Stocks without spare parts compartment
A few "Einheitskolben" are seen without the trapdoor. These stocks have a number at the bottom (most probably added after the war) and the letters "JC" or "ac" - or more probable reversed "ce" on the left side in front of the sling slot.
The next photo shows the normal stock with the small booklet and tool.
 

The stock above is serial numbered - not original Wehrmacht made. The stock is marked "TG2". Some say this means: Tschekisches Gewehr fabrik (Czech rifle factory) - the code can also be: "tgf" - but it isn't easy to understand why the Czechs should use a German name after the war.

Improved bolt
The improved bolt - left - has a large diagonal relief beneath the exactor (removed here) to accumulate residue. Picture in the middle: a MP43/1 bolt. There is no slit for the extractor spring. The bolt for the MKb42 is possibly the same.  To the right: Note the edge on which the extractor rests.
   

Extractors and firing pins
Below some examples of extractors. The left doesn't look original. A new extractor was put in production in 1944 and some hand fitting was necessary if the a new extractor should be used in an old bolt. Apparently this change was made in conjunction with the addition of the transverse groove.
The first firing pin with 4 sides is for the MKb42. The next two triangular firing pins are original MP44 firing pins; first with radiused curves, later with flat sides. Because of risk of slamfire the firing pin must be as light as possible. I believe that the last firing pin was made after the war.
 

Below another row of extractors. The first on the left is marked "Erb" with a crown on top (just like parts from WW1 ?). The next 3 VK marked ones are Yugo. The fxo ones are German; perhaps also the ms marked. The last 6 are unknown.


Magazine release button
The checkered type of button was used in the beginning - later appeared the raised ring version - simpler to produce.
 

A StG44 magazine with an U-construction
It's marked: STG44, qlw and WaA892.
The type is seen with Czech post war markings: E46 - in some cases E46 over stamped the German marking but this here has only the Wehrmacht codes.
Note here the U-construction instead of the normal pattern with two half stampings.



Another special magazine
It's marked MP45 to one side and gqm WaAA98 to the other. I guess such a magazine is produced at the beginning of 1945. They have perhaps thought: We have had MP43 magazines, last year we produced MP44 magazines; now we are in 1945 - so this must be a MP45 magazine ? MP45 magazines are only known with the code gqm.

  

A 10 round magazine
One would be inclined to think that a 10 round MP44 magazine with only a production code on the floor plate is a post war fake. But something indicates that such a magazine was made in a limited quantity during the war - perhaps for the Mauser made Stg45M (Gerät 06), which never came in production and always is pictured with a 10 round magazine - (or the soldiers themself shortened 30 round magazines to avoid a high shooting position).
I got the first 3 photos from a well-known MP44 magazine collector. He bought it in 1990 for 150 $. It was the only one in a batch of several hundred magazines. The only marking is "CHN" on the floor plate.
   

The next photo is a "Bodenfunde" (grounddug) from Poland. It looks like it has been in the earth for several decades.


Again next a complete MP44 with a short magazine.


Then you see two photos of 100 % relic from the battle of Bulge - found in a barn there. This magazine appears to be very short. I think it's front-made modification.
 

A magazine was seen on eBay in 2006. (description: the magazine was produced for the Stg45M - of which only 4 were made - Mauser tried to salvage the Stg45M, but they were bombed in a train in Austria the last days of the war). The fact is that the Germans decided late in the war to transfer production equipment away from the front line and allied bombing. On April 19, 1945, a train with 29. box cars departed from Oberndorf, heading for the Alps. There were production equipment for a monthly production of 20,000 K98k, blue prints, models, personnel, etc. On April 30, the Odyssey stopped in the Austrian Alps. The project was hopeless and only a few boxes were unloaded. So it's very possible that the shown magazine really was made by Mauser.
Mauser's Geraet 06 / StG 45 (M) is usually shown with a 10 shot magazine. Probably it was planned to use a 30 shot magazine, but initially they used a 10 shot magazine simply because they couldn't use a 30 shot magazine in Mauser's shooting machine.(source: Handrich, Sturmgewehr 44, 2.nd edition, page 294)
 

An original? 10 shot magazine
New old stock. 2 magazines were on eGun in the beginning of 2022. The text was: Rarity from a hoard of a former depot Factory Combat Groups of the DDR - in the original packaging, probably hardly used.
The magazines are not just shortened 30 round magazines. On the left side the type (MP44) and on the right side WaA37 and the producer (fxo = Haenel). The floor plate is marked fxo.
Are these magazines genuine Wehrmacht or just outright fakes?
 

