StG M51
| Sturmgevär Modell 1951 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Assault Rifle |
| Place of origin |  Acrea |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1950 - Present |
| Used by | See Users |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Stuhr Arsenalen GmbH |
| Designed | 1948-1949 |
| Manufacturer | Stuhr Arsenal |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 4.4 kg |
| Length | 1,025 mm |
| Cartridge | 7.62x51mm |
| Action | Roller-delayed blowback |
| Rate of fire | 600 rounds per minute |
| Muzzle velocity | 800 m/s |
| Maximum firing range | 3,700 metres |
The StG M51, officially the Sturmgevär Modell 1951, is an Acrean select-fire 7.62x51mm battle rifle designed by the Stuhr arsenal for the Acrean Armed Forces in the late 1940s. It entered service in late 1950, becoming the standard service rifle for the Acrean Army and replacing both the StG M43 and StG M46. It is one of the most ubiquitous small arm found in Tyran, being used in its various iterations by several national militaries and numerous other armed groups. Variants range from Acrean exports, to licensed production models, and copied production models for a total production believed to have been somewhere around 10 million examples by 2010.
History
Throughout the 1940s, the Acrean military establishment remained tied to the idea of service rifles utilising full-power rifle cartridges in the belief that the range and power was still necessary, in spite of combat experience which demonstrated the effectiveness of their intermediate-calibre StG M42 and M43 rifles in the role. Thus, a new select-fire service rifle was sought to replace the Gewehr m/36 in the final years of the Great War. Collaboration with Cacertan arms manufacturers resulted in the creation of the Gisenti AR762/Sturmgevär Modell 1946. Utilising a tilting bolt action similar to the StG M43 and the Ruvelkan OP-30, cooperation between Stuhr and Gisenti was driven originally by Cacertan desire to adopt the new 7.62x51mm cartridge developed by Acrea. Adoption of this cartridge in Acrea over wider adoption of intermediate-calibre ammunition was due to the desire by Acrean military leadership to maintain ammunition commonality between their standard service rifle and their squad-level general purpose machine guns.
Although the rifle was adopted in 1946 to replace the m/36 in service, it was not considered ideal to what Acrean military officials desired. Its adoption was driven in part for political reasons, and in part as a way of gaining from the funding that had been put into its development. While the rifles performed well, most concern was directed at the manufacturing process. The receiver was machined and fairly complex; from practical and political perspectives it was undesirable to not utilise Acrea's advantage in manufacturing processes that had been developed during the war. Namely, the use of a quicker and easier to manufacture stamped receiver was desired for the noted advantages of cheaper and faster manufacturing. When new designs for submissions came in 1949, the design from Stuhr proved to be more mature than other submissions. Developed from a potential replacement for the StG m/43 originally designed in late 1946, Stuhr up-scaled an existing 7.92x33mm design to the new cartridge.
Testing reports concluded that the StG M51 held advantages in robustness, reliability, and accuracy compared to the StG M46. Its robustness and reliability are frequently contributed in part to the action's violence when the rifle cycles during operation. Its accuracy is afforded by an effectively free-floated barrel, which is kept independent by a small amount of space where the charging handle tube is mounted to the barrel; the degree to which this plays a part and whether or not the rifle is notably more accurate than the StG M46 or the Gisenti AR762 is disputed.
Design
The M51 is notable of post-Great War small arms in that it does not utilise a gas operating system, instead utilising a roller-delayed blowback action based on a wartime Stuhr design. Its weight is comparable to other contemporary battle rifles at approx. 4.4 kilograms, with a total length of 1025mm- slightly shorter than other contemporary and Great War-era rifles. It is a select-fire rifle capable of both semi-automatic and fully automatic fire. Also of note is the modularity of the rifle. All components of the rifle are attached to the pressed and stamped receiver using simple pins, allowing all of the furniture and the fire control assembly to be changed out with speed and ease. This design feature has been held over in nearly all Acrean service rifles and even some submachineguns since, and is still found on the modern StG 97.
Users
Active
- Acrea: Modernised examples used by the Acrean Army as a designated marksmen's rifle and reservist rifle.
Shalum
Ruvelka
Æþurheim: Unlicensed copy produced as the TR55, former standard service rifle of the Æþurian Army and retained in reserve use
Former
Syara: Provided as military aid by Acrea to the Army of the Syaran Republic during the Refusal War