Initial experiences in World War II suggested to the Germans that the firepower from the bolt-action rifle (primarily the Mauser Kar 98k) was insufficient. Studies of World War I had already pointed out that distances of typical small arms action were between 50 and 300 meters, which meant, in practice, that traditional single-shot service rifles were unnecessary. These studies had not gone unnoticed, as development work had begun in the mid-1930s to produce a new shortened cartridge which could be used as a base to manufacture new service rifles. All this lead to the fact that, by 1942, Germans already had a working assault rifle design, Mkb42 (H), that had passed required field trials. Germans hurriedly produced about 8,000 MkB42 (H) models that went into combat trials at the Eastern Front with the 5.SS-Division, "Wiking". Before this promising new weapon system could go to mass production, it needed design refinements as well as Hitler's final approval. However, measures were taken to conceal the true nature of the weapon in fear that resources would not be allocated to its production during such a critical time of the war. As a result, a new "machine pistol" designation, the Maschinen Pistol 43 (MP43), had been issued in order to pass the program as a more traditional submachine gun project. This cover up would not last long as glowing combat reports and numerous requests for the MP43/MP44 from field commanders made their way to the top. The MP43/44 rifles could not be kept hidden anymore and, subsequently, the program received high priority status. In late 1944, the MP44 was renamed the Sturmgewehr 44 (StG 44), or Assault Weapon 44 in English, by Hitler himself.

Although some very limited numbers of StG 44s were present in France when Operation Overlord began on June 6th, 1944, the MP43, MP44 and StG 44 were mostly used in the Eastern Front until the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. It appeared that Waffen-SS was able to scrounge the best of the production, leaving little to the Wehrmacht. But during the course of the war, the StG44 appeared even in remote battlefields like the Kurland "bridgehead". Some sources state that the priority of StG 44 distribution went to Volksgrenadier divisions that had been created in late 1944, after the assassination attempt of Hitler. As expected, ammunition was in short supply because the 7.92 x 33mm Kurz cartridges had not been used before in other weapons.

Field reports indicated that the increased firepower of individual soldiers helped Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS units to fight off superior enemy forces. However, many of the 400,000+ MP43/MP44/StG44s never made it to frontline units as the Third Reich infrastructure was collapsing under the weight of the Allied strategic air offensive, just as production had started to reach significant numbers. Regardless, the StG44 assault rifle proved to be an invaluable weapon, especially on the Eastern Front, where it was first deployed. A properly trained soldier with an StG44 had a more significant tactical repertoire. He could effectively engage targets at longer ranges than with an MP40, and he was also much more useful in close range urban fighting than with the K98k. Likewise, he could provide light cover fire better with the StG44, similar to a light machine gun, such as the American M1918 BAR.

Operating techniques & firing
It appears that the most common way to shoot the StG44 was from a kneeling or standing position. The prone position was not common because of the long banana-shaped magazine. Official German techniques for prone position shooting is reported to have been the act of digging a small hole in the ground to accommodate the magazine - not very practical in combat conditions.

Short bursts are very controllable because of the heavy weight of the gun and the relatively low powered ammunition, as well as the manageable rate of fire and front-heavy weight balance. Other contributing factors to manageable recoil include the linear recoiling mass with the gas system positioned over the barrel, as well as the configuration of the pistol grip and butt stock.

Accessories
* Telescopic Sight, the Gewehr-Zielfernrohr 4-Fach (as seen in photo at upper part of this article). x4 powered optic for sniping.
* Infra-Red Night Sight, Zielgeraet 1229 "Vampire". 310 units were delivered to Wehrmacht at the final stages of the war.
* Curved Barrel Attachment, Gebogener Lauf J/Krummlauf. This attachment was a rather strange device for shooting around corners without exposing the shooter that was also envisioned to be used by buttoned armored vehicle crews, giving them an advantage against assaulting Soviet infantry.
* Grenade Launcher, MP Gewehrgranatgeraet 43. Rifle grenade launcher.
* Canvas and leather pouch for three magazines and stripper clip.

