Third Party Press

FG42 & STG44 Krummlauf examination - 1945

PMKS

Senior Member
U.S. Army Personnel examining a FG42 and "Krummlauf" curved barrel attachments for the German STG44/MP44, August 1945
From the LIFE Magazine Archives - David Scherman Photographer
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Have not seen the fourth pic down - nice, thanks for posting these.

It would certainly have been a loud report shooting close to that stone wall - !

You can really see the chemical-blue "tide-mark" mid way down the magazine (not in the rifle) - this is encountered on many FG42 magazines, mine included.
Also appears that one off the mags is phosphate finished, I have seen these, do not own one.

A rumor from an old time collector in Europe was that two were issued with each gun marked, Sjl01 and sjl02 - this I find difficult to believe.
I have seen several sjl01 (mine is one) and only one sjl02 marked mag (Bapty & Co).

Fascinating pictures of the two "curved-barrel" attachments, apparently the bullet broke to pieces and came out in fragments, very ineffectively, I don't know I have only read this. The lesser curved one being the more effective.

wish we could see the serial # on that FG - !
 
Very cool pics!!!

I love how it was likely the Captain who had to lay his tunic down for the Two Star in the first picture, so he wouldn't dirty his own uniform.
 
Funny thing that Soviets tested FG-42 almost the same date as were made Krummlauf trials, like Americans did. I have that report and will make an article about those trials also
 
Great pictures, The Capt in Pic # 8 shoulder patch is ETO Advanced Base, it appears he and the Majors are wearing ordnance lapel brass which makes sense.
 
Picture may be associated with immediate postwar technical Intel collection by US Field Information Agency, Technical (FIAT). This Joint Chiefs of Staff organization derived from the wartime UK/US Combined Intelligence Objectives Subcommittee (CIOS). Both organizations did extensive surveys of a wide variety of technologies and industries, collected equipment for intelligence exploitation and published hundreds of reports, including Mauser Oberndorf. Several Mauser references cite the latter. Reports are on file at the National Archives and fascinating reading.
 
From a period slide.
According to the seller it was taken in Italy. ??
 

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