Some of you may have wondered when the Soviets noticed that the Sturmgewehr has joined the arsenal of German infantry. Wonder no more! Via kris-reid:
"To the People's Commissar of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union, comrade I.V. Stalin:
Since the Spring of this year, forces of the Kalinin, and then Volkhov and Leningrad Fronts have captured, among other weapons, several specimens of new German automatic 7.92 mm carbines, which are a new type of infantry weapon that has not been previously used by the Germans in large amounts until recently."
The date on this document is April 16th, 1943. Here's the intel obtained on this mysterious weapon:
"Enemy tactics and technology
Engineer-Captain Ya. Krutik
1. New German handheld machinegun
The German army has recently adopted a new handheld machinegun, using an intermediate round (an average between a rifle round and a pistol round). The machinegun's designation is "MK belash 42 (H)". The automatic mechanism is driven by redirection of gases through an opening in the barrel.
The machinegun can fire automatically or in single shots, for which a switch is present in the trigger guard, next to the pistol grip.
The machinegun is fed with a box magazine, which holds 35-38 rounds.
- Caliber: 7.9 mm
- Length: 935 mm
- Mass: about 5 kg
- Round mass: 16.8 g
- Bullet mass: 8.2 g"
The translator was a little presumptuous. "MKb" stands for Maschinen Karabiner, or machine carbine. Also, the magazine capacity has grown somewhat from the 30 rounds it actually contained. Otherwise, this intelligence is correct.