Alright, well usually for a blog like this you'd expect someone to introduce themselves and what they will be discussing I decided since my description of my blog and the title pretty much describes it pretty self-explanatory. But for those who do not understand what I'm doing, I'll explain it again. In this blog I'll be discussing firearms and their history.
Well now that that is out of the way, lets get started with my first entry. I've never been a fan of taking it slow so I'm gonna start with a piece of full-auto hard hitting piece of World War II history.
I am of course talking about the weapon most people refer to as the Grandfather of all Assault Rifles, the infamous Sturmgewehr-44, literally mean Assault or Storm Rifle 44, it is also know by the designations the MP-43 or MP-44.
The reason the StG-44 is called the Grandfather of all Assault Rifles is because it is literally what it is called, the first ever assault rifle. Now I already know some people will say that they believe that the Browning Automatic Rifle, the B.A.R, was the first Assault Rifle, well sorry but you are incorrect. The definition of a Assault Rifle is, and I quote, 'A selective fire rifle that a intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine.' The B.A.R is neither selective fire nor does it use a intermediate cartridge, it used the standard .30-06 that the M1 Garand and the M1918 and M1919 LMG's, therefore making it a Automatic Rifle not a Assault Rifle.
But I digress, the main reason that the StG-44 is classified as a Assault Rifle is because of its use of a intermediate cartridge, it being the first rifle to do so. An intermediate cartridge is a cartridge that is designed to be a compromise between a pistol cartridge and a full fledged rifle cartridge in this case the StG-44 uses the 7.92x33m Kurz cartridge as a compromise between the 7.92x57mm rifle cartridge used in the Kar98K and the 9x19mm Parabellum used in the MP-40.
Now the idea of a intermediate cartridge wasn't a new idea in the time when the StG-44 was created, the idea had been first introduced in the Spring of 1918 and had multiple different weapon manufacturers try to make a cartridge in multiple different countries. Though with the onset of World War II many countries stopped the research on these cartridges to focus on the production and improvement of already existing weapons, the Americans had the M1 Garand, the M1 and M1A1 Thompson and M1928 B.A.R, the British had the Lee-Enfield SMLE No.4 Mk. I, the Sten Mk. II, III and V and the Bren Mk. II and III and the Russians had the Mosin-Nagant, PPsH-41 and the DP 28.
Germany was one of the few countries that didn't stop their research into a intermediate cartridge mainly because Germany never really had a type of weapon that could be used as a Squad Automatic Weapon, they had their bolt action rifle the Kar98K and their automatic SMG the MP40 but they never had something like the Bren or the B.A.R, mainly because a lot of the Generals in Germany where WWI vets and believed that the types of tactics used in WWI were still going to be reliable in this war so they never really focused on creating something like that.
Though some higher ranking generals didn't believe in weapons like this some of their more contemporary counter-parts in the Wehrmacht believed that the weapon could be useful to the Infantry and Grenadiers. So basically the development of the intermediate cartridge and a weapon to fire basically went on without he highers ups, including Hitler himself, even knowing about it, because when it was first pitched to them they vehemently denied it.
Other than that it's very much similar to modern assault rifles, thirty round banana style magazine and a mag release relatively close to the mag release.
(Alright well this is pretty much it, those who want more please comment, this was kinda a trial entry to gauge the community reaction to this to see if you guys want more parts to it.)
Well now that that is out of the way, lets get started with my first entry. I've never been a fan of taking it slow so I'm gonna start with a piece of full-auto hard hitting piece of World War II history.
I am of course talking about the weapon most people refer to as the Grandfather of all Assault Rifles, the infamous Sturmgewehr-44, literally mean Assault or Storm Rifle 44, it is also know by the designations the MP-43 or MP-44.
The reason the StG-44 is called the Grandfather of all Assault Rifles is because it is literally what it is called, the first ever assault rifle. Now I already know some people will say that they believe that the Browning Automatic Rifle, the B.A.R, was the first Assault Rifle, well sorry but you are incorrect. The definition of a Assault Rifle is, and I quote, 'A selective fire rifle that a intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine.' The B.A.R is neither selective fire nor does it use a intermediate cartridge, it used the standard .30-06 that the M1 Garand and the M1918 and M1919 LMG's, therefore making it a Automatic Rifle not a Assault Rifle.
The Cartridge
For the first part after the introduction I'm going to be introducing what makes the weapon so deadly, its cartridge. For those that might be ignorant of guns, the cartridge is not the bullet, the cartridge is the bullet, the casing, the propellant and the primer all in one package.But I digress, the main reason that the StG-44 is classified as a Assault Rifle is because of its use of a intermediate cartridge, it being the first rifle to do so. An intermediate cartridge is a cartridge that is designed to be a compromise between a pistol cartridge and a full fledged rifle cartridge in this case the StG-44 uses the 7.92x33m Kurz cartridge as a compromise between the 7.92x57mm rifle cartridge used in the Kar98K and the 9x19mm Parabellum used in the MP-40.
Now the idea of a intermediate cartridge wasn't a new idea in the time when the StG-44 was created, the idea had been first introduced in the Spring of 1918 and had multiple different weapon manufacturers try to make a cartridge in multiple different countries. Though with the onset of World War II many countries stopped the research on these cartridges to focus on the production and improvement of already existing weapons, the Americans had the M1 Garand, the M1 and M1A1 Thompson and M1928 B.A.R, the British had the Lee-Enfield SMLE No.4 Mk. I, the Sten Mk. II, III and V and the Bren Mk. II and III and the Russians had the Mosin-Nagant, PPsH-41 and the DP 28.
Germany was one of the few countries that didn't stop their research into a intermediate cartridge mainly because Germany never really had a type of weapon that could be used as a Squad Automatic Weapon, they had their bolt action rifle the Kar98K and their automatic SMG the MP40 but they never had something like the Bren or the B.A.R, mainly because a lot of the Generals in Germany where WWI vets and believed that the types of tactics used in WWI were still going to be reliable in this war so they never really focused on creating something like that.
Though some higher ranking generals didn't believe in weapons like this some of their more contemporary counter-parts in the Wehrmacht believed that the weapon could be useful to the Infantry and Grenadiers. So basically the development of the intermediate cartridge and a weapon to fire basically went on without he highers ups, including Hitler himself, even knowing about it, because when it was first pitched to them they vehemently denied it.
The Weapon
I'll admit, I've never fired a actually StG-44, the closest I've come to shooting one was semi-auto replica chambered in a .22 Long Rifle and I'll admit the feel of the gun, the feel of the grip and the the feel of the stock in your shoulder feels like it would be extremely easy to shoot even when chambered in its original cartridge. Though if there was one thing I had to complain it would be the handguard, as you can see in the picture above, the StG-44 doesn't really have a cover for the handguard unlike the AR and AK models. This is bad because in sustained firing scenarios the barrel above that handguard is going to heat up pretty quickly and unless your wearing some type of glove or in cold weather conditions that's really going to start to burn your hand.Other than that it's very much similar to modern assault rifles, thirty round banana style magazine and a mag release relatively close to the mag release.
(Alright well this is pretty much it, those who want more please comment, this was kinda a trial entry to gauge the community reaction to this to see if you guys want more parts to it.)
