This rifle is probably the rarest and most desirable of all the World War II fully automatic weapons we have had the opportunity to sell, as the MKb 42(H) is truly the grandfather of the German Assault rifles, as well as any follow-on assault designs produced after World War II, including the vaunted AK-47. Consequently, this would be a pivotal piece in any advanced World War II German or military assault rifle collection and is probably the only fully registered, fully transferable MKb 42(H) available for sale! The story for this rifle really started in 1935-37 with the requirement from the German high command to develop a new intermediate-range 7.92mm cartridge. That design was completed and finalized in 1938 upon which the Heerswaffenamt issued the requirement for a new fully automatic assault rifle to be developed using this new intermediate-range cartridge. In 1939/40 the C.G. Haenel firm was tasked with producing a prototype design using the 7.92mm Kurz round. Not to be outdone, Walther also decided to develop and submit a prototype design on their own to compete with Haenel for a future contract. Both rifles looked somewhat similar, with the Haenel design eventually being accepted as the superior weapon. It was truly a revolutionary design in that it used a short operating rod housed inside a full-length gas tube, located above the rifle barrel. The tube was connected to the barrel via a front gas block which bleed off gases to cycle the action. The rifle was quite unique in that it was mostly fabricated from sheet metal stampings and a limited number of machined parts; basically the bolt, barrel assembly and some springs. The design was well received by the German high command and Haenel was awarded a follow-on contract for further production development of this weapon. This rifle design was continually improved upon throughout the war and eventually evolved into the MP 43/44 designs issued to various Waffen-SS troops during the Battle of the Bulge. The Mauser factory continued to improve the design which finally evolved into the last configuration which was the "StG 44". As part of this follow-on work the Haenel company included in this weapon a new design made up of two small bumps or bulges on each side of the rear sight base. These bulges would form the base of a yet to be developed future sniper scope/mount design. This new scope mount followed the same concept as the Mk 42 rifles in that they were truly a flat sheet metal design, folded and welded with minimal machined parts. They were actually more of a shooting aid than a true sniper scope/mount. These stamped sheet metal sniper scope mounts are extremely rare with only a handful even known to exist today. There is a fairly detailed write up on these early super rare rifles and the even rarer "sheet metal" sniper scope mounts in the book "The German Sniper" by Senich on page 369-381. This weapon is fully functional and is marked on the left rear side of the receiver: "M.Kb.42(H)" with a small "fxo" manufacturers mark on the underside of the receiver. There is a small import mark on the underside of the front portion of the receiver. It has an all blued wartime finish with a walnut stock. The ultra rare, sheet metal scope mount is an original World War II version that is correctly unnumbered, and correctly stamped on the left side with an intertwined "M/W" surrounded by a wreath. This proof mark is the factory mark of the "Merz-Werke" of the Merz Brothers, Frankfurt. This company was the prime producer of stamped receivers for the MP43/44 rifles. The scope rings are even steel stampings that screw into a threaded nut located on the mount itself. The scope is also an early all blued version marked with "ZF 41/1" on top of the tube. This rare assault rifle is accompanied by one original "MKb/42" marked magazine, one "MP43" marked magazine, two "MP44" marked magazines, a reproduction canvas/leather triple magazine pouch, and is fitted with an original leather sling.