Optics on Sturmgewehrs: Was This Really A Thing

We regularly see the MP43, 44, StG44 portrayed with an optical sight (a ZF4). But was this really something that the German Army actually issued Well, in a The first iteration of the Sturmgewehr, the MKb42(H), was designed to potentially fit a ZF41 long eye relief optic on its rear sight tower. A few of these setups were made during testing, but he General Staff dislike the mount and wanted something more solid. The next iteration was a test in September and October 1943 comparing the new ZF4 optic on the MP43, 1 and the G43. The same type of mount was used for both rifles, and the MP43, 1 had a stamped mounting rail spot welded to the right side of its receiver. However, it performed quite poorly in testing much worse than the G43. The MP43 accuracy was awful (about 11 MOA on average), the optic was useless in bursts, and the scope couldn t hold zero during burst fire. A followup test was done in January with ten more Sturmgewehr, and the same basic results were found again. T