The legendary Russian designer created the famous AK-47, working at the same plant with the famous gunsmith Hitler
The great designer Mikhail Kalashnikov admitted that immediately after the war in Izhevsk he worked with Hugo Schmeisser, the best gunsmith of the Third Reich. And he was involved in the creation of the most popular assault rifle in the world - the AK-47. The advice of a German designer helped Kalashnikov solve the problem of cold stamping of parts.
“Schmeisser came to Izhevsk immediately after the war,” says historian Alexei Korobeynikov. - The city of Suhl, in which he lived, ended up in the Soviet zone of occupation, and Schmeisser, as well as other engineers and designers, were "offered" to move to the Urals for several years. A special train with German specialists arrived in the capital of Russian gunsmiths on October 24, 1946. It is difficult to accurately assess Schmeisser's contribution to the development of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, since official documents on their work are not available to historians and are still classified, and Hugo himself did not leave memoirs revealing the details of his work in the USSR. Schmeisser spoke sparingly about that period: "I gave the Russians some advice."
Comparison of two machines
Testimonials
The German designer left only a few letters and photographs about himself in Izhevsk. The house in which the German gunsmiths lived is now in disrepair, and no one lives in it.
“The letters of Schmeisser, which he wrote to the USSR Ministry of Defense, have survived,” said Alexander Ermakov, a senior researcher at the Kalashnikov Museum in Izhevsk. “These letters are the only known written sources that were available in the archives. The designer complains about the living conditions in them, asks for an increase in salary and permission to go on home leave. And Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov arrived in Izhevsk in 1948 to introduce the AK-47 model he designed into production at Izhmash. Therefore, there is no reason to say that Kalashnikov "ripped off" the design of the Germans. But the fact that Schmeisser and Kalashnikov met at work is for sure. He helped to master new equipment and introduce technological processes for the mass production of the machine.
Comparison
Hugo Schmeisser's STG 44 assault rifle is visually very similar to the AK-47.
“The comparative external similarity of the machines is based on approximately the same principles of operation,” says the historian Ermakov. - But a comparison of the internal design and details suggests that the machines are very different. In addition, Kalashnikov began to develop his machine gun already in the year 43, and in the 46th his sample was already being tested. So it would be a mistake to credit the Nazis with the creation of the AK-47 prototype.
But the contribution of the Germans to the launch of the Kalash in the series cannot be rejected.
“Schmeisser was engaged in cold stamping technology in Izhevsk until 1952,” says Korobeinikov. - And the merit in launching the stamped magazine and the receiver into the series belongs to a large part to him.
Kalashnikov assault rifle
