The MP40 and STG44 replicas in .22 caliber made by German Sport Guns offer an opportunity to own a firearm that invokes the spirit of the real thing, but without the legal complications or govt involvement of a fully automatic firearm, and without being the price of a new car. In terms of entertainment, that is not a bad thing within a world full of compromises. That being said, I was not entirely satisfied with the appearance of my .22 MP40 and STG44. I admit I had to overcome some reluctance to attack new guns with sandpaper. But I an glad I did. I overpainted the markings, darkened the stock of the STG44 with dark stain, added a period appropriate sling, and sanded the high spots on the metal to get a more appropriate presentation. Because I found the rifle was quite a bit more accurate than either the open sights or my eyes could make use of (golf balls at 75 yards) , I compromised some more by adding a Cetme mount (which fits) and a modern leopold scope and then covered it with burlap to disguise it. It is not a historically accurate representation of the scopes occasionally tried on original STGs. But the number of people who have seen or handled a real STG is quite small. For the MP40 I sanded the metal and plastic high spots, and overpainted the markings. In the past I had the happy opportunity to fire an original MP40 in full auto, and my impression was that it was somewhat awkward to handle compared to the Sten, Thompson, Sterling, Uzi and a couple other submachine guns I had an opportunity to shoot. The GSG MP 40 in .22 is awkward in much the same way. And I do wish US regulations on barrel length did not require the faux suppressor to meet minimum barrel length. But both .22 replicas are good fun.
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Good idea, giving them a bit of wear and been there look. They came out nice, thanks for posting. -
Just picked up the StG44 and will be doing the same with mine, had planned this before seeing this thread and you have done a wonderful job inspiring me to get it done sooner!
KevLast edited by WEISNER; 11-29-2014, 06:27 PM.Comment
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One of my friends showed me the .22 MP-40 replica that he just acquired; pretty decent little gun. He is going to cut off the fake suppressor/extra barrel length and register it as a SBR.Comment
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On Black Friday, Big 5 Sporting Goods was selling the GSG StG 44 for $349.00. I bought one. At this time, I, too, am considering artificially distressing the thing so as to more closely mimic a gennie. For comparison, here is a new one.
Thanks for sharing,
CodyComment
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To you guys with the StG44, can you give a range report as to what ammo it likes, and doesn't like? Accuracy? Just wondering if it will function well with most available ammo like Remington Golden Bullets (36 grain), Federal Auto Match, CCI Mini Mag, etc. Thanks in advance--WAF LIFE COACHComment
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Mac @ the Military Arms Channel on YouTube recommends high-velocity ammo so as to reliably cycle the action.Originally posted by Gene View Post
Cheers,
CodyComment
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ammo for STG 44
Hi Gene: I have shot my GSG STG44 a lot. My impression is that it was remarkably non fussy about ammo: digested just about anything without jams. I know I used lots of Winchester M22, Remington Thunderbolts, the Federal 550 packs: all the bulk stuff you used to find cheaply at the discount stores. I mostly used hi velocity because I have three 1930's Walther Olympias and a pre war high standard and a Walther GSP that try to I save my standard velocity for, but standard velocity seemed to work OK in the STG. Not fussy about being cleaned either. Most semi automatic guns like this are not too happy with the truncated cone hollow points like the Remington Yellow Jackets, because the fragile nose doesn't feed so well and it hangs up and distorts easily. I have dozens of .22 semi autos that really don't like the Yellow Jackets. But the GSG burned up a bunch of the Yellow Jackets too, though I suspect it liked them less well. If I had to make a recommendation I'd suggest round nose non hollow point high velocity is preferable if you have it or can get it. But at least in my GSG STG44 (and in my STG MP5 also) they didn't really care what brand of ammo. I haven't shot my GSG MP40 as much because I got sidetracked with the repairs. And also it just seems less accurate than the other two. But since repairs the MP40 seems to like Winchester M22s and Remington Thunderbolts fine.Comment
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Could you please write from what is made this repro ? it's made of zinc alloy, aluminium or steel ? I was wondering about buying one of those.Originally posted by Oregon View PostComment
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SGS Stg44 .22 Cal.
Anmarlods; Your question got me wondering. I have one of the model SGS Stg 44's. Great shooter and really have had good results with it. I had never given any thought to as what kind of metal it is made of. So got it out and gave it a magnet test. Upper and lower receiver appears to be made of a non magnetic metal. Barrel also non magnetic with a steel lined as is the chamber. Bolt is a combination of steel and non magnet metal. In the past I have had a chance to handle a real Stg44. And have a Japanese Shoei MP44 non-gun in my collection The weight and length of the SGS is nearly exact as the original, as far as I can see.Comment
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Certainly some zinc, some steel, the grips are resin though wood replacements are available. I had to enlarge the hole in the zinc pistol grip as the holes in the wooden replacements were almost 1/8" offset. When the metal grip was machined it was pretty clear the metal grip, at least, is zinc.Originally posted by anmarlodz View Post
Cheers,
CodyComment
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Ive got one of these, mostly it is Zamak, a zinc alloy, like the airsoft ones. The handguard is stamped steel. I thought the grips on mine were wood too, but as the "improving" of it? Nothing looks as bad as an artificially sanded cast zinc gun to me. There are some parts that fall short of the rest - why the hell they cheaped out and put that stupid AK47 adjustable rear sight leaf, I don't know. you must run the sight slide way up to get it on target. If I didn't want to spoil my airsoft one, Id transplant the sight off it. Mine is not fussy - it want through a whole box of subsonic ammo without complaint! The magazine is ugliest - I am thinking about hacking up the most useless magazine that came with my PTR44 and making a better outer body for it. Also, replace the Phillips head screws in the buttplate straps with slotted oval head ones! Also a minor peeve is how they had to change the way the safety functions - opposite that of a real MP44 Having said all that - it is well made, shoots well, is incredibly not fussy about ammo, and has a quite good trigger pull. Had they just copied the sights well, that would have been better.Comment
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markohno, what scope mount and scope have you installed? any chance of a photo?
KevComment
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Just returned from the range where 100 trouble-free rounds were cycled through the thing. This gun is fantastic.
Cheers,
CodyComment
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Scope Mount
Hi Kev
Sorry for the delay, I didn't see your post. If I recall I used an aluminum NCStar MDMP5 scope mount. It is usually advertised for the HK and MP5, and it is sometimes advertised for the CETME. but is not normally advertised for the GSG STG, I am a bit embarrassed to say it sells for $9.99. My original logic was since I was taking a gamble on whether it would fit, then if it was a hopeless miss match then I wouldn't mind having wasted $10. But my experience was that it worked perfectly well and without modifications. The scope is a Leupold I had laying around. I added a Chinese rubber eye cup I bought for $7.99 on Ebay including shipping from China. I bought several eye cups for future projects as the delivered price seemed less than most places charge just for shipping with no product. I just looked and they are still on offer. Black box with "accurate" in red. I originally tried using a $100 Trijicon ACOG type green dot clone optical sight that I had, and it worked OK. But I found that my STG was capable of being much more accurate at 50 yards than the green dot scope could hope to be, and so I then substituted a decent scope. I will take the burlap off and try to get you a photo of the mounting when it is not hidden in the next day or two.
MarkComment
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