Stg 44 Rated E Sturmgewehr WWii Gun T Shirt

Stg 44 Rated E Sturmgewehr WWii Gun T Shirt

The StG44 (Sturmgewehr 44 or "assault rifle model 1944") was an assault rifle  developed in Nazi Germany during WWII and was the first of its kind to see major deployment. It is also known under the designations MP43 and MP44...(Maschinenpistole 43, Maschinenpistole 44 respectively), which denotes earlier development versions of the same armament. MP43, MP44, and StG44 were different designations for what was essentially the same rifle, with minor updates in manufacturing.  The variety in the naming formats resulted from complicated circumstances in Germany in WWII. Developed from the Mkb 42 (H) "machine carbine", the StG44 combined the characteristics of a carbine, sub-machine gun and automatic rifle. StG is an abb. of  the Sturmgewehr assault rifle. The name was preferred for the propaganda reasons and literally means storm rifle as in "to storm an enemy point" (i.e. "assault", leading to the modern terminology "assault rifle"). After the adoption of the StG44, the English translation "assault rifle" became the accepted designation for this type of infantry small arm. The rifle was chambered for the

7.92x33mm Kurz cartridge, also known as 7.92 mm Kurz (German for short). This shorter version of the German standard (7.92x57mm Mauser) 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 StG44 had less range and power than the more powerful infantry rifles of the day, Wehrmacht studies had shown that most combat engagements occurred at less than 300 m with the majority within 200 m. Full-power rifle cartridges were overpowered for the vast majority of uses for the average enlisted man. The StG44's receiver was made of heavy stamped and welded steel as were other contemporary arms such as the MP40 and MG42. This made for a fairly heavy rifle, especially one firing an intermediate-power cartridge. Difficulties with fabrication, the need to use available non-priority steels, and the exigencies of war resulted in a heavy receiver. U.S. military intelligence criticized the weight of the weapon along with the inclusion of the fully automatic feature which it considered "ineffectual for all practical purposes."  The British were also critical 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. Many of these criticisms are more a testimonial of the Allied aversion rather than an accurate view of the weapon's characteristics which were proven during combat in the war. To its credit, it was the first weapon of its class, and the concept had a major result on modern infantry small arms development. By all accounts, the StG44 fulfilled its role admirably, particularly on the Eastern Front, offering a greatly increased volume of fire compared to average infantry rifles. In the end, it came too late to have a significant effect on the outcome of the war.

MG42
The Mg42's most popular features was its comparatively high rate of fire of about 1,200 rounds per minute, twice the rate of the British Vickers machine gun and American Browning at 600 round/min. So distinct and terrifying was the weapon that the United States Army  created training films to aid its soldiers in dealing with the psychological trauma of struggling with the weapon in battle. At such a high rate the human ear cannot easily discern the sound of individual bullets  being fired, and in use the gun makes a sound described as like "ripping cloth" and giving rise to the nickname "Hitler's buzzsaw", or, more coarsely, "Hitler's zipper" (Soviet soldiers called it the "linoleum ripper"). German soldiers called it Hitlersäge ("Hitler's saw") or "Bonesaw". The gun was sometimes called "Spandau" by British troops from the manufacturer's plates noting the district of Berlin where some were produced, much like the Germans' own World War I MG 08  had been nicknamed. Notwithstanding the MG42's high rate of fire, the Handbook of the German Army (1940) forbade the firing of more than 250 rounds in a single burst and indicated a sustained rate of no more than 300–350 rounds per minute to minimize barrel wear and over-heating.The high rate of fire resulted from experiments with preceding weapons that concluded that since a soldier only has a short period of time to shoot at an enemy, it was imperative to fire the highest number of bullets possible to increase the likelihood of a hit. This principle was also behind the Vickers GO aircraft gun. The disadvantage of applying this principle was that the weapon consumed exorbitant amounts of ammunition and quickly overheated its barrel, making sustained fire problematic.The method of barrel change made the MG-42 unsuitable for secondary or co-axial armament on WW2 era German tanks with the exception of the Jagdpanzer IV. Early versions of the Jagdpanzer IV carried two standard (no modification made) MG42's on both sides of the gun mantlet/glacis, firing through a ball slot which was protected by an armored cover (with the MG42 retracted) when not in use. Later version Jagdpanzer IV's carried only one MG-42 on the left side.The MG42 weighed 11.6 kg in the light role with the bipod, lighter than the MG 34 and easily portable. The bipod, the same one used on the MG 34, could be mounted to the front or the center of the gun depending on where it was being used. For sustained fire use, it was matched to the newly-developed Lafette 42 tripod, which weighed 20.5 kg on its own. The barrel had polygonal rifling and was lighter than the MG 34's and heated more quickly, but could be replaced in seconds by an experienced gunner. The optimum operating crew of an MG-42 for sustained fire operation was six men: the gun commander, the No.1 who fired the gun, the No.2 who carried the tripod, and Nos.3, 4, and 5 who carried ammunition, spare barrels, entrenching tools, and other items. For additional protection the commander, No.1 and No.2 were armed with pistols, while the remaining three carried rifles. This large team was often reduced to just three: the gunner, the loader (also barrel carrier), and the spotter. The gunner of the MG42 was preferably a junior non-commissioned officer (or Unteroffizier).U.S. and British doctrine of the era centered around the rifleman, with the machine gun serving a support role. German doctrine was the reverse, with the machine gun placed in a central role and rifleman employed in support. This meant that German forces deployed far more machine guns per equivalent-sized unit than the allies, and that allied troops assaulting a German position almost invariably faced the firepower of the MG42. It was possible for operating crews to lay down a non-stop barrage of fire, ceasing only when the barrel had to be replaced. This allowed the MG42 to tie up significantly larger numbers of enemy troops. Both the Americans and the British trained their units to take cover from the fire of an MG42, and assault the position during the small window of barrel replacement. The superior rate of fire of the MG42 sometimes proved a vulnerability, mainly in that, while the weapon could be used to devastating effect, it could quickly drain off its ammunition supply. For this reason, it was not uncommon for all soldiers operating near an MG 42 to carry extra ammunition, thus providing the MG 42 with a backup source when its main supply was exhausted.