Phantom Captain Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 My birthday present to myself. Just had to share with you guys. I got this today in honor of FINALLY going back to the east front. This is a GSG Stg 44 but in .22 caliber. It weighs and feels almost exactly like the original. It's as close as any of us can come to actually owning an original. One word, awesome. I totally love it and can't wait to get out and shoot it. This is the limited collectors edition crate it came in. I love it!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AttorneyAtWar Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Man I am jealous I would love one of those! How much did it set you back? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Hey. Phantom, I got mine last April...fancy crate and all. It's a blast to shoot, and since there is no recoil, it is extremely accurate out to at least 150 yds (nearby range only goes out to that distance). How many mags you have? I had to order extras...I now have 3. Luckily, a friend sold me 750 rounds of .22 LR, since it has been a bitch to get them in stores. If only they made them in original calibre! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Captain Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 Mine was $550 but I made a straight up trade for it so it didn't set me back a penny. I also ordered just one extra mag for it but think I'm going to order 2-3 more. I still have about 2000 .22 that I stocked up on awhile ago but hopefully they start to be more available. It's nice still that I can shoot this relatively cheap. And yes, I kind of wish they would make one in 7.62x39mm. It would be super close to the original and I don't see why it couldn't be done. Still, I REALLY REALLY like this version and am super happy to have it!! I already have an original k98 and Mosin Nagant so this fits right in. I also have a Garand, Lee Enfield MkIII and a short barreled Thompson. Hehehe. I may be persuade to post pics if you all really want to see them. I also heard rumors that GSG is going to make a BAR .22 replica. I'm so down for that too if they do. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saferight Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 200 were imported some time ago as the PTR-44. Gewehr Werks was suppose to setting up a deal with a German company to import FG 42, STG 44, and MP 38 clones. I think that fell thru though. Nice Rifle though Phantom, but the thing that kills the look for me is the magazine. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddball_E8 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Wait... am I missing something here? Why are .22 LR hard to get? (I don't live in the states so I have no knowledge on that, but it seems like it should be a really common round) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragorn2002 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 In Germany and Belgium they can be bought for € 250 or so. Would love to have one. Perhaps one day I will buy it...if my wife allows it, that is. She is not exactly over the moon about my fascination with warfare and such. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Captain Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Wait... am I missing something here? Why are .22 LR hard to get? (I don't live in the states so I have no knowledge on that, but it seems like it should be a really common round) There has been a terrible shortage of .22 ammo for going on over a year now. Most ammo has been short but now it's really dragging out with the .22 supply. It's because of incredibly stupid panic buying that happened when all kinds of rumors started, mostly by the NRA (who I can't stand btw), that Obama and the Democrats were going to take everyone's guns. People freaked and went out and started buying and hoarding everything they could get their hands on. Gun prices went through the roof and stores were virtually empty of everything gun related. Even reloading components are hard to come by. Luckily I'm a huge black powder guy so I don't have to worry about a lot of that. :cool: Anyway, the panic has now subsided but the ammo companies have had a really difficult time catching back up. It's starting to let up now and you can find ammo in stores, granted not at the levels we had before though, but .22 is still particularly hard to find and when you do find it it's still usually double, or more, of what it cost just over a year ago. Because it's more profitable for companies to make larger caliber ammo and since .22 is so cheap it's more cost effective for them to make the larger stuff and leave the small little .22 by the wayside. For .22 lovers it really sucks. And most everybody who shoots owns a .22. They are completely fun and (normally) cheap but not til this drought is over. Luckily I had some put away from 2-3 years ago but nothing like hoarding levels, just a couple thousand. It used to be you could buy a box of 500 for $18 or so, so having a few thousand on hand wasn't unusual. The panic buying and hoarding people were buying tens of thousands at a time. I reload for my .30-06 and .45acp for my Thompson and for the last year I can hardly find bullets, powder or primers for anything. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Captain Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 In Germany and Belgium they can be bought for € 250 or so. Would love to have one. Perhaps one day I will buy it. Nice. The gun is made in Germany and imported here to the US. I figured it would be a bit cheaper for you guys over there. Pretty cool too that my Stg 44 really is German made! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baneman Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Wait... am I missing something here? Why are .22 LR hard to get? (I don't live in the states so I have no knowledge on that, but it seems like it should be a really common round) Ditto the question from me - back in South Africa you could buy it in crates ! Edit: Ninja-answered. Cheers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 LOL looks interesting, but at that price I could afford the next 10 releases by Battlefront..hmmm Okay so to be totally honest, I just spend my money elsewhere. Just finished refurbishing my bandsaw/sander Friday and started on a planer. The jointer is almost done and then the pair of 10" table saws need a little lovin. The upside is all of those were free, I just had to drive em cross country. Still the refurbishing and rebuilding of the garage to accommodate hit quite a bit more than your StG. Have fun with it, but don't shoot yer eye out!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddball_E8 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Thanx for the answer 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanL Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 There has been a terrible shortage of .22 ammo for going on over a year now. Most ammo has been short but now it's really dragging out with the .22 supply. Interesting. I remember hearing the over the top pronouncements around gun control. I did not realize it caused hording etc. Coincidentally I was just talking to a Canadian Forces member who has been recently conducting amo management training in Africa. I had no idea of the issues of shelf life for ammunition etc. What kind of shelf life can you normally expect for the .22 rounds we are talking about? And those hoarders with tens of thousands of rounds; what are they going to do with it as its self life winds down? