Post Feb 22, 2017 by HMGTravis

This week on behind the scenes with HMG we are exploring the different customization options you will have with the HMG StG®.  Although some of you may think this is blasphemy and consider us defiling a sacred artifact of engineering we think its important to have options.  Some of our customers want the HMG StG® as a wall hanger, some want it to run three gun matches, and others want one and 20 magazines of every caliber in case of zombie apocalypse.  Regardless of your use we have the configuration for you!

*(minus space shuttle door gunner, HMG does not warranty zero gravity use of the HMG StG® and is not responsible for any associated space related injuries)*

First lets dive into the different stock options!  As you may or may not know the original StG has a recoil spring that was well over a foot in length and extended down into the butt-stock.  The reason for this length was lack of quality spring material.  Fun fact this length of spring was a leading driver behind the creation of the slinky(totally made up).  Thankfully a lot of the short comings the Germans experienced in the field of material choices are solved by wide availability of quality manufacturing materials, springs being one of them!  We wanted to keep the same platform and offer different stock options, so the obvious answer was we needed a recoil system that was contained in the receiver itself.  The StG has a recoil spring that is held in the top portion of the receiver and compresses against whatever butt cap you have installed(as seen below).

There are four different options you can have on your HMG StG®.  The standard that comes on every rifle is the wood butt-stock.  This comes installed on every HMG StG-N® or HMG StG-K® from the manufacturer.  The stock is beech-wood and has a light colored stain on it.  We have gotten numerous inquiries about the color choice for the stain.  We feel that the color we chose contrasts beautifully with the dark black oxide finish.  Personally I wanted to do red with some sweet flames engraved in but was shot down during the planning process, I work with a non-adventurous group…..  The cool thing is that original wood will fit into our butt-cap(simply remove the two screws holding in the HMG wood stock and replace with an original).  This also extends to the wooden pistol grips, originals will fit just fine!

The next standard cap available comes on our HMG StG-P® models, the pistol butt-cap!  This is exactly how it sounds, simply a cap to cover the end and allowing the user to have a HMG StG® in a pistol configuration with a shorter barrel length.  I also suggested offering a thigh holster for this and was laughed away from the meeting.

“But what about my sheep dog operator tacticool 9000 AR stock?”.  We even have an answer for you.  The HMG StG® AR style stock essentially takes the conventional wooden stock and removes the pocket in which the stock sits.  Instead there is a threaded hold for a stock tube to thread in(giving you the choice of using your mil or commercial spec tube).  I have to say running a collapsible stock on a SBR’d StG is pretty sick.

Finally for you “AK’s for lyfe” folks, yes you, there is even a stock that fits your particular tastes.  The HMG AK® cap features the standard cap with the features allowing an under-folder stock to be attached.  We are utilizing Polish under-folders for our stocks.  A pretty neat feature is when a mag is removed the stock will fold over the mag well.

Now that we have our HMG StG® all pimped out with a new stock, what about sight options.  As has been showed, the rear sight is modeled directly from the original.  Again we knew there would be a desire for more than just iron sights….  When the rear sight is lifted up you reveal 2 small screws underneath.  By removing these screws the rear sight assembly detaches from the rear sight riser.  We then are going to offer a small piece of picatinny rail that will be able to be screwed into the rear sight riser allowing for the use of an optic.  Surprisingly enough the optic height is nearly perfect with a standard wooden stock and most AR style stocks, but we still suggest using a low height riser mount.

So there you have it!  In a small amount of time with little effort you are able to completely change the look of your HMG StG®.  Couple this with the caliber conversion kits and different length barrels/gas piston systems and you have the ability to have numerous combinations of parts, thus making many different versions of the HMG StG®.

As far as production goes.  As has been shown in a recent shooting video through our Facebook page our gas pressure issues have nearly been completely solved.  The goal is still as been said to begin shipping guns within the next few months.  A note of interest to this: there is some misconception as to what “being in production” means.  Understandably so as well.  We have made somewhere in the range of 100 or so StG’s for internal testing purposes over the R&D life cycle of this firearm.  Although we have not shipped out completed rifles we do continue to produce and manufacture the individual components and sub-assemblies associated with the production of the HMG StG®.  So have we been producing guns for sale?  No.  Have we been producing guns and inventory that will eventually be used for sold firearms?  Yes, absolutely yes.  I promise you the HMG team has been hard at work here for several years on this project(not just fighting for the highest Galaga score) and we are not slowing down.  I’ve said it multiple times but again I appreciate each and one of you as a customer and praise your patience to this point.  We are getting closer every day…

Oh!  One final note: We have had HUGE interest in the CETME-L & LC build kits/materials since we began talking about them.  If you have not had a chance to check out the CETME please do!  It is an interesting rifle, especially since it shares lineage with the StG.  We are still offering a 2 pack builders kit that includes (2) of every newly manufactured part to build a CETME (the only items you will need extra are an actual parts kit and a HMG Bending Jig).  This is a great chance for you and a buddy to go in halves on a few items and build a couple roller lock rifles for your collection!

As always please reach out with any questions you may have!

-Travis

travis@hmgunworks.com