MKb 42H - The predecessor of the Sturmgewehr and perhaps the first true assault rifle in history

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The development of these new cartridges doesn't really date from the Second World War, as the concept can be traced back to the late 19th century, but it was mainly in the 1930s that German engineers took the subject forward.

The result was the 7.92x33mm or 8mm Kurtz cartridge, which now required a weapon to use it. The development of this new weapon or these new weapons took place relatively discreetly, as Hitler was not particularly interested in this project for weapons with a lower-powered cartridge.

However, in 1939, the Central Office for Technical Development and Weapons Production launched a program to develop this weapon, with two companies taking part: Walther with the MKB42W and Haenel with the MKB42H, a company whose technical director at the time was a certain Hugo Schmeisser.

These MKb42s were sent to the Eastern Front for testing and to report problems with the weapons. At the end of these tests, Haenel's weapon was preferred because it was more reliable and less complex than the MKB42W, which I hope will be the subject of a future video.

Despite the good feedback on the MKb42H, the gun isn't perfect: we criticize the lack of a flame arrestor and the excessively long magazine. A number of technical modifications will be made before the gun goes into production, including a change to the rifling pitch, the addition of a tenon to fit a bayonet, and a folding flap to protect the ejection port.
 
Germany had hoped to produce around 10,000 MKb42Hs per month, but this was never to be the case, all the more so as the concept of the assault rifle was to be pursued further by profoundly modifying the MKB42H.

First of all, we want to switch from open-breech to closed-breech firing with a hammer. The long gas expansion chamber at the front was also deemed unnecessary, and finally, the bayonet lug was no longer popular, and would disappear with the StG44.