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clamhurt_legbeard ago

ok so

the companies were asked to create a maschinenkarabiner

or machine carbine

so the first prototypes were called mkb42

but then hitler suspended all research on new rifles

and told everybody to just make the submachineguns already we got

like the mp40

best we can figure

hitler wasnt super sold on an untested intermediate round

and he didnt like the piecemeal weapons releases happening and the resultant logistical problems

its not like you just build the rifle and youre done

the rifle would be useless without things like

spare parts

magazines

ammunition

slings

pouches

cleaning kits

training

and so on

so hitler is like bro stop designing new rifles this shit is getting crazy

that is a direct verbatim quote

but the guys working on the mkb42s were like aw daaaaang these are probably gonna be really good tho

so they pulled a fast one on der fuerher

and theyre like oh this

this is a maschinenpistole

the mp43

its a new submachinegun

lets keep working on it

he wont even know shhh

but the change was entirely on paper and the design continued as normal

intermediate cartridge and all that

so 10 minutes later hitler discovered it and was like hey whoa wtf is this i said dont design stuff

and theyre like um its a new maschinenpistolepleasedontkillme

and hes like well you got a few of them so i guess you can try them out in combat for like six months but this isnt like an actual deployment where we have factory lines making this shit 24 7

so they gave what they had to some waffen ss units to try out

then after a few months hitler renamed it the mp44

because this is apparently a fucking sedan and we rename it with every model year

and then hitlers like hey so how you guys doin can i get you anything im hitler im a waiter apparently

and all the waffen ss guys are like holy shit

can we get a refill on these kickass new rifles

then hitlers like

what new rifles

guys you said this was a maschinenpistole wtf

and the weapon designers are all about to shit their hugo boss

uhhhh ohhhh

continued below

guys the 10000 character limit is not enough for the sturngewehr

god voat is going to crash when i do the ak lol

so anyway hitler just caught the weapons designers red handed

but then they demonstrated the rifle for him and hitlers like whoa

sick

so then they named it the sturmgewehr 44

the storm rifle

like storming a fortress

assaulting it

the assault rifle

so yeah the sturmgewehr finally got officially adopted as the stg44 and they made over 420 thousand of them before wars end

but hitlers concerns were well founded

and the logistical problems of a new round and new equipment werent solved before germany surrendered

although the wars end put an end to its service life

german engineers werent done with the design

but well talk about what they did later

as for technical stuff

i already talked about a short stroke gas system like on the sks and the fal

but the sturmgewehr uses a long stroke gas system

so check out these technical drawings

a gun fires

in the short stroke gas system we bleed some of the the rapidly expanding gasses into the pink gas cylinder through a tiny hole in the top of the barrel called a gas port

this pushes back on the purple gas piston which kicks the blue bolt back

the purple piston only goes back so far before getting pushed back forward by the yellow spring

but the blue bolt keeps going back and ejects the spent case and all the remaining gas vents out through the muzzle and chamber

in the long stroke gas system things are very similar

except the piston and bolt are connected

so the piston goes back all the way with the bolt

it travels a longer distance so its a longer stroke

so the short stroke system has less mass moving at once because the gas piston goes back a short distance then goes forward and then stops

this gives the advantage of less moving around to jostle your aim

but the downside is it has to be very abrupt when it kicks the bolt back because it only has a tiny fraction of a second to do it

so its kinda like the difference between me slapping you on the ass with a short recoil impulse vs pushing you from behind with a long recoil impulse

short stroke gas systems can be hard on guns and cause lots of wear

the long stroke gas system used in the sturmgewehr has more mass moving with recoil

this can make it less accurate

but by having more mass it makes the recoil less harsh on the components

and it gives more inertia to use in extracting the spent case and slamming the new cartridge in

this means its better able to push through fouling from carbon or dust

so a long stroke gas system is potentially more reliable and lasts longer but with poorer accuracy

and a short stroke gas system is potentially more accurate but more complex to build and have last

these are broad generalizations though

another design element was taken from the fg42

when the designers of the sturmgewehr looked at the fg42 they saw some things they liked

remember how the fg42 recoils straight back into your shoulder to make full auto more controllable

and it has that really tall front sight

well the sturmgewehr has a pretty tall front sight too

so that trick didnt work super well with the fg42s full power 8 mm mauser round

but in combination with the sturmgewehrs more moderate 8 mm kurz round

we get a weapon that is actually controllable on sustained automatic fire like a submachinegun but shoots a round more powerful than stupid pistol rounds

overall the sturmgewehr is a pretty simple weapon

its easy to disassemble too which is nice

you pop a pin

remove the buttstock

and the receiver hinges down

so you can pull the piston and bolt out the back

easy

in the end the design goals of the sturmgewehr were a total success

controllable fully automatic fire like a submachinegun

but with a round almost as powerful as a rifle out to 300 m

compact enough for paratroopers and mechanized troops

nothing before had ever done this

and the sturmgewehr excelled

it invented an entitely new class of weapon

thats why over the next 30 years basically everybody switched to an assault rifle

weve talked some about battle rifles

but nobody uses them anymore

everybody is all about dat assault rifle

the sturmgewehr

pewpew

previous posts

fal

mosin nagant

sks

BUTTHOLE__EMPRESS ago

U are a good writer

ExpertShitposter ago

those paint drawings are worthy of an individual post to the shitty verse!

nice write up! too long DID read.

clamhurt_legbeard ago

ya i thought i had the post separated ahead of time but voat decided to fuck me over

oh well

it worked in the end

im glad you liked it

i made the drawings while not flying lol

thedirtypuma ago

It's times like these when I wish we could stick comments.

Did you draw the short and long stroke piston diagrams?

clamhurt_legbeard ago

upvote it to the top

of course i drew those lol

thedirtypuma ago

You are a true renaissance man.

clamhurt_legbeard ago

i was supposed to be paying attention at work lol

thedirtypuma ago

That was my favorite so far. Thank you for sharing it. I really like the writing style. It's a super easy and funny read while being extremely informative.

These guys are reproducing these rifles at a fraction of the price ($1800) of an original(~$20,000). It looks like you can preorder it now and it will ship soon whenever that is.

clamhurt_legbeard ago

true stuff

there are reviews of that on some youtubes

worth checking out

im glad you like the posts too

cuz u/nadesdha signed me up for like a year of these lol