Of all of the world’s military rifles, one of the most exotic and hard to find in US collections is the German StG44. Even though it was mass-produced and nearly a half-million were cranked out, most US firearms junkies have only seen one behind the glass of a museum display or on the History Channel.
When Germany entered World War 2 in 1939, their primary rifle was the K98 Mauser. The K98 was a bolt action 8mm beast that was a slightly modified pre-World War 1 design. It was solid and reliable but heavy and had a slow rate of fire. When the Germans started meeting Soviet Frontovki carrying semi-automatic Tokarev SVT-38 and SVT-40s in 1941, and then increasingly found themselves on the business end of British Sten SMGs and US M1 Garands in 1942, they decided to up the ante and go auto. Choosing the 7.92x33mm Kurz (‘short’) intermediate-sized round, they asked both Walther and Haenel to design a handy select-fire carbine around the bullet. The Haenel team, headed by the famous Hugo Schmeisser (not to be confused with Hugo Stiglitz), came out on top.
Read more in my column at Firearms Talk
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About laststandonzombieisland
Let me introduce myself. I am a bit of a conflict junkie. I am fascinated by war and warfare, assassination, personal protection and weaponry ranging from spud guns and flame throwers to thermonuclear bombs and soviet-trained Ebola monkeys. In short, if it’s violent or a tool to create violence it is kind of my thing.
I have written a few hundred articles on the dry encyclopedia side for such websites as History Times, Firearms Talk.com, GUNS.com, Suite 101 (where I am the contracted Feature Writer for Military History) and Combat Forums; as well as for print publications like England Expects, and Strike First Strike Fast. Several magazines such as Sea Classics, Military Historian and Collector, Mississippi Sportsman and Warship International have carried my pieces. Additionally I am on staff as a naval consultant and writer for Eye Spy Intelligence Magazine.
Currently I am working on several book projects, including a section in the upcoming Mississippi Encyclopedia (to be published by Ole Miss this summer), an alternative history novel about the US-German War of 1916, and a biography of Bennett Doty. My first novel, about the coming zombie apocalypse was released this Spring by Necro Publications and can be found at Amazon.com.
In my day job I am a contractor for the US federal government in what could best be described as the ‘Force Protection’ field. In this I am a certified Firearms, and less-than-lethal combat instructor.