Unoriginal? 10 shot magazines
The never ending story about 10 shot magazines. Seen on eGun in middle of 2022.
The magazines are not just shortened 30 round magazines. On the left side the type (MP44) or (StG44) and on the right side WaA255 and the producer (ctd = Anton Reiche). The floor plate is marked ctd.
Are these magazines just outright fakes or perhaps genuine Wehrmacht? I think they are in the fake category because 1) The WaA255 looks strange and 2) a ctd marked floor plate has never been seen before (now).
   


A double magazine
Probably a front line modification. That way it was possible to quickly change magazine - almost equivalent to a 60 shot magazine. It could not be in the magazine pouches so it should be permanently on the weapon.


Does a special MP44 sling really exist ?
See more on the "Sling section"

A special late MP44 sling - no
This Steyr produced MP44 was found with a dead German soldier near Besançon. It has a strap and a D-ring from a gas mask. It has been said that the last produced Steyr MP's were provided with gas mask straps instead of the normal leather karabiner sling.
See pictures below: (Collection E.F.W.)





The manuals
1. D1853/2 from Feb. 25, 1943  MKb42 (H)
2. D1854/2 from Aug. 31, 1943  MP43/1
The manual has 35 numbered pages.


3. D1854/3 from June 3, 1944  MP44
4. D1854/3 from Dec., 1944  StG44
The Dec., 1944 edition was a reprint of the June edition. The only change was the new name. No MP43 buttstock manual was made. These small buttstock manuals have only 16 numbered pages, so they contain not so much information as the two earlier manuals.
Click on the picture below to see the last manual:

From a Soldbuch
 
Click above images to enlarge - the soldier was first issued with MP38/40 and then at last with a MP44.

And another Soldbuch
   
Click above images to enlarge - the soldier was issued with a MP44 #2333 Dec. 12, 1944. He was wounded in Stalingrad - got a wound badge, and participated in the Battle of Anzio and later in several fightings further north in Italy. Was alive April 1, 1945.

A MP44 flash eliminator
Most probably made after the war (Etzel sold them in the early nineties for 150 DM). Some have nazi eagles and WaA63.

A flash eliminator seen on a Hungarian auction

The MP44 was the ancestor of weapons
made after the war; especially AK47 but HK93 here - 30 years later - has the same basic characteristics as MP44. Separation of the main parts is also the same for the two weapons, but the internal functions are much different. (I doubt that the HK93 was an improvement in that respect)

 

CB51 - made in Spain
A semi-automatic rifle in cal. 8x33.

 

CAM 1 - The Argentinian MP44 copy
Only 3 were produced. Some more information about this rare weapon here.

   

BD44 / PTR44 made by Sport Systeme Dittrich
200 PTR44 were imported to USA by SSD in Germany. The gun was / is labeled as BD44 in all other countries. I understand that the PTR44 was assembled in USA with some US made parts - and not all were heat treated properly, which has caused some problems. The bolt and op-rod bolt should preferably be replaced with original parts and the same can be said about the magazine!!

The main problem is the "fodder": No one makes a perfect 8mm kurz round. Hornady and Prvi are the only commercial manufactures and even if one hand loads, there are no powders identical to the WWII 8mm kurz powder.

BD44



PTR44
See below a PTR44 - a pretty close copy of the ancestor - here with a rail for the ZF4 scope mount. Underneath receiver: fxo and cos but no Nazi chicken!




     

StG44 in cal .22
Produced by German Sporting Guns (in Germany of course) in cal. 22LR. It's said it's very well made and it shoots good also. The magazines have 2, 10, 15 or 25 rounds.

