Gewehr 43 The Gewehr 43 or Karabiner 43 was a semi - automactic rifle made in Nazi Germany based on the Gewehr 41 and the soviet Tokarev SVT - 40 History . Before the start of the World War II , German army had little interest in self - loafing rifles . Their tactical doctrine centered around infantry squad with MG - 34 universal machine gun as primary source of firepower , supported by the riflemen with Karabiner 98K bolt - action rifles . By the 1941 , two companies submitted the self - loading rifles for consideration of German Army - Walther and Mauser . These rifles were designates as Gewehr 41 ( W ) and Gewehr 41 ( M ) , respectively , or G41 ( W ) and G41 ( M ) , in short . Both rifles were somewhat similar in that they were gas - operated self - loaders , both utilizing the Bang - type annual gas pistons , located at the muzzle of the gun , within the relatively large muzzle cap . Both were fed from fixed 10 - round magazines . Both rifles were tested in combat and both proved as poor performers . The Bang - type muzzle gas system was among the key sources of the problems , so , by the late 1943 Walther engineers mated the G41 ( W ) action with the much more effective and reliable gas system of the Russian Tokarev SVT - 40 rifle . The resulting design was designated as Gewehr 43 , or Gew . 43 , or G43 in short . In the 1944 the Gew . 43 was re - designated as Kar . 43 ( Karabiner 43 , K43 ) , with no visible changes made , and under this designation it was manufactured until the end of the war . Kar . 43 , made in relatively large numbers , was issued mostly as a specialist ' s weapon and issued to soldiers who wouldn ' t be directly on the frontlines , where the rifles when exposed to combat conditions , often jammed and malfunctioned , it was issed to soldiers such as snipers , demolitions teams , etc . It was often fitted with a ZF - 4 optical telescope sight . Like many other German weapons , made during late stages of the war , the Kar . 43 showed little attention to the finish in all areas , where finish was insignificant for functional needs . There were several experimental developments on the basis of Kar . 43 , including selective fire versions , as well as versions chambered for 7 . 92x33 Kurz ammunition and adapted for STG - 44 magazines . Neither version entered production . During the early post - war period , Czechoslovak Army used some Kar . 43 rifles as sniper weapons . { C The Gew - 43 / Kar - 43 is a gas operated , semi - automatic weapon . The short stroke gas piston is located above the barrel . The bolt is locked by two flaps , which extend into the locking recesses in the receiver walls . When unlocking , these flaps are retracted into the bolt body . The receiver and bolt groups are machined from steel castings , with many surfaces being mechanically unfinished . Lots of stampings also are used throughout the construction . The rifle is fed from detachable box magazines , which held 10 rounds . Each G . 43 / K . 43 rifle had the dovetail , which can accept the telescope sight mount , in addition to the standard adjustable open sights . The German troops were glad to have a semi automatic rifle available ( though in very limited numbers ) to them , when their bolt action rifles were simply not enough firepower compared to the Russian SVT - 38 / 40 and the American M - 1 Garand and Carbines . However the G - 43 still had plenty of jamming problems that the G41 had , and still had to be loaded with two stripper clips one at a time , since only 2 box magazines were issued to the solder . The rifle ' s egronomics were also a bit awkward , especially in combat , and depending on the time of the war the rifle was produced , it could either be sabotaged by slave laborers , or be poorly made and rough machined parts , leading to excessive reliability or accuracy problems . In combat , many German troops simply swapped out the G43 in favor of the Russian SVT - 40 , or in Europe , the much prized American Garand rifle or M - 1 Carbine , such illustrated in the picture above .