Fabricated with a stamped steel body reinforced by a wooden stock, it functioned on gas and provided selective fire capabilities through a tilting bolt mechanism. This innovative “machine carbine” was chambered for the full-powered 7.92 mm Kurz round, developed in 1938, and represented a departure from conventional designs. Picture of two soldiers taken in World War II (Photo: History) It underwent field trials on the Eastern Front.

This endeavor resulted in the Mkb 42, which entered limited production, yielding between 10,000 and 11,833 units. At the core of their research and development lay the creation of a weapon optimized for engagements within a 300-meter range. Haenel emerged as the victor, owing to the dedication of Hugo Schmeisser’s development team. Consequently, the development task was assigned to two firms, Walther and Haenel, with some accounts suggesting their involvement as early as 1939. The Wehrmacht urgently required a new small arm. But the war ended before development was very far advanced the design was later taken to Spain and further developed into the CETME rifle, and then returned to Germany where, considerably improved, it is now produced as the Heckler & Koch Gewehr 3 and as well as being the standard rifle of the German Bundeswehr is widely used throughout the world.This formidable assortment featured menacing adversaries such as the PPS and PPSh-41 submachine guns, the Tokarev SVT-40 semi-automatic rifle, the ever-reliable Mosin Nagant bolt-action rifle, and even the distinctive Degtyaryov DP-28 light machine gun. Numerous designs were put forward, the most successful being that by Mauserwerke. In spite of this, a contract was issued in 1944 to develop an even better weapon, tentatively known as the Sturmgewehr 45. Nevertheless, the design was exceptionally robust and reliable one German report stated: ‘Of all infantry weapons, the MP44 was the only one which always worked unobjectionable in Russia’s dirt, cold and snow-dust, had no misfires and was resistant to stoppages.’ Indeed, the original design (by Hugo Schmeisser) had to be considerably modified by the Merz Company of Frankfurt, who were specialists in metal pressing and stamping, to enable production to be done on simple presses. The MP44 was one of the first German weapons in which production was put before finish, no importance being attached to fine appearance or close tolerances except where they were vital. Moreover, according to a statement by Hauptdienstleiter Saur, then chief of the Technical Office of the German Ministry of Munitions, ‘it was also rejected on the grounds that there were, at the time, 8 milliard (eight thousand million) rounds of standard 7.92 mm ammunition in stock, and nobody would take the responsibility that these would become worthless.’ Development began under the name ‘Machine Carbine’ as we have seen with the MkB42, but in spite of favorable reports from the trials, Hitler rejected the weapon because he demanded longer range for infantry weapons, basing this decision on his alleged experiences in World War One and because he wanted, particularly for the battles in North Africa, a rifle capable of long-range fire. The nomenclature ‘Machine Pistol’ arose not from any attempt at security but was due to internal politics. As a result of their reports the Haenel pattern was selected for further development, particularly as far as simplification for mass-production was concerned, and the finalized design was issued as the Machine Pistol MP43. About 4,000 of the Walther and 8,000 of the Haenel model were produced in 1942-43 and issued to selected units on the Eastern Front for evaluation.

The Walther design used an annular gas piston surrounding the barrel to operate a tipping bolt, while the Haenel pattern used a more conventional gas cylinder and piston mounted below the barrel, also operating a tipping bolt. The resulting weapons were known as the Maschinenkarabiner 42-MkB42(H) and MkB42(W). With the design of cartridge settled, contracts were placed with Carl Walther and Haenel for the production of suitable rifles.

Karabiner sturmgewehr