Stripping the MP43 / Stg44 series

Site Issues 2005 Archive Room
#1

Take one Stg44 rifle:

Remove magazine, and check that it is unloaded!!!:

Remove locking pin:

Pull butt group to the rear:

Completely separate butt group and return spring:

Pull back on cocking handle to remove op rod and bolt from receiver:

Hinge trigger group down to expose trigger mechanism (note similar 3-piece construction to HK G3 rifle):

Let’s take a closer look at the bolt and op-rod. The Stg44 uses a tipping bolt actuated by cams on the op-rod. The rear of the bolt tips down to lock into a recess in the receiver:

When gas impinges on the face of the gas piston, the cam raises the rear of the bolt out of the locking recess:

Note the complete dissimliarity of any of this to the AK47. If I can get my hands on an AK, I’ll give it the same treatment to illustrate the differences.

#2

I find it amazing just how few parts there are. Unless there are more that is. Not like the SA-80’s 437 bits when youve taken it apart. More like the good old SLR, simple and straight forward.

#3

I gave this treatment to an AK47 when I was in the army and I can tell you that seeing the Stg44 now, AK47 is different!!

#4

What’s also amazing is the very very low number of machined parts - as an example, here’s a view along the receiver - it’s largely a pressed steel tube. No machined guide rails (cf. AK47/FAL), no nothing. You can just see the one machined part in the receiver into which the bolt locks (the two knobbles visible under the rear of the barrel are part of this):

Hopefully this series of pictures will finally put the “AK47 is based on the MP44 cos it’s mechanically similar” myth to bed.

#5

Do you know how reliable it was in combat? Did it jam, does it jam easily, how is it affected by dirt etc?

#6

Found some pics on stripping an AK47:

#7

Cheers, Dani - adherents to the myth should carefully study those photos and particularly note that the AK has a ROTATING bolt.

Firefly - it was supposed to be very reliable and dirt-tolerant (it is made to very low tolerances, after all).

#8

I fired the AK-47 in Kosovo (on a range) and it was remarkable how little recoil it seemed to have compared to the SA-80 etc. Strangely though, the Hungarians (who we were firing with) loved the SA-80, especially the SUSAT. I loved the AK. Thats about my full experiance of diffrent weapons Im afraid, apart from M-16’s.

#9

I have never fired a aotomatic weapon, but I know this.

The AK-47 are famous for not jamming and it can be put in dirt or in water and still fire. When the South-African Armed Forces fought in Angola against Swapo they tested the AK-47 by throing dirt down the barrol and fireing it, it kept on working. The AK-47,s parts are made to move around in the gun so that it will not jam or stop working in bad wheather, dirt or water adn snow.This German gun looks like it kicks ass.

Henk

#10

Fired AKs a couple of times, in Iraq and NI, such an easy weapon considering they cost about £6 each in many of the dodgy marketplaces of the world.

Apparently they buried one for three weeks on Salisbury Plain (or some other similar dump) once, then dug it up, made sure the barrel was clear and cracked on with it, not a single stoppage.

#11

NB bold - if there is dirt down the barrel, that is a recipe for a breech explosion. DO NOT TRY THIS EVER EVER EVER!!! Always ensure the barrel is free from obstructions before firing - even a remnant of cleaning patch has been known to cause a breech explosion.

#12

Good post MoS. Very interesting

#13

Where did you get this gen from Henk ?
Any idea of the date ?
Who was doing this ‘testing’ - SAAF ?


As MoS says never, ever, EVER try this with a firearm.

I suspect you have been a gullible* recipient of Chinese whispers - a story that started with a basis in fact and then been embellished with each retelling.

Incidentally, the the efficiency and utility of a wpn is never defined as it’s ability to project a boot into violent contact with a bottom.

  • Strangely enough gullible is not in any dictionary.