7.92x33mm Kurz (7.9 PP Kurz, 8mm PP Kurz)

The 7.92x33mm Kurz intermediate cartridge was developed in 1940 by the Polte Werke company in Germany.

This cartridge is usually listed as the first practical intermediate power assault rifle cartridge, although it did have a significant number of predecessors (experimental military cartridges and certain medium-power commercial hunting cartridges).

This cartridge was extensively used in the MP.43/ MP.44 /  Stg.44 assault rifles by the Wehrmacht during WW2, and by Yugoslavian paratroopers and East German border police after WW2. No new weapon designs chambered in this caliber were made after WW2.

This cartridge was mass produced by Yugoslavia until the early 1980’s. Small batches of newly made cartridges still appear on the commercial markets from today’s Serbia in order to satisfy the needs of collectors who still own and shoot WW2-era guns. For all intents and purposes it is considered obsolete, although its historical significance cannot be underestimated. The development of the 7.92x33mm Kurz allowed a revolution in military small arms and therefore changed the nature of infantry warfare.