The StG 44 with grenade launcher is an extremely rare and poorly documented configuration of the famous Sturmgewehr 44, developed in the final years of World War II.
The German army already used the Schiessbecher grenade launcher with the Kar98k, which could fire fragmentation, anti-tank, and smoke grenades.
The idea was to adapt this capability to the new StG 44, already widely distributed among mechanized and elite infantry units.
This would allow the soldier to have direct firepower and support capabilities (grenades) in a single weapon.
The launcher adapted to the StG 44 was similar to the Schiessbecher, mounted on the end of the barrel.
It included a special folding sight, adjusted for grenade range.
It used inert powder propellant cartridges (special blank cartridges).
The StG 44 is a semi-automatic/automatic weapon with a gas-operated system, and firing rifle grenades requires blocking or diverting the gas to avoid damaging the mechanism
The Kar98k, being manually bolted, was more suited to this type of firing.
Therefore, adaptation required modifications or interruption of the automatic function, which reduced the weapon’s usefulness as an assault rifle.
Very limited, with no official numbers Probably less than 200
The project was abandoned with the collapse of the Third Reich, partly due to material shortages and a focus on simpler weapons (such as the Panzerfaust).
The StG 44 with a grenade launcher remained a historical curiosity, never standardized or officially integrated into Wehrmacht doctrine.
No functional examples are known today