

The Haenel / Schmeisser MP.43 assault rifle is the predecessor of the famous Stg.44 "Sturmgever".
Incomplete disassembly in comparison with the Kalashnikov AKM

The development of manual automatic weapons chambered for a cartridge intermediate in power between pistol and rifle was started in Germany before the start of World War II, in the mid-thirties. In 1939, an intermediate cartridge of 7.92 × 33 mm (7.92 mm Kurz), developed on an initiative basis by the German company Polte, was chosen as the new base ammunition in 1939. In 1942, by order of the German arms department HWaA, two firms set about developing weapons for this cartridge - C.G. Haenel and Karl Walther.

As a result, two samples were created, initially classified as automatic carbines - (MaschinenKarabiner, MKb). The sample of the company Walther was designated, the sample of the company Henel, developed under the direction of Hugo Schmeisser (Hugo Schmeisser) -. Based on the test results, it was decided to develop the design of the Henel company, in which significant changes were made, primarily related to the USM device. Due to Hitler's reluctance to begin production of a new class of weapons, development was carried out under the designation MP 43 (MaschinenPistole = submachine gun). The first samples of the MP 43 were successfully tested on the Eastern Front against the Soviet troops, and in 1944, more or less mass production of a new type of weapon under the name MP 44 begins. After the results of successful front-line tests were presented to Hitler and approved by him, the nomenclature of weapons there was again a betrayal, and the sample received the final designation StG.44 (Sturmgewehr 44, Sturmgever, "assault rifle"). The name Sturmgewehr carried a purely propaganda meaning, however, as it sometimes happens, it stuck tightly not only to this sample, but to the entire class of manual automatic weapons chambered for an intermediate cartridge. The total production of all variants of the "Sturmgever" for the years 1943-45 amounted to more than 400 thousand pieces, and in the post-war period its production was not resumed. However, Stg.44 assault rifles were used in limited numbers in the early post-war period in the GDR and Czechoslovakia, and in Yugoslavia they were in service with the airborne troops until the 1970s.
It should be noted that the successful development and use of Stg.44 assault rifles by fascist Germany left its mark on the entire post-war development of small arms, since sooner or later most countries of the world switched to weapons of the same class under an intermediate cartridge. At the same time, the most common designation for a new class of weapons was precisely the tracing paper from the German word "Sturmgever", i.e. "assault rifle", although from any point of view, the term "automatic carbine" originally used by the Germans seems to be much more correct.
In general, the Stg.44 assault rifle was a relatively successful model, providing effective fire with single shots at a distance of up to 500-600 meters and automatic fire at a distance of up to 300 meters, although being, however, excessively heavy and not very convenient in the butt, especially when shooting lying. There is a common legend that the Kalashnikov assault rifle was copied from the Sturmgever and that Schmeiser himself, allegedly being in Soviet captivity, participated in the development of the AK. HOWEVER, it’s impossible to talk about DIRECT BORROWING by Kalashnikov from the Schmeisser design - the designs and Stg.44 contain too many fundamentally different solutions (the layout of the receiver, the USM device, the device for locking the barrel, etc.). And the very possible participation of Schmeiser in the development of the Kalashnikov assault rifle looks more than doubtful, given that Schmeiser was in Izhevsk, while the experimental AK-47 was created in Kovrov and Kalashnikov himself arrived in Izhevsk only in 1948, with a ready-made design of the machine.

Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle (Sturmgewehr 44, Stg.44) It was a weapon built on the basis of automation with a gas engine with a long stroke of a gas piston located above the barrel. The barrel was locked by tilting the bolt down, behind the insert in the receiver. The receiver is stamped from a steel sheet, also a stamped USM unit, together with a pistol grip, is hinged to the receiver and folds forward and down for disassembly. The butt is wooden, attached to the receiver with a transverse pin and removed during disassembly, a return spring is located inside the butt (thus eliminating the possibility of simply creating a variant with a folding butt). The sector sight, the fuse and the fire mode translator are independent (the fuse lever on the left above the pistol grip and the transverse fire mode selection button located above it), the shutter handle is located on the left and moves along with the bolt carrier when firing. On the muzzle of the barrel, a thread is made for mounting a rifle grenade launcher, usually closed with a protective sleeve. Stg.44 could be equipped with an active IR-sight "Vampire", as well as a special krummlauf Vorsatz J device for firing from tanks (and other shelters) at the enemy in the dead zone near the tank.