Thanks to a member who wishes to remain anonymous, here are some photos of German developed select fire weapons. These are considered the founding members of the assualt rifle family. The first three were designs submitted for a requested light, select fire rifle. First is a Fallschirmjägergewehr 42 (FG-42), developed by Rheinmetall-Borsig and selected for paratroop use. Second is the Maschinenkarabiner 42 (MKb-42H) developed by Haenel, and third is the Maschinenkarabiner 42 (MKb-42W) developed by Walther. Both were field tested and the Walther version was selected for further development as the MKb-43. Next is a Sturmgewehr 44 (SG-44), the production version of the Walther design. Last is a Sturmgewehr 45 (SG-45), the final version produced toward the end of the war. Hope you enjoy the photos

The SG-45,

wonderfull pictures !! never understoood how germany entered WWII with a bolt action rifle when they knew that their ultimate foe was going to be the red army. i have always thought that the fg-42 was the ultimate infantry weapon of the war - only needed a slightly longer barrel to get rid of that long flash !!!

Vern, thanks to you and the anonymous member for posting these terrific pictures. I must however take issue with including
the FG-42 under the title of "Assault Rifle". Since it fires a full powered 7.92x56mm round, it doesn't really qualify for the
assault rifle category. The general consensus of opinion for assault rifles being a light select-fire shoulder weapon firing an
intermediate powered cartridge such as the 7.92x31mm German cartridge and the Soviet 7.62x39mm - among others..

This is certainly not a complaint; just a clarification. Thanks again for the pix.

I agree that the FG-42 as produced is not an Assault Rifle. I believe it was included because some of the initial test models were chambered for the 7.92x33mm Kruz cartridge. Even though those models were rejected because they would not fire a rifle grenade, many features of the lighter models carried over to the MKb-42 project. That would make it a close cousin

If for no other reason, the FG-42 should be pictured here for it's over-the-top "cool" factor.

Definitely!!!

Here's a shot of a dewat bring-home that was kept under a bed for nearly 40 years.

Sweet!! And a 1st model, too!

Reloaded the photos for the Assault Rifle and Light Machine Gun Galleries. Got some better photos and added a few models. Also resized them to make viewing easier. Please go to the GDC Reference Library and take a look

OOPS! I just realized my typo above. The German cartridge should be 7.92x33mm. Thanks for the correction, Vern...