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Description
"The StG 44 (abbreviation of Sturmgewehr 44, "assault rifle 44") is a German selective-fire assault rifle developed during World War II by Hugo Schmeisser . It is also known by its early designations as the MP 43 and MP 44 (Maschinenpistole 43 and 44). The StG 44 was an improvement of an earlier design, the Maschinenkarabiner 42(H) .
The StG 44 was the first successful assault rifle , with features including an intermediate cartridge , controllable automatic fire, a more compact design than a battle rifle with a higher rate of fire, and being designed primarily for hitting targets within a few hundred metres.[6] Other rifles at the time were designed to hit targets of over a thousand meters, but this was found to be in excess of the range in which most enemy engagements actually took place.
The StG 44 fulfilled its role effectively, particularly on the Eastern Front , offering a greatly increased volume of fire compared to standard infantry rifles. The StG largely influenced the Soviet AK-47 , introduced three years after the war concluded.[6] [7] [8] The StG's influence can still be seen in modern assault rifles, which, after World War II, became the global standard for infantry rifles.[6] MP 43, MP 44, and StG 44 were different designations for what was essentially the same rifle with minor updates in production. The variety in nomenclatures resulted from the complicated bureaucracy in Nazi Germany.[9] Developed from the Mkb 42(H) "machine carbine", the StG 44 combined the characteristics of a carbine , submachine gun , and automatic rifle . StG is an abbreviation of Sturmgewehr. According to one account, the name was chosen personally by Adolf Hitler [10] [11] for propaganda reasons and means "assault rifle" as in "to assault an enemy position", although some sources dispute that Hitler had much to do with coining the new name besides signing the order.[12] After the adoption of the StG 44, the English translation "assault rifle " became the accepted designation for this type of infantry small arm. Over the course of its production, there were minor changes to the butt end, muzzle nut, shape of the front sight base and stepping of the barrel.
The rifle was chambered for the 7.92×33mm Kurz cartridge.[13] [14] This shorter version of the German standard (7.92×57mm ) rifle round, in combination with the weapon's selective-fire design, provided a compromise between the controllable firepower of a submachine gun at close quarters with the accuracy and power of a Karabiner 98k bolt-action rifle at intermediate ranges. While the StG 44 had less range and power than the more powerful infantry rifles of the day, Army studies had shown that few combat engagements occurred at more than 300 metres (330 yd) and the majority within 200 metres (220 yd). Full-power rifle cartridges were excessive for most uses for the average soldier. Only a trained specialist, such as a sniper , or soldiers equipped with machine guns, which fired multiple rounds at a known or suspected target, could make full use of the standard rifle round's range and power.
The British were critical of the weapon, saying that the receiver could be bent and the bolt locked up by the mere act of knocking a leaning rifle onto a hard floor.[15] A late-war U.S. assessment derided the StG-44 as "mediocre", "bulky" and "unhandy", declaring it incapable of sustained automatic fire and prone to jamming, though the report accepted that its accuracy was "excellent for a weapon of its type".[16]
HistoryBackground
In the late 19th century, small-arms cartridges had become able to fire accurately at long distances. Jacketed bullets propelled by smokeless powder were lethal out to 2,000 metres (2,200 yd). This was beyond the range a shooter could engage a target with open sights, as at that range a man-sized target would be completely blocked by the front sight blade. Only units of riflemen firing by volley could hit grouped targets at those ranges. That fighting style was taken over by the widespread introduction of machine guns, which made use of these powerful cartridges to suppress the enemy at long range. Rifles remained the primary infantry weapon, but in some forces were seen as a secondary or support weapon, backing up the machine guns.[17]

This left a large gap in performance; the rifle was not effective at the ranges it could theoretically reach while being much larger and more powerful than needed for close combat. Weapons for short-range use existed, initially semi-automatic pistols and, later, automatic submachine guns. These fired pistol rounds which lacked power, accuracy, and range. They were only useful at very short ranges of no more than 50–100 metres (160–330 ft). This led to extensive research into creating an intermediate round to fill this gap. This type of ammunition was being considered as early as 1892, but militaries at the time were still fixated on increasing the maximum range and velocity of bullets from their rifles.[17] "
-Wikipedia