Differences between the 6 factories which made the final assembly:

Haenel - code fxo, WaA37
Haenel developed the whole concept and produced all versions right from the beginning - Mkb42(H), MP43/1, MP43, MP44 and StG44. About 185,000 were produced.
Haenel serial number letters are German Gothic script inspired type / normal lowercase letters - sometimes 2 letters. See examples further down. Haenel barrels are marked with fxo and some have a kind of serial number on them that has nothing to do with the serial number of the gun. Haenel ceased the production in early April 1945 because the presence of US troops in the Suhl-area. The same must be true for Sauer and Erma.
On underside of receiver forward of mag well: cos / WaAA44 (Merz Werke), fxo (Haenel), WaA37 - twice (Haenel/Sauer) and a Nazi-eagle (German army proof).
 

Steyr - codes bnz / swj, WaA623
The whole Steyr production is designated MP44. 80,000 were made. The MP's have a muzzle nut and no scope mount. The last were crudely made. Steyr produced most of the parts themself incl. the receivers but not the trigger housings.
Steyr serial number letters are capital letters (966 I/XE can be misread as 9661/XE). XE means 1945. Steyr barrels always have a Steyr "bnz" shield.
The first Steyr receivers were "normal", but note here below a simplified Steyr main housing - below further again two "normal" receivers from Erma and Sauer. Steyr continued the production to the very end; that means in the beginning of May. The factory was occupied on May 5. by American troops.
On underside of receiver forward of mag well: swj - or bnz (Steyr), WaA623 (Steyr) and a Nazi-eagle (German army proof).
 

Erma - codes ayf / qlv, WaA280
Erma produced MP43, MP44 and StG44. 104,000 were made.
Erma serial number letters are regular lowercase letters - at last 2 letters. Erma barrels will have nothing more than a letter such as "Q" or "S" and also have "ayf" or "qlv".
On underside of receiver forward of the mag well: cos / WaAA44 (Merz Werke), ayf or qlv (Erma), WaA280 (Erma) and a Nazi-eagle (German army proof).
   

Hugo Schiffer - code afv, WaA288
The number below should be: 9341ar/45 - not easy to see. The two pictures below are from the same gun. There exists only the receiver today. Stamped MP44, not StG44 but very few are seen.
 

I think that the receiver above and the receiver below both are marked: "cos", "WaAA44", "afv" and WaA288. "afv" is: Hugo Schiffer, Luedenscheid. The town is not far away from Merz-Werke (cos). Peter Senich mentions in his book (p. 85) that Hugo Schiffer was a possible final assembler. The reason for the shift may have been to replace final assembly sites to Luedenscheid away from Thuringia which was threatened by Russion troops. The production at Hugo Schiffer was apparently not very large and since the code "afv" is very close to Erma's code "qlv" and at the same time the WaA number WaA288 is very close to Ermas WaA280, then there is a very likely possibility that one thought that a certain MP44 had been assembled at Erma, where it was actually assembled at Hugo Schiffer.
Please contact me if you think you have seen a weapon that can have been made at Hugo Schiffer - afv, WaA288.

Sauer - code ce, WaA37
Sauer produced MP43, MP44 and StG44. 55,000 were made.
Sauer serial number letters are regular lowercase letters - at last 2 letters. Sauer barrels are always marked "ce".
On underside of receiver forward of mag well: cos / WaAA44 (Merz Werke), ce (Sauer), WaA37 (Haenel/Sauer) and a Nazi-eagle (German army proof).
 

Mauser, Borsigwalde - code dd, WaA1
Mauser produced StG44. Perhaps 2,000 were made - all in 1945?.
On underside of receiver forward of mag well: cos ? / WaA1, SUP and a Nazi-eagle (German army proof).
Please contact me if you think you have seen a weapon with the code dd.
 

Mauser, Oberndorf - code byf / svw, WaA135
Mauser produced receivers for Haenel, Erma and Sauer but did not assemble the guns. Mauser made receivers are marked with the code "byf" or "svw". Mauser receivers are seen with small letters - sometimes capital letters in Gothic style. (Who numbered the receivers - and how was it ensured that the same number wasn't reused?).  On underside of receiver forward of mag well: byf (Mauser), WaA135 (Mauser), fxo (Haenel), WaA37 (Haenel/Sauer) and a Nazi-eagle (German army proof).