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Interesting. I remember hearing the over the top pronouncements around gun control. I did not realize it caused hording etc. Coincidentally I was just talking to a Canadian Forces member who has been recently conducting amo management training in Africa. I had no idea of the issues of shelf life for ammunition etc. What kind of shelf life can you normally expect for the .22 rounds we are talking about? And those hoarders with tens of thousands of rounds; what are they going to do with it as its self life winds down? saving em for the zombie apocalypse 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 "What kind of shelf life can you normally expect for the .22 rounds we are talking about? And those hoarders with tens of thousands of rounds; what are they going to do with it as its self life winds down?" Tens of thousands of rounds is a significant stockpile of plink ammunition. Ten thousand rounds is more reasonable if you shoot once or more a week. Congrats Phantom Captain. Very Nice GSG Stg 44 in .22 caliber. It appears your rear sight is a flip up. Is it on a rail? Can it be detached to add a scope or a red dot? Very cool looking rifle. I understand the caliber issue as well. Threats of excessive restriction always increases weapon and ammunition sales, increasing prices, and does next to nothing to increase public safety. Yes, nice to have the best of both calibers. I picked up a dedicated .22LR Rifle AR upper for just this reason. Fits any of my AR-15 aka “EBR” lowers. Much cheaper to practice with .22! In less than 30” remove the dedicated .22 upper, install a 5.56 upper, load a hot 5.56 magazine…Rock and Roll! The nice part is the muscle memory and approximate weight makes the upper swap very natural and IMO translates to more effective 5.56 scores. Enjoy your new Stg 44. Sweet looking weapon and so timely to add to your collection with CMRT about to be released! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 mostly by the NRA (who I can't stand btw), That's kinda ironic...but I'd say DHS has helped with the shortages too. Anyway, cool rifle. Congrats. Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baneman Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 It looks very nice, sure you'll be happy with it. Although I'm still much more a fan of your black powder stuff, that's way more fun 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vark Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Until the range officer says, 'clear to shoot' and you have one either side of your booth, by the time the smoke has cleared and you spot your target, you're being told to cease fire!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baneman Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Until the range officer says, 'clear to shoot' and you have one either side of your booth, by the time the smoke has cleared and you spot your target, you're being told to cease fire!! Fair point. When I was shooting black powder guns, it was just me and my dad out in the veldt ( earthen dam walls make excellent backstops ) Still the guys on either side are going to take much longer to reload... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vark Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 You'd think, unless they were .44 ACW revolvers, then, on a still day, you'd pray for misfires! To be honest, any decent breeze would clear the air, but heaven help a gun battle in a bar. No wonder shotguns were popular, point and pull, no need to aim, you cannot see a damn thing anyway! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Captain Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Oh believe me, there is nothing I enjoy more or shoot more than my black powder stuff. If I had to get rid of everything else I would keep all my black powder guns. And really, it's not THAT bad! Lol. Although, as a slight caveat, I've shot on days that were just after a rain and the air was just right and the smoke from the guns just hangs and then sits right in front of you. Awesome stuff and nothing better!! Then again, shooting two cap and ball pistols at the same time, one in each hand, just ripping them off does create quite the cloud. :cool: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macisle Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Back in college, one of my professors was a Revolutionary War reenactor and had a black powder gun collection. One day, he invited a couple of us out for a day of shooting. BIG FUN! Alas, the blunderbuss had an issue and had to stay on the wall that day. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vark Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Some members of the club used to shoot clays with replica Brown Bess muskets, they never hit one, but sometimes pinged a few pylons nearby! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Captain Posted February 3, 2014 Author Share Posted February 3, 2014 For those of you that don't know, I'm a huge black powder guy and have done Civil War reenacting for many years. My collection as it stands right now: 1861 Springfield .58 1862 Richmond Rifle .58 1842 Springfield .69 smoothbore 1816 Harpers Ferry .69 smoothbore flintlock 1858 Lorenz .54 Hawken .54 percussion (built by my late father) Hershel House .40 flintlock Bill Buckely .45 flintlock .69 flintlock smooth rifle (built by my late father) .36 flintlock squirrel rifle (built by my late father) Original 1884 Springfield Trapdoor .45-70 Pistols: 1860 Colt Army .44 (I have two, one by Colt, one by Pietta) 1851 Colt Navy .36 1861 Colt Navy .36 1861 Colt Navy Civilian .36 1858 Remington New Model Army .44 Rogers and Spencer .44 Colt Walker .44 Colt Dragoon .44 Cartridge BP 1872 Colt Single Action .45 by Beretta 1873 Colt Open Top Conversion .45 I reload, cast all the round balls and Minie balls and make all my own ammo and cartridges for all of them. :cool: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macisle Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Wow! That's quite a collection. I'll have to hit wikiP to learn more about some of those pieces. I can't remember what we fired, other than one of the pieces was a PA Long Rifle. I was surprised how accurate it was. I'm no marksman, but had previously spent a few months hanging out with a group of guys who were avid target shooters. So, I'd fired many of the most well-known modern handguns, along with some cool stuff like an AR-15. I think I enjoyed shooting the black powder stuff more. It was fun reloading, too. -Very cool that you can make all your own ammo! Reenacting sure has come a long way. Just last week, I put together a 3-minute "best of" clip of Civil War and WWII reenactments for some friends in Japan (where I live). One of them had been to a museum exhibit showing some of the earliest firearms in Japan and we got on the topic of black powder guns and reenacting. They really enjoyed the vids and were very surprised at the scale and detail. To be honest, I was surprised at the WWII stuff I found. Shermans, Stuarts and Hetzers were on the field. People sure are taking the hobby to amazing levels these days. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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