If you’re a WWII history buff like I am this will absolutely blow your mind. The video below shows members of the Free Syrian Army who are fighting against the forces of Syrian “President” Bashar al-Assad that have stumbled upon a contrainer full of rifles. The rebel member who posted the video mistakenly claimed that they had found 5,000 AK-47s. Nope, turns out they stumbed upon 5,000 German WWII STG-44 rifles.
The Sturmgewehr 44 was the first assault rifle developed by Nazi Germany, how did so many end up in the Syrian desert? Who knows, maybe the Nazis imported them during the second world war. Maybe they found their way there via the black market. But if someone found a way to sell them to collectors the Free Syrian Army would be able to fund their efforts for quite some time!
Chances are these will be either used by the Syrian Rebels, or destroyed. The closest we’ll get owning an STG-44 in the US (minus a legal pre-ban imported one) is the .22lr version from GSG seen below.
Probably captured by the Soviets and sold to their Middle East allies in the early 1950s.
The STG44 is a quality battle rifle.
It’s stronger than an AK and more accurate than an AR but it weighs almost as much as both of them put together.
Lets hope they use the wrong caliber, and the gun blows up in their faces
I hear 7.62×39 is banned in Pakistan, so 7.92×33 is actually very common there. No wonder they found all of them STG 44s. Without STG 44s, they will have to use AKs. And the AKs tend to have little, if any modification to fire the caliber, and don’t tend to work so well, especially considering what modification, if any, is a very crude modification.
Would love to hold a piece of history like an STG 44 in my hand ✋ can’t believe those dirty sand rats get them instead
Haha, Tell them I want one!
FIVE THOUSAND of the rarest of the early assault rifles?!! WOW. You may be wondering how these ended up in a Syrian desert. The Nazis allowed the formation of an SS Handschar Division to be made with the convincing of someone named The Mufti. The Germans were having a tough time in the heavily muslim dominated hungarian/romanian regions, and wanted to bring the muslims into the fight on their side. The Mufti ultimately took the division to Palestine and was going to use them to destroy the newly created state of Israel in the late 40s. So, these weapons were likely a cache from that SS Division.
Ppl the STG44 was not copied by the Soviets to make the AK47..Totally 1000% different design..now the MP5.. G3..CETME..HK91 those all came from the STG44 design..not the AK47..sorry just saw a cpl ppl on here sayn otherwise and tryn to educate 🙂
this rifles are mostly are not German production, they are Czechoslovakian weapons produced after war, which were sold to middle east in 60tys and 70dys along with some panzer 4s from soviet union.you can still buy them in czeh republic if you got gun licence.
Mark I know this is a old post . However FAT would want you to build sa stg 44 clones .
Bottom line I hope that these priceless historical weapons are not destroyed and are saved. I would love to see them all get a home in the USA.
There’s a lot in that container but nowhere near 5,000 more like 500 . Obviously they can’t count or read .
Damn, If the Rebels could only sell them to US history buffs. I’d bet they could get 5K each!! What a shame. Hey anyone know how to get to that reality show storage wars?..Storage Wars…Syria!!
If only…….lol
i got one of the ati stgs, and it is really correct but for the magazine. it has a big opening down the right side so you can see how many rounds you have and and its made of plastic. wish they would make a solid metal mag for it.
Wow…if only we could import those here. Hell, just the parts sets! In case you guys want to see it, I recently made a YouTube video comparing my original MP-44 with the new ATI .22LR version. The MP-44 is an incredible shooting machine gun…definitely one of my favorites.
http://youtu.be/vrxyx4XF0B4
AB needs to learn how to cite its sources. I broke this story a day before this website on August 10 on Twitter, Arfcom, and The High Road.
AB didn’t bother to cite me, despite using some of my of my own wording. For example:
Me: “Your mind will be blown”
AB: “This will absolutely blow your mind”
Come on guys. It only takes a couple seconds to copy-and-paste my screen name and where you were tipped off to the story. You will earn your readers’ respect if you respect the original author(s) by citing them. Nobody respects plagiarism.
What do you have to lose by making a quick citation? Your readers will likely appreciate the fact that you keep up with the most popular firearms forums to bring them the coolest stories that they may have missed.
Be professional and cite your sources.
Hi Mach,
Just because you posted a YouTube video on a few forums doesn’t mean you’re the lone source. I was emailed the link to the video from a reader, now I admit I forgot to give a hat tip to that person and I apologize to them as I rolled with the story as soon as I saw it. They probably saw the video on your post. I always make an effort to cite my sources, that said if you want to post a link to where you posted the video first I will be happy to include it.
There are a ton of other blogs out there who blatantly copy others, including copying my stories, without giving credit. I won’t name any names, but I give links and credit where it’s due.Shoot other blogs would have deleted your comment altogether, but I usually don’t delete comments unless it’s spam/racist etc.
How did the syrians get them?
Haj Amin al-Husseini. The ‘Grand Mufti’ of Jerusalem. He was Hitlers Muslim buddy, Yasser Arafat’s ‘Uncle and groomed Saddam Hussein. He had his own personal Waffen-SS battalion – the ‘Hanjar Division’. Syria was (and still is) Nazi holiday land.
Wow CB, there’s so much bullshit in your Syria-Nazi post that you must have used a dump truck to haul it in. The Nazis certainly were not exporting Stg-44’s. The German army was desperate to get these rifles in its own soldiers’ hands. They were only sold to other countries long after the Nazis were defeated and by then the exporter was East Germany, operating under the authority of the Soviets. By then, the AK-47 was the state-of-the-art rifle of Soviet forces and it initially reserved AK-47s for 1st-tier countries. It didn’t mind selling captured “obsolete” Stg-44s to countries like Yugoslavia and Syria.
