Intermediate-cartridge assault rifle (MP 43 / StG 44)
Fusil de asalto con cartucho intermedio (MP 43 / StG 44)
- Date
- 1943-1944 · confidence high
- Place
- Suhl, Thuringia, Germany
- Credited to
- Hugo Schmeisser (C. G. Haenel)
- Field
- Conflict
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
An automatic individual weapon firing an intermediate-power cartridge (7.92 × 33 mm), between rifle and pistol rounds, with a selector for semi-automatic or burst fire. It was the first mass-produced assault rifle and defined the category.
The Fedorov Avtomat (Russia, 1915) and the Mkb 42(H) are precedents; the name 'Sturmgewehr' is attributed to a decision by Hitler in 1944, according to a disputed anecdote.
What it led to
- the AK-47
- the FAL, G3 and M16 rifles
- modern infantry doctrine of individual automatic weapons