ATF Sturmgewehr Pouches
Our "Texled" Mkb42 and MP44 pouches are simply the best copies ever made- no otehrs come close. Our less expensive versions are still better than the majority of pouches offered elsewhere.
Although relatively simple in appearance, this took years of research and development, as well as tens of thousands of dollars. Why?
Original MP44 pouches are one of the rarest pieces of WWII German fieldgear- and also the most expensive. Even if one has enough in the piggy bank, these are very difficult to find. Their rarity has been a boon for dishonest dealers- with so few originals to compare to, aged fakes as well as postwar Yugoslav and Polish pouches are frequently passed off as the real thing.
Other reproductions are normally pathetic knock-offs of a variety of postwar Warsaw Pact pouches. Once an original is in hand for comparison, even the highly touted Czech copies leave a lot to be desired. It also becomes readily apparent that the "original" most vendors claim to have copied was anything but.
Too expensive? Unlike other dealers, we don't just email "Mr. Chin" to acquire our products. We do much of the work in our own shop (in the USA) and the materials and hardware were insanely expensive to reproduce. No canvas or webbing mill will agree to make 20 yards of a special order material. The minimum order was 500 hundred yards of canvas and 3,000 yards of webbing. The tan linen canvas was $18,000 and the gray webbing with the woven buttonholes was $9,800. Our total material and sample cost to tool up for these exceeds 50k. Yes, really. (I have receipts). Much of the labor we do here- we still punch and cut all the parts here, partially assemble them and make the "Press stoff" for the side flaps. The canvas in our pouches alone costs more than a complete pair of the clown pouches.
Still mad because they aren't cheap like the junk in Shotgun News or on Ebay? Tell Santa Claus.
...then get the Cheap Crap
Above is a demonstration photo showing the most common of the "fairly priced" pouches we get harassed over. I very much doubt any other repro vendor owns originals for a side by side so I'll help out. As one can readily see, the Sturm repros feature hardware that is a sniper-defeating inky black, the closures on the accessory pockets were copied from post-War Yugoslav pouches, the freely hanging stitches are done with a pretty day-glo nylon thread- and as a special bonus the cells are too short to take MP44 magazines. So, they look like *hit and the mags don't fit. What a deal!
Models: The model names Type IA, Type IIA, Type IIB, and Type IIC I have created only to identify different variations of the pouches. There is no historical significance to these terms and the Germans did NOT use them. I literally made them up. In 2010. One or another is not more correct or more common for any certain troops or units. They simply identify manufacturing variations. Yes, I'm sure. Pick the one that best turns your crank. Or buy one of each.
What all will fit in these? All models of our Mkb42/MP43/MP44 pouches are made to carry the standard 30 round magazine common to all variations of these rifles. We don't know and don't really care whether they will fit AK47, AK74, HK91, Galil, RPK, Glock, etc, etc.. They fit what they are made for. That's enough.
Fair?
These don't look as good as the pouches from Prague! Those look old! That's because we haven't soaked & sloshed them around in a tub of filthy water for 3 days like those guys do. Look at pics of originals and you'll see why theirs are so easy to bust. Plus the mags often don't fit in them at all.
Yes, the mags fit: All of our pouches are test fitted with real STG mags before we put them on the shelf. One does need to use two hands to close the flaps- one hand to push up on the stud, and the other to pull the closure strap down and fasten it. They close firmly like originals- if they easily fall into the closed position, they will open just as easily and you'll end up losing a magazine.