Never said the Nazis exported the stg44’s. Haj Amin al-Husseini had the connections post war to move large amounts of weaponry into the middle east. Alois Brunner was the main connection. Brunner a Nazi, was Eichmans butt buddy, still lives in Syria and is an arms dealer. He orchestrated major arms deals to Syria and Egypt while on the lam in Europe before ‘escaping’ to Syria in ’54. It wasn’t just the Soviets exporting. Everybody was making money off the post war surplus arms trade.
@ Massoof Hugo Schmeisser, designer of the StG44 among others, was “recruited” by the commies after the war and worked on the AK47 design. He was released in 1952, died in Germany 1953. Mr Kalashnikov, I believe, was in charge of the samovar. ;o)
Yep, thats how the Russians got the AK47 it was stolen form the mp44 design! Russian tank commander was a lair!
we came across these in iraq 04’with nazi headstamp 1944 ammo,let me tell you,they are sweet shooters,supposedly the nazis made about 400,000,not surprized they wond up there,we also found thompson”lend lease” in cosmoline absolutely pristine,along with a vickers,colt 1928 belt fed,mausers,mg 34’s,mg42’s hakim’s,etc.the stg44’s were a game changer,slow rate of fire on full auto but controllable to the point that you can put a round in each target on a range without losing your sight picture.wish I could have brought one back!
Seeing all those Stg’s almost made me jizz in my pants! If these pieces of history are destroyed it should be a war-crime!! PRVI’s 7.92 Kurz is great ammo and their brass is great for reloading. However I doubt these durka-durka rebels save their empties!
and there again, the Free Syrian Army captured one STG 44 north of Aleppo / Syria.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rassloff/8278374086/
Wow!
So, May be Mr. Kalashinkoff (AK47 inventor/builder) copied his version from teh STG 44 German made!?
I’ve seen a photo of a Syrian tank in Lebanon. It was a pzkw IV.
They look like in excellent condition, I am pretty sure some will make their way to the States soon.
Wowzer! Interesting find.
Repeal the import ban that Reagan signed, bring them in, tax them $200 each for the transfer (That’s a million dollars right there) and sell them to collectors. WHY NOT? It’s our country.
If they captured the rifles, they probably got the ammunition as well.
You can buy thousands of this rounds by PrviPartizan, who is still producing them commercially.
I only whished I could buy one of the weapons! I own two, but none is in such good condition.
In addition to the GSG 22 caliber STG44s
There are 198 recently made 7.92×33 (original caliber) semi-auto versions of the STG44 made by SSD in Germany that were imported into the USA. by PTR and sold as PTR44s
http://www.ssd-weapon.com/web_en/produkte_en.htm
Many MPs of all types Mkb42, Mp43 and 44 along with some rare variations came into the US during and just afterr WWII, brought home by returning GIs, most now legally registered MGs, and are frequently bought and sold by collectors.During the fifties many more came into the US, imported and then deactivated, know as DEWATs, and we’re sold to collectors. DEWATs, meaning Deactivated WarTrophy, did not require registration under the NFA 1934, until the end of the 1968 Amnesty. Fortunately many of these MPs were legally registered and are owned by collectors.
So, it is incorrect that it is not possible to own a vintage MP43, and all it takes is a clean record, money and patience with the ATF/NFA applicatiion and transfer system.
Will be interesting if they think they are AK47s and put 7.62×39 ammo in them
The East Germans used the ’44s post WW2 among many other ex Nazi weapons and made the 7.92mm kurtz ammo for them as well-they would have supplied them to the Syrians in the 1960s who then would have placed them in storage as war stocks when they started receiving Soviet weapons-many Soviet allies received old non 7.62 x 39 mm weapons before getting AKs.
Lithgow: You nailed it — GDR “good will” surplus sales to the Syrian Arab Republic…
@karl lang the .22lr version is just shown on the pictures below. Thats all.
hahaha.. lol , I facepalmed reading his comment
Guys: read the label inside the box: chambered for 22LR … those are NOT WW2 production, BUT they are available from MANY dealers … search on American Tactical STG44
Read the article. The box pictured contains a reproduction. It is not from the cache they found in Syria.
WRONG! The 5000 captured rifles are Stg-44’s that fire 7.92x33Kurz ammo. They are German WWII production.
The .22LR box is for a reproduction rifle the ATI sells that is a visual copy of the original StG-44, but only shoots 22LR. The reproduction ATI rifle was shown to delineate the difference between the real thing and the ATI .22LR copy.
Sucks we’ll never be able to get our hands on them
HOLY S**T !! I bet most of them are still virgins..
I’d like to contact them to sell me a piece, but then I’ll be “red flagged” for providing financial support to “jihad” activities.. (sigh)
@bima
No you won’t. Remember America is supporting Al-Qeada?
Well Bima, Obama aka Daddy long legs has alreddy been “red flaged” for aiding and abetting the enemy . get the damn gun if you can,…
The Syrians will not be able to use these rifles as they fire a calibre that is not readily available commercially. It is 7.92x33mm also known as 7.92kurz. Collectors of these rifles are forced to buy from specialty manufacturers in limited production runs.
Prvi Partizan makes commercial 7.92×33 ammo. It actually runs about the same price as their 7.92×57 ammo.