Description
"The StG 44 (abbreviation of Sturmgewehr 44, "assault rifle 44") is a German selective-fire assault rifle developed during World War II by Hugo Schmeisser . It is also known by its early designations as the MP 43 and MP 44 (Maschinenpistole 43 and 44). The StG 44 was an improvement of an earlier design, the Maschinenkarabiner 42(H) .
The StG 44 was the first successful assault rifle , with features including an intermediate cartridge , controllable automatic fire, a more compact design than a battle rifle with a higher rate of fire, and being designed primarily for hitting targets within a few hundred metres.[6] Other rifles at the time were designed to hit targets of over a thousand meters, but this was found to be in excess of the range in which most enemy engagements actually took place.
The StG 44 fulfilled its role effectively, particularly on the Eastern Front , offering a greatly increased volume of fire compared to standard infantry rifles. The StG largely influenced the Soviet AK-47 , introduced three years after the war concluded.[6] [7] [8] The StG's influence can still be seen in modern assault rifles, which, after World War II, became the global standard for infantry rifles.[6] MP 43, MP 44, and StG 44 were different designations for what was essentially the same rifle with minor updates in production. The variety in nomenclatures resulted from the complicated bureaucracy in Nazi Germany.[9] Developed from the Mkb 42(H) "machine carbine", the StG 44 combined the characteristics of a carbine , submachine gun , and automatic rifle . StG is an abbreviation of Sturmgewehr. According to one account, the name was chosen personally by Adolf Hitler [10] [11] for propaganda reasons and means "assault rifle" as in "to assault an enemy position", although some sources dispute that Hitler had much to do with coining the new name besides signing the order.[12] After the adoption of the StG 44, the English translation "assault rifle " became the accepted designation for this type of infantry small arm. Over the course of its production, there were minor changes to the butt end, muzzle nut, shape of the front sight base and stepping of the barrel.
The rifle was chambered for the 7.92×33mm Kurz cartridge.[13] [14] This shorter version of the German standard (7.92×57mm ) rifle round, in combination with the weapon's selective-fire design, provided a compromise between the controllable firepower of a submachine gun at close quarters with the accuracy and power of a Karabiner 98k bolt-action rifle at intermediate ranges. While the StG 44 had less range and power than the more powerful infantry rifles of the day, Army studies had shown that few combat engagements occurred at more than 300 metres (330 yd) and the majority within 200 metres (220 yd). Full-power rifle cartridges were excessive for most uses for the average soldier. Only a trained specialist, such as a sniper , or soldiers equipped with machine guns, which fired multiple rounds at a known or suspected target, could make full use of the standard rifle round's range and power.
The British were critical of the weapon, saying that the receiver could be bent and the bolt locked up by the mere act of knocking a leaning rifle onto a hard floor.[15] A late-war U.S. assessment derided the StG-44 as "mediocre", "bulky" and "unhandy", declaring it incapable of sustained automatic fire and prone to jamming, though the report accepted that its accuracy was "excellent for a weapon of its type".[16]
HistoryBackground
In the late 19th century, small-arms cartridges had become able to fire accurately at long distances. Jacketed bullets propelled by smokeless powder were lethal out to 2,000 metres (2,200 yd). This was beyond the range a shooter could engage a target with open sights, as at that range a man-sized target would be completely blocked by the front sight blade. Only units of riflemen firing by volley could hit grouped targets at those ranges. That fighting style was taken over by the widespread introduction of machine guns, which made use of these powerful cartridges to suppress the enemy at long range. Rifles remained the primary infantry weapon, but in some forces were seen as a secondary or support weapon, backing up the machine guns.[17]

This left a large gap in performance; the rifle was not effective at the ranges it could theoretically reach while being much larger and more powerful than needed for close combat. Weapons for short-range use existed, initially semi-automatic pistols and, later, automatic submachine guns. These fired pistol rounds which lacked power, accuracy, and range. They were only useful at very short ranges of no more than 50–100 metres (160–330 ft). This led to extensive research into creating an intermediate round to fill this gap. This type of ammunition was being considered as early as 1892, but militaries at the time were still fixated on increasing the maximum range and velocity of bullets from their rifles.[17] "
-Wikipedia