View of Pest from the Buda hills after the siege, showing the destruction of the war, spring 1945.

View of Budapest, 1945

Nicknamed the Király Géppisztoly (Royal Machine Pistol), this little-known Hungarian-made SMG is widely viewed as one of the best of WWII, and at least one source describes it as an intermediate step between the SMG and the assault rifle: the 39.M has the longest barrel of any SMG, providing better accuracy. Its sister weapon, the 43.M, was essentially the same weapon with a folding stock and a slightly shorter barrel. The gun is little known in the West; understandably so, as most copies were lost on the eastern front.