Welcome everyone to the 172nd edition of ‘Hot Gat or Fudd Crap?’, one of our many series here on TFB. If you’re new to the series, this is where we look at the most obscure firearms that are actually for sale and ask the question – is this Gat a sweet deal or only has a Fudd appeal?  Each week the TFB staff weighs in with their thoughts, but readers get the final say in the poll at the bottom of each article.

In our last head-to-head edition, our poll showed that you, the readers, deemed Hop’s rifle to be the hotter of those two gats.  

HGFC – James vs Hop Block II on a Budget Special — Poll Results

At the time this article is being written James’ rifle has a top bid of $1,925 with Hop’s rifle close behind at $1,850.  With No Reserve set on both auctions we’re happy these two gats will soon be on their way to new homes.  Congratulations in advance to the winners.  

This week’s edition of HGFC looks at a custom STG44-themed AR-15 chambered in .223/5.56 NATO. As is tradition, this WWII-inspired gat is currently up for sale on GunBroker with a $2,000 Starting Bid with No Reserve. 

HOT GAT or FUDD CRAP?

German Themed or Trailer Park Supreme?

HOT GAT or FUDD CRAP? German Themed or Trailer Park Supreme?

Let’s see what the Staff had to say about this week’s offering:

“When Bubba and his bald cousin collaborate” – Matt E.

“This must be one of those elusive “Wonder Waffles” that would have most certainly turned the tide of the war had they been in mass production.” – Luke C.

“Fake it to make it” – Nick C.

“Solid effort, from a distance at least…” – Matt M.

“Pro: you won’t have to explain the poverty pony, because con: you’ll be too busy having to explain your Nazi sympathies.” – Will P.

“Das f**k-up” – Giorgio O.

“Much like that one booth at the gun show with far too much Wermacht paraphernalia, this shows impressive commitment to a questionable hobby” – Daniel Y.

HOT GAT or FUDD CRAP? German Themed or Trailer Park Supreme?

Selling this very specifically themed gat is GunBroker seller Nemo221, located in Taylor TX.  Let’s see what they had to say about this STG-themed AR-15.  

HOT GAT or FUDD CRAP? German Themed or Trailer Park Supreme?

Who needs a transferable StG44 when you can have an AR15 that look the same without costing you a fortune?

Parts:

Aero Precision slick side upper

Anderson lower with solid trigger guard

5.56mm 16″ Colt Competition style heavy barrel

Mil-spec trigger group

Brownells retro A1 stock, brown

Brownells retro A1 grip, brown

Rifle buffer and spring

Wilson Combat laser engraved dust cover

ASC 40-round magazine

Battle Arms clamp-on front sight (discontinued)

JP .875″ thread protector

Fulton armory gas block shim

Adams Arms piston kit, carbine length

Troy Vtac Alpha rail

Sig Sauer QD sling swivel mount, flush fit on the rail

OD green GI sling

GI barrel nut

AK12 rear sight base

RPK rear sight leaf, windage adjustable 

DB Tac .83″ rail riser, 8 slots, dimpled to accept the AK12 rear sight base

DPMS stock extension 1″ with spacer (discontinued, extremely rare. purely for aesthetics.)

HOT GAT or FUDD CRAP? German Themed or Trailer Park Supreme?

Features:

Closely resembles StG44

Windage-ajustable rear sight is easily detachable with a pair of thumb screws for use of optics

Rear sight will cowitness with any normal backup iron sight, providing identical ballistics

Adams Arms gas piston kit, carbine-length. Runs cleaner than gas impingement system with less overheating behind the barrel. Gas adjustment knob has 3 settings: normal, silenced and bolt-action.

M16 rifle buffer

Full-auto cut bolt carrier. Works great with binary triggers and other types of trigger that require full-auto bolt carrier. The gun itself comes with a mil-spec semi-auto only trigger from AR-Stoner.

A1 stock coupled with a spacer results in the same length of pull as an A2 stock. It also makes the receiver longer to match the look of an StG44.

Round count less than 100

Comes with ONE magazine that holds 40 rounds

HOT GAT or FUDD CRAP? German Themed or Trailer Park Supreme?

I don’t think anyone who’s been in the market for a transferrable STG 44 would be willing to settle for this.  With that said, I certainly know where this seller is coming from.  Looking at sales of transferrable STG 44’s, they range from $28k in 2013 to $39k in 2021.  So it’s certainly one of those guns that really only can be acquired by that 1% of all firearms owners.

HOT GAT or FUDD CRAP? German Themed or Trailer Park Supreme?

You could debate for days how correct or incorrect this inspired build is, but aesthetically he got pretty close.  Even down to the rear leaf-style sight mounted all the way forward.  I think the honest debate would be about the quality of the parts used.  Not to say that they’re bad, but I think the price might be a little high for something that’s built on an Anderson lower.

As always I could be wrong, and it’s hard to say for guns like this that are truly unique.  So is this STG 44 themed AR-15 worth it with a starting bid of $2,000, or is your money better spent elsewhere?  As always, I leave it up to you, the readers, to decide.

HOT GAT or FUDD CRAP? German Themed or Trailer Park Supreme?

What do you think?  Is this STG-44-themed AR-15 a Hot Gat or a cheap imitation Fudd Crap?  Be sure to let us know in the comments below, and cast your vote to let us know if this Custom AR15 StG44 clone build is a Hot Gat or Fudd Crap:

Special thank you to reader Jon M. for the tip!