StG 44s by Barbarossa

640px-MP44_-_Tyskland_-_8x33mm_Kurz_-_Armémuseum.jpg


Let's say Hugo Schmeisser slips on a banana peel and hits his head, resulting in the epiphany of the StG 44 occuring to him in the late 30s. (it's a stretch but the PoD really doesn't matter)

What I'm curious about is what effect would either this, or any one of its closest german assault rifle counterparts have on infantry performance during the first campaign season of Barbarossa if soldiers were outfitted enmass?
 
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Deleted member 1487

Unlikely to happen for the technical reasons, but the Vollmer M35 could be ready to go pre-WW2 and used just by say the mobile infantry with Panzer and motorized divisions if they hit on adopting the 7.92mm Kurz.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vollmer_M35
http://cdn.paladin-press.com/downlo...nichonGermanSmallArmsofWorldWarsIandIIPg1.pdf
tmp_dropzone_vollmermaschinenkarabiner-tfb.jpg


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It was a complex and expensive weapon, but apparently reliable (not sure if in field conditions in the East though).

Apparently though only available in small quantities, the weapon allowed for firepower dominance over even larger American units with Garands and BARs. So likely in tactical combat the Germans will be even more dominant from the beginning of the war on with a gun like that. The question is does anyone else copy it? Theoretically if the US had put in the effort they could have turned the Garand in to an M14 in WW2.
 
As Viking says it gives the average infantry unit superior firepower over its 'peers' in small unit combat

However WW2 was not won with small arms!
 
ITTL though...


Don't give the Brits to much credit to be so far sighted :p

Why not - they produced the Sten after copying German SMGs - if instead the Germans are running around with STG...39s instead of KAR98s and MP38/40s then the British would copy that instead!
 

Deleted member 1487

Why not - they produced the Sten after copying German SMGs - if instead the Germans are running around with STG...39s instead of KAR98s and MP38/40s then the British would copy that instead!
Badly copying the MP28:
The Sten has been described as: highly unreliable, prone to jamming, and inaccurate beyond 30 meters. It was unsuitable for guerrilla operations in open country because it encouraged waste of ammunition. But it was easy and cheap to produce – a gun was said to cost fifteen shillings (three quarters of a pound) – and was supplied to the (French) Resistance in huge quantities.[3]

So you're right, maybe they produce really shitting Volksstrumgewehr knockoffs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkssturmgewehr
Testing of a captured Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr at a Soviet GAU shooting range showed that it was rather inaccurate, with 50% of the shots at 100 m landing in a circle with 10.2 cm radius and with 100% of the shots at the same distance landing in a circle with a 19.8 cm radius. At 300 m these the corresponding radii were respectively 25 and 50.3 cm. The fixed sights of the Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr made aiming difficult because the Kurz patrone rose some 29 cm above the sightline at 100 m and dropped 43 cm below it at 300 m.[6]
 
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