"The Sling on a Stg 44" Topic
5 Posts
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| Artilleryman | 05 Nov 2025 1:26 a.m. PST |
I was painting some late war German infantry armed with Stg 44s and I came to notice more and more that the rifle slings seemed to be 'on the wrong side'. I looked up some contemporary photos to verify this and sure enough, the slings seem to be on a counter-intuitive side of the weapon. Looking down the barrel from the shooter's point of view, the sling on a Stg 44 is on the righthand side. This means that the weapon cannot be slung over the body or over the shoulder so that it can be swung around and fired. As an example, the MP 40 has its sling on the lefthand side and therefore can be more easily slung out the way and brought around to fire. If you sling a Stg 44 across the body it ends up diagonally across your front with the butt at the left hip. Awkward! The only reason I can think for the sling set-up is that if you carry the Stg 44 over your right shoulder, the long magazine does not stick out. This may all seem a bit esoteric and obscure but I would like to know if anyone has information on this? |
79thPA  | 05 Nov 2025 4:53 a.m. PST |
The charging handle, selector switch, and safety were all on the left side of the receiver so they probably wanted to keep that side clear. Firing from a slung position can be a good exercise, but my guess is that it almost never happened. If you are ambushed, you are hitting the dirt, and if contact is a possibility, you already have your rifle in your hand. |
| Murvihill | 05 Nov 2025 5:40 a.m. PST |
I don't think they used slings as tactical devices during WW2;. The sling is positioned to prevent things from poking you in the back when the gun is slung. |
| Artilleryman | 05 Nov 2025 6:06 a.m. PST |
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 deadhead | 05 Nov 2025 12:14 p.m. PST |
Yeah, but nicely spotted. Esoteric works and attracts attention. Someone, in years to come, will use AI or Son of Google.5 and search for "Stg44 slings" (without a keyboard or even speaking, just thinking about it) and find this. To you folk in the future, greetings from 2025 and glad to see TMP is still going, even if none of us are (we lost another member of the GD this week, she was only 76) |
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