An interesting story at The Firearm Blog for those who like to know about the weapons where airsoft replicas take their design from... "The German Sturmgewehr is a firearm that needs no introduction. It was the world’s first true successful assault rifle (despite what some people have to say about the Fedorov Avtomat) and was used with great success by the forces of the Third Reich. This truly revolutionary instrument of war inspired countless other designs and influenced many small arms developed during the 20th century. It is amazing that these guns still make the news and are often still used in combat.

This particular example we will be reviewing is an early MP43/1 pre-production model.  This rifle was manufactured between December 1942 and April 1943. This would have been just after the MKb 42 initial manufacturing tests.  In December 1942 Hitler ordered all pre-production test weapons to halt due to some fighting in the Third Reich hierarchy, but going against the fuhrer some men re-designated it the MP-43 to place it under the sub machinegun contract and it was allowed to continue in secrecy (that only went on from 12/42 to 4/43 so this rifle is most likely manufactured in that period).  The most April 1943 MP43′s and late production MP43′s were stamped over with STG-44 after Hitler approved the weapon for combat.  Those are usually called overstamped 44′s.  It does have the earlier front sight, and it does have a stepped barrel so that puts it in the 1943 time frame."

Read the full story at The Firearm Blog.