Hello friends,
What a surprise I got when I dug a huge signal today! My first-ever gun. But not just any gun. An actual Nazi machine gun! It's an StG 44. I'm going to give it to one of my detecting buddies. He is way more interested in the WW2 stuff than I am.
From Wikipedia:
The StG 44 was the first successful assault rifle, with features including an intermediate cartridge, controllable automatic fire, a more compact design than a battle rifle with a higher rate of fire, and being designed primarily for hitting targets within a few hundred metres. Other rifles at the time were designed to hit targets of over a thousand meters, but this was found to be in excess of the range in which most enemy engagements actually took place.
The StG 44 fulfilled its role effectively, particularly on the Eastern Front, offering a greatly increased volume of fire compared to standard infantry rifles. The StG largely influenced the Soviet AK-47, introduced three years after the war concluded. The StG's influence can still be seen in modern assault rifles, which, after World War II, became the global standard for infantry rifles.
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