In 2013, SMG Guns announced their reproduction Type II Fallschirmjägergewehr FG-42 paratroop rifles. These recreated the late-model German FG-42s with some improvements in semi-auto form. Now, SMG Guns has released a promo video for their new Type I FG-42, reproducing the earlier, lighter, and frankly cooler-looking German paratroop rifle for the US civilian market. The video is embedded below:

The original Type Is differed in having milled receivers and stamped buttstocks, as well as other miscellaneous differences*, where the Type IIs had stamped receivers and wood buttstocks. SMG’s reproductions, however, both feature milled receivers. According to Rick of SMG Guns, the prototype shown in the video will soon be sent off to the BATFE for approval, and offered for sale first to SMG Guns’ customers who bought the Type II reproductions, before being made available to the general public.

*For example, the Type I and Type II magazines are incompatible with the opposite rifle’s magazine well, a good example of the sort of noodle-brained decisions that plagued German industry during the war. Of course, the SMG Guns Type I reproductions will use the same magazines as their Type II counterparts.

FG-42 paratroop rifle reproductions are not a new idea. Before SMG Guns’ reproduction, Tactics Group released photos of their FG-42 reproductions, and even before then Sport-Systeme Dittrich had been making reproductions for the German market. However, neither of those guns were available in the US.