AK: The most iconic assault rifle in the world whose inspiration came from Nazi Germany

The AK-47 had a short production run, but its numerous variants and copies – both licensed and illegal – have made the AK the most recognisable assault rifle in the world.

But although the Avtomat Kalashnikova may be the best-known assault rifle in history, it was not the first.

That accolade goes to the Sturmgewehr 44, which was developed by Hugo Schmeisser.

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The StG 44, which is also known by its earlier designations as the MP43 and MP44, and can trace its roots to the Maschinenkarabiner 42(H), is the world's first successful assault rifle, with more than 400,000 being built when adding up its various iterations.

In common with the now-accepted definition of an assault rifle, it had a high-capacity 30-round magazine, was capable of fully automatic fire and used an intermediate cartridge.

The cartridge in question – the 7.92x33mm Kurtz (short) – was effectively a cut-down version of the standard 7.92x57mm Mauser round used in more common German weapons such as the Kar 98K, MG-34 and MG-42 and, ironically, the British Besa vehicle-mounted machine gun.

The shorter Kurtz design bridged the gap between the more powerful rifle/machine gun cartridge and the 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge used by sub-machine guns ranging from the MP 40 to the Sten.

The AK has similar specifications to the Sturmgewehr, the '47 being chambered in 7.62x39mm and having a standard magazine capacity of 30 rounds.

The AK also looks similar to the StG with its steel body, wooden furniture and curved box magazine.

But there the similarities end, because while Mikhail Kalshnikov's design may have been inspired by the German assault rifle – it was not a copy.