Our journey through the Sturmgewehr story is nearing the end as we present you with the last variant to be issued before the end of WWII – an StG 44 produced by J. P. Sauer in the chaotic last weeks of WWII. Read on for another LSB journey in firearms history…

As we have seen in previous posts, the original and technically correct designation ‘Maschinen Karabiner’, or ‘MKb’, gave way to ‘Maschinen Pistole’, or ‘MP’, which does anything but describe this firearm for what it is. The reason for this was to camouflage the development of the rifle from Hitler’s attention, as he was opposed to the project in its earlier stages. Consequently, the model designation progressed in this manner:

1942 - MKb 42(W) – Walther’s troop trial series (under 200)

1942/43 - MKb 42(H) – Haenel’s troop trial series (11,832)

1943 – MP 43/1 – First production series by Haenel (under 25,000)

1943/44 – MP 43 – Second production series by Haenel, later joined by ERMA, Sauer & Steyr

1944/45 – MP 44 – Full production series by Haenel, ERMA, Sauer & Steyr

1945 – StG 44 – Last production series by Haenel, ERMA, Sauer & Steyr

There exists in a private collection in the U.S.A. a Haenel-made Sturmgewehr marked with the model designation ‘MP 45’. This example has serial number 89/A and bears the Waffenamt inspection mark. Its receiver is considerably different to the standard one. It is believed to have been a design improvement by Hugo Schmeisser that the factory built shortly before the change in designation to ‘StG’ but which did not enter into production.  

So how did the model designation finally come to be ‘StG’ or ‘Sturmgewehr’? A note issued from the ‘Führerhauptquartier’ on 22 October 1944 carried Adolf Hitler’s order that “the M.P.44 shall in future replace the Karabiner 98 k as the weapon of the German infantry. The infantryman shall receive a weapon capable of precise single-fire as well as burst-fire. The designation ‘M.P.’ does not correspond to the weapon and its potential use. For this reason, the ‘M.P.44’ shall receive the designation ‘Sturmgewehr 44’”. The man who was so opposed to its development had come to realise its potential and christen it appropriately ‘Sturmgewehr’, which means ‘assault rifle’, the name that has been used to this very day for military rifles that fire an intermediate round, have a fire-selector switch and a detachable magazine.

The example that we are presenting today bears the Sauer maker code ‘ce’ with the corresponding Waffenamt code ‘eagle/37’. The receiver is also marked with Mauser’s code ‘byf’ and the corresponding Waffenamt code ‘eagle/135’. Its serial number is 256al/45. This confirms that the rifle was manufactured in the latter half of March 1945, just before production came to an end and the war ended. The trigger group bears a different serial number, 5396h. However, the phosphate grey finish is the same as on the rest of the rifle, and it is practically intact. It is displayed with an 'StG 45' marked magazine made by Adolf Grohmann  u. Sohn (code 'qlw') in the town of Würbenthal, which is now called Vrbno pod Pradědem as it lies in Czechia close to the border with Poland.

The total number of all types of Sturmgewehr built until the war ended is believed to be around 425,000. Some sources quote the figure of 436,000. It remains the most significant infantry weapon developed during WWII and one which had a considerable influence of the development of the modern assault rifle, starting with Kalashnikov’s AK rifle. However, our story does not end here with regards to the final development of the German assault rifle. Look out for tomorrow’s post!

If you have not done so already, please take some time to follow Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons discussing the evolution of the Sturmgewehr

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