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very interesting, you learn something new every day, Cheers

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Additions:
The STG44 development started out with the development of a "medium" bullet which should be effective up to 1000 meters. 1938 the Magdeburger bullet factory "Polte" developed such an ammo type, cal. 7,92 x 30 mm which had a 3,7 gramm bullet and a high muzzle velocity.
A range of tests with the cal. 7,92 ammo led to the develoment of the cal. 7,92 x 33 mm ammo in 1941 which had a 8,2 gramm bullet and a muzzle velocity of 694 meters/second.
Parallel to that, development for a new rifle which was able to fire 7,92 ammo started in 1938. The new weapon should replace the carbine, the submachine gun and even in some parts the MG.
Two weapon factories competed about the contract and after some tests in combat with both test versions (MKb42W & MKb42H) C.G. Haenel (the development chief's name was Hugo Schmeisser) in Suhl got the contract. After some more improvements mass production started in 1943 under the name "MP 43". This name was chosen to give a false impression about the weapon type since Hitler had decided not to produce the MKb despite all positive reports.
Tests in combat showed it was a formiodable weapon and made MG support for troops less necessary. Front soldiers begged for this weapon so Hitler decided to allow production of the MP43 for the German Heer.
In April 44 the weapon's name was changed into MP44 although no improvements were made. Later same year the weapon got it's final name "StG44". No one knows exactly who gave the final name to the StG, could have been Hitler himself or General Erich Jaschke. The name "Sturmgewehr" was initially chosen for propagande reasons only but described the weapon's operational area very fitting so the name was used for all wepons of that type since then.


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Of course this design also led to the following....

Design background

The resultant rifle, the Sturmgewehr 44 (StG44) was not the first with these features; its predecessors were the Italian Cei-Rigotti and the Russian Fedorov Avtomat design rifles. The Germans, however, were the first to produce and field sufficient numbers of this assault rifle to properly evaluate its combat utility. Towards the end of the war, they fielded the weapon against the Soviets; the experience deeply influenced Soviet military doctrine in the post-war years[citation needed].

Mikhail Kalashnikov began his career as a weapon designer while in a hospital after being wounded during the Battle of Bryansk.[4] After tinkering with a sub-machine gun design, he entered a competition for a new weapon that would chamber the 7.62x41mm cartridge developed by Elisarov and Semin in 1943 (the 7.62x41mm cartridge predated the current 7.62x39mm M1943). A particular requirement of the competition was the reliability of the firearm in the muddy, wet, and frozen conditions of the Soviet frontline. Kalashnikov designed a carbine, strongly influenced by the American M1 Garand, that lost out to the Simonov design that later became the SKS semi-automatic carbine. At the same time, the Soviet Army was interested in developing a true assault rifle employing a shortened M1943 round. The first such weapon was presented by Sudayev in 1944; however in trials it was found to be too heavy.[5] A new design competition was held two years later where Kalashnikov and his design team submitted an entry. It was a gas-operated rifle which had a breech-block mechanism similar to his 1944 carbine, and a curved 30-round magazine.

Kalashnikov's rifles (codenamed AK-1 and -2) proved to be reliable and the gun was accepted to second round of competition along with designs by A.A Demetev and F. Bulkin. In late 1946, as the guns were being tested, one of Kalashnikov's assistants, Aleksandr Zaytsev, suggested a major redesign of AK-1, particularly to improve reliability. At first, Kalashnikov was reluctant, given that their rifle had already fared better than its competitors; however eventually Zaytsev managed to persuade Kalashnikov. The new rifle was produced for a second round of firing tests and field trials. There, Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1947 proved to be simple and reliable, under a wide range of conditions with convenient handling characteristics. In 1949 it was therefore adopted by the Soviet Army as '7.62mm Kalashnikov assault rifle (AK)'.


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