Deutsche Kühl- und Kraftmaschinen, Zschopau - code sup. / SUP
not so far from the Czech border. Foreign troope arrived Sauer, Haenel and Erma in the middle of April but never came to Zschopau before the war ended. The DKK fabricated receiver housings till the end. From April 1945 on they acted also as assembly firm. Parts and personnel had been transferred from Haenel/Suhl to Zschopau - including the WaA37 acceptance personnel.
Another interesting thing is that a batch of DKK receiver housings that were to be delivered to Haenel/Suhl were redirected to Steyr. That is the reason why some of the weapons assembled by Steyr are stamped StG44 (and sup.) instead of MP44. (credits to Dieter Handrich) I have pictures that show a receiver marked StG44 and SUP 5/5, but I am not allowed to publish them. It is the only case I have heard of a SUP reciver made in May 1945. Steyr may have had production in May 1945, but I don't know when that production stopped. The other factories stopped production in April 1945.

Old German handwriting
One could assume that Hitler would prefer the old German type and handwriting, but that was not the case. Already in 1934, he spoke in strong terms against this type. The Nazis decided in 1941 that the Ghotic script was too Jewish and as such should be completely banned. It was at least the official reason, but the real reason was the Gothic font was unknown outside Germany, which was unfortunate if Germany was to be the dominant power in Europe.
There are several versions of the old German handwriting. The last version "Sutterlin Schrift" was taught in all German schools op to 1941 - see below:


Examples of Haenel letters:
   2836a - a normally written "a"
    8850b - a normally written "b"
    4743c - a normally written "c"
    847d - a normally written "d"
    7381g - a normally written "g"
    3671h - a normally written "h"
    127 l - a normally written "l"
    1668m - a normally written "m"
    7185q - a normally written "q" - and "g" are difficult to distinguish from "g"

    5722t - a normally written "t"
    1025u - a normally printed "u"
    8030u - a normally written "u"
    5402v - an almost normally written "v"
    8025w - a Ghotic "w"
    5125x - a Ghotic "x"
    6691y - a normally written "y". See further up on this page a Sauer assembled MP44 with number 6067y/44. Both factories were from the town Suhl, so it's reasonable to imagine that the factories cooperated. They shared also the same WaA-inspector (37).

Letters in the serial numbers: Haenel: nothing, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, k, l, m, n, q, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, ai, aj Erma: i, k, n, o, r, s, z, aa, ab, af Hugo Schiffer: ar ? Sauer: p, u, y, ab, ac, ad, ae, ai, al Steyr: nothing, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J (I not so tall) Mauser, Borsigwalde: nothing /45 See a picture of a large collection I presume from USA - everything is so vast there ! Below a part of a French collection.

Who used the Sturmgewehrs? Where did they end?
The Eastern front
The top photo shows the first unauthorized use of German hardware. When the German troops advanced in Russia they used to some extent Russian weapons such as the SVT40. The guns and ammunition was readlily available. The same happened for the long trail for the Russians westward - they used German MP and StG. The partisans in Poland and Ukraine used what they could get.
Next is a postcard to the family. I read on the backside: We have a peaceful time here at the front. We play accordion and on the Sundays we shoot for fun our super rare MKb42(H).

   

After the war
About 440,000 Mkb42 / MP43/1 / MP43 / MP44 / StG44 were produced and a great proportion of them were destroyed in combat. In Denmark for example were all previously German weapons British property. They had no use for such weapons - they had plenty of their own weapons - (albeit not in the same quality, think of German tanks, submarines and Sturmgewehrs), so all weapons were destroyed quickly. I presume the same happened all over the Western front and Italy. But not in Norway. Norway reused all kinds of German handguns such as K98, P08, P38, MG34, MG42 and to some extent the G43. But I don't think that the MP44 was used by any troops. The ammunition was problematic and they had too few MP44 because Norway wasn't given priority for the Wehrmacht to the most modern handguns.
The Russians could use such hand weapons, so they confiscated weapons and spare parts, this concerned also G43, K98 and pistols, they were renovated and stored. They didn't use the MP/StG44's themself but handed them over to other East Bloc states such as DDR and perhaps also to Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
The guess is that more than 100,000 MP44 existed in the Eastern block in the late forties. Where did these end up?

