How many StG 44s were actually made? There seem to be enough of them still left around in the world, as they were found in Iraq as well. I believe Yugolavian Paratroopers also used them into the 1980s.
Also, notice the top rated comment:
"$20 says these idiots tried loading 7.62x39 in these"
Didn't they find a larger cache in Iraq? Also, a company here in the US is making the STG44 from what I understand. It will only be offered in semi-auto only.
I have read allot about the AK-47/74 for a number of years and I still say that Mr. Kalashnikov copied the STG44 in a few ways to make his babies.
I imagine the maker of that gun is fervently hoping the cache gets destroyed!
Every designer of small arms since Maxim and Browning have been influenced by, or simply copied, elements of the design of existing guns. Kalashnikov must have had StG.44s (and the earlier prototypes, by Walther as well as Haenel, which were captured in 1942) to study and he was probably influenced by their general appearance. But the operating mechanisms are completely different, so while the Russians were inspired by the German assault rifles, it's wrong to regard the AK as a copy of anything.
The sort of caliber, capacity, size/weight, and the use of metal stampings for many parts, can be attributed to the Stg. 44 however.
Don't forget that the original AK used a milled receiver - the AKM with a stamped receiver didn't emerge until 1959.
I imagine the maker of that gun is fervently hoping the cache gets destroyed!
No chance of importing the Syrian rifles into the US. The 1968 Gun Control Act prevents any import of these full-auto guns (no sporting purpose). Even if they were converted into semi-auto prior to import, the 1989 Semi-Automatic Rifle Import Ban would prevent it anyway.
True - but a part of the appeal of the StG.44 is its relative rarity. If the things are still common world-wide, I suspect that would reduce the market for reproductions (especailly expensive ones).
I imagine the maker of that gun is fervently hoping the cache gets destroyed!
Every designer of small arms since Maxim and Browning have been influenced by, or simply copied, elements of the design of existing guns. Kalashnikov must have had StG.44s (and the earlier prototypes, by Walther as well as Haenel, which were captured in 1942) to study and he was probably influenced by their general appearance. But the operating mechanisms are completely different, so while the Russians were inspired by the German assault rifles, it's wrong to regard the AK as a copy of anything.
Tony, as with all other fields of technology German experts from several companies were brought to Russia after 1945 and kept on working together with Mr. kalashnikov.
While it is possible that Hugo Schmeisser spent some time in Izhevsk, it had nothing to do with the AK.
Mikahail Kalashnikov developed his AK-46 at the Red Army testing range near Moscow, several thousand miles from Izhevsk, and co-designed the AK-47 (which was an entirely different beast) in Kovrov, also quite a distance from Izhevsk.
In the course of AK-47 development Kalashnikov and Zaitsev borrowed from quite a lot of other designs, including Browning, Holek and Bulkin (Kalashnikov's rival in the 1946 and 1947 trials), but they hardly borrowed a thing from the Stg.44 except perhaps its general layout and appearance.
The only thing that Schmeisser could possibly have done during his time in Izhevsk was to transfer his knowledge about the rapid production of large and complicated stamped parts, but even if he did so it was all in vain, as in 1950-51 the Izhevsk plant failed to produce the original AK with stamped receivers and had to revert to machined receivers due to the excessive number of rejected guns.
The Russians were not sure if the second assault rifle programme would succeed (the first one being won by the AS44 assault rifle, but Sudayev fell ill and died in 1946, and his rifle died with him), so they had an alternative plan - to manufacture a Russian version of the Sturmgewehr fed by the 7,62 mm x 41 M1943 cartridge. And this is what Schmeisser really did there. Once the mix of Bulkin's TKB-415 and mostly Dementev's KBP-410 and Kalashnikov's TKB-580 in something called the AK-46 and AK-47, fed first by the 7,62 mm x 41 M1943 and then AK-48 fed by alternative 7,62 mm x 39 M1943, had passed all tests and entered serial production, they abandon the Soviet Sturmgewehr project and release Schmeisser and his colleagues.