As an aside, the Spanish produced a derivative of the StG-44 rifle but chambered for 7.62x51mm NATO, the Calzada Bayo model CB-57. It was a competitor for the spot won by the CETME Modelo A which itself was influenced by a series of French designs that themselves were derivatives of the StG-45(M) which was an easier to manufacture refinement of the StG-44 concept.
The key figure behind all this was Ludwig Vorgrimmler who was small arms engineer in wartime Germany and was assigned to the French zone of control after the war. He went on to design the CEAM Model 1950, basically an StG-45 in .30Carbine. He then went to Spain and helped CETME design the Modelo A based on his experience in German and French small arms design. The CETME rifle then went on to Heckler & Koch where it formed the basis for the G3 design.
So while the AK is not simply a copy of the StG-44 or Stg-45, it (and most of the competitors for the new Soviet army rifle at the time) where heavily influenced by the German rifle concepts and the G3 was directly influenced by the wartime German rifles... so it could be said that they are related, perhaps even cousins?
|