Czechoslovakia to the early fifties
The Czech's had many MP/StG44 left over from the more than 800,000 troops ended there by the armistice in May 1945. They made ammo for them from 1945 to 1946. The guns were still in service at the time of the State Funeral of Masaryk in 1948, just about the time of the communist take over. Some sources say that Czechoslovakia had more than 20,000 guns in stock in 1950.
After that, with the adoption of the VZ52 and VZ58, the Sturmgewehrs (Samopal in Czech) were relegated to reserve and training use or export to "friendly states in Africa and the Middle East". The Libanese Forces indicate for example they had used the MP44/StG4 rifles.The Czechs supplied a lot of either reconditioned or new ex-WW2 firearms to DDR from 1950 to about 1960 + ammo to match.

DDR to the early sixties
A systematic use of the MP44 was in Eastern Germany, where die Volkspolizei (the People's Police) used the MP44; The VoPo-name was used from 1946 and consisted of former Wehrmacht soldiers converted to communism. By Nov. 1946 the VoPo had more than 45,000 men, and in the same month the border police was created with 3,000 men. In Dec. 1946 the transportpolizei was established. The forces were organized and equipped as light infantery. Later the regular army was equipped with MP44's. DDR produced kurz up to 1961 so it must be presumed that they also used the guns up to the beginning of the sixties. See below a photo from DDR - Barracked People's Police - this force preceded the "People's Army" created on March 1, 1956.



See above a "sunburst" marking. A number - here 10 - within a sunburst proof. The number must indicate in which district the gun was used or perhaps which person accepted it. I have also seen "20", "22" and "25". The sunburst is also seen on K98k, G43, P38 and P08. More information is welcome.


See above a "large cross" on the receiver. This indicates a DDR rebuild. Many of the guns were reblued, mismatching or renumbered.

Yugoslavia to the early eighties
One of the more extensively and systematic uses of the MP44 after the war, was in the Yugoslavian army, where it's said that 63rd paratroop battalion used the MP44 as the main handgun up to 1983. I am told that Tito gave Mr. Gadaffi (Libya) 40,000 MP44´s which trickled out to other countries.
Perhaps not much used in the last years. They used German made ammo - so they didn't produce normal kurz themself, but Yugoslavian made blank cartridges and rifle grenade cartridges are seen. - made in 1983. Dr. Dieter Kapell mentions this in his book "Die Patrone 8x33".
I have been told that two 40* containers arrived to London in 1994-95 with more than 2,000 MP44 from Ex-Yugoslavia. There were only two MKb42. A MP43/1 was marked on the stock with a SS skull and ssza4 on the metal parts.





The middle East
Recent rumors tell that the Syrian rebels have captured 4000 or 5000 MP44 with all accessories, magazines etc. but NO ammo. They should be reworked DDR stuff. The ammo has always have been the problem for the MP44, as the kurz hasn't been made since 1961 and up to about 10 years ago. Even the Wehrmacht was constantly in short supply with ammo on the Eastern front.

Northern Africa
This interesting picture shows MP44's captured by the French Army during the Algerian war (1954 - 62). Most of these weapons were shipped from Czechoslovakia or Yugoslavia. Normally not blued but phosphated. My "correspondent" has also seen fine MP44's in Syria and Lebanon and some very bad in Somalia. The last brand new he saw, in original wooden box with Nazi eagle marked on the box, never used, was in Burkina Faso. Earlier called: République de Haute-Volta (we all know where this is? (humph!))

Somalia
Women of the West Somali liberation front express their support for Somalia during the war against Ethiopia for the border territory of the Ogaden 1977 - 78. Was the gun really loaded? If it had been today, she could have bought a AK47, 3 goats and a new man for her MP44.