MP 40

Willy Zimmermann, a highly decorated German Unteroffizier, with an MP 40 on the Eastern Front in 1944

The Maschinenpistole 40 ("Machine pistol 40") descended from its predecessor the MP 38, which was in turn based on the MP 36, a prototype made of machined steel.[5] The MP 36 was developed independently by Erma Werke's Berthold Geipel with funding from the German Army. It took design elements from Heinrich Vollmer's VPM 1930 and EMP. Vollmer then worked on Berthold Geipel's MP 36 and in 1938 submitted a prototype to answer a request from the Heereswaffenamt (Army Weapons Office) for a new submachine gun, which was adopted as MP 38. The MP 38 was a simplification of the MP 36, and the MP 40 was a further simplification of the MP 38, with certain cost-saving alterations, most notably in the more extensive use of stamped steel rather than machined parts.[5]

The MP 40 was often called the "Schmeisser" by the Allies, after the weapon designer Hugo Schmeisser. Schmeisser had designed the MP 18, which was the first mass-produced submachine gun. He did not, however, have anything to do with the design or development of the MP 40, although he held a patent on the magazine.[6]

The MP 40 submachine guns are open-bolt, blowback-operated automatic arms. The only mode of fire was fully automatic, but the relatively low rate of fire enabled single shots with controlled trigger pulls.[7] The bolt features a telescoping return spring guide which serves as a pneumatic recoil buffer.[7] The cocking handle was permanently attached to the bolt on early MP 38s, but on late production MP 38s and MP 40s, the bolt handle was made as a separate part.[8] It also served as a safety by pushing the head of the handle into one of two separate notches above the main opening; this action locked the bolt either in the cocked (rear) or uncocked (forward) position.[8] The absence of this feature on early MP 38s resulted in field expedients such as leather harnesses with a small loop that were used to hold the bolt in the forward position.[9]

The MP 38 receiver was made of machined steel, but this was a time-consuming and expensive process.[10] To save time and materials, and thus increase production, construction of the MP 40 receiver was simplified by using stamped steel and electro-spot welding as much as possible.[10] The MP 38 also features longitudinal grooving on the receiver and bolt, as well as a circular opening on the magazine housing. These features were eliminated on the MP 40.[10]

A soldier of the Russian Liberation Army with an MP 38 in 1943

One unique feature found on most MP 38 and MP 40 submachine guns was an aluminum, steel, or bakelite resting bar or support under the barrel. This was used to steady the weapon when firing over the side of open-top armored personnel carriers such as the Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track. A handguard, made of a synthetic material derived from bakelite, was located between the magazine housing and the pistol grip.[11] The barrel lacked any form of insulation, which often resulted in burns on the supporting hand if it was incorrectly positioned.[11] The MP 40 also had a forward-folding metal stock, the first for a submachine gun, resulting in a shorter overall weapon when folded.[12] However, this stock design was at times insufficiently durable for hard combat use.[12]

Although the MP 40 was generally reliable, a major weakness was its 32-round magazine.[13] Unlike the double-column, dual-feed magazine insert found on the Thompson M1921/1928 variants, the MP 40 used a double-column, single-feed insert.[13] The single-feed insert resulted in increased friction against the remaining cartridges moving upwards towards the feed lips, occasionally resulting in feed failures; this problem was exacerbated by the presence of dirt or other debris.[13] Another problem was that the magazine was also sometimes misused as a handhold.[14] This could cause the weapon to malfunction when hand pressure on the magazine body caused the magazine lips to move out of the line of feed, since the magazine well did not keep the magazine firmly locked.[14] German soldiers were trained to grasp either the handhold on the underside of the weapon or the magazine housing with the supporting hand to avoid feed malfunctions.[14]

At the outbreak of World War II, the majority of German soldiers carried either Karabiner 98k rifles or MP 40s, both of which were regarded as the standard weapons of choice for an infantryman.[15]

However, later confrontations with Soviet troops such as the Battle of Stalingrad, where entire enemy units were armed with PPSh-41 submachine guns, the Germans found themselves out-gunned in short range urban combat which caused a shift in their tactics, and by the end of the war the MP 40 and its derivatives were being issued to entire assault platoons on a limited basis.[16] Starting in 1943, the German military moved to replace both the Karabiner 98k rifle and MP 40 with the new, revolutionary StG 44.[16][15] By the end of World War II in 1945, an estimated 1.1 million MP 40s had been produced of all variants.[17]

Simone Segouin, a French partisan, posing with an MP 40 in 1944

During World War II, the resistance and the Allies sometimes captured MP 40s to replace or supplement their own weapons.[20][21][22] The MP 40 was used for several decades following World War II by many countries around the world in armed conflicts. Some found their way into guerrilla groups such as the Viet Cong or African guerrillas.

Its operators have included:

•  Algeria: the National Liberation Army used MP 40s supplied by Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.[23]
•  Austria[24]
•  Bosnia[25]
•  Bulgaria[26][24]
•  China[27]
•  Croatia[28]
•  Cyprus
•  Czechoslovakia[24]
•  France:[24] French resistance used captured guns during World War II. MP40s were also carried by French Army in the French Indochina[29] and French Algeria.[30]
•  Greece[24][31]
•  Guatemala: MP38/40 supplied in 1954 from Czechoslovakia,[32] still in service with the police at the end of the Guatemalan Civil War.[33]
•  Hungary[34]
•  Indonesia[35]
•  Israel[36][lower-alpha 1]
•  Japan[37]
• Kosovo Liberation Army[38]
•  Nazi Germany[39]
•    Nepal[40]
•  North Korea[41]
•  Norway[42]
•  Poland[43]
•  Romania[44]
•  Soviet Union: captured MP-40s were used by Soviet partisans and others.[20][21][45]
•  Spain: copied as the Star Model Z-45.[25]
•  South Vietnam: used by the South Vietnamese Popular Force.[46]
•  Syria: used against Israel.[47]
  •  Syrian National Coalition[48]
•  United Kingdom[49]
•  United States: used by Special Forces and their Civilian Irregular Defense Group program at the beginning of the Vietnam War.[50] Some also apparently captured in the Iraq War[51]
•  Vietnam: captured from the French Far East Expeditionary Corps and used by the Viet Minh, the Viet Cong and the People's Army of Vietnam.[46]
•  Yugoslavia[24]
•  Zimbabwe: used by ZIPRA and ZANLA.[52]

Following the Allied occupation of Europe in 1945, U.S. servicemen shipped home thousands of captured firearms as war trophies,[53] including MP 40s. This practice required proper registration of automatic weapons in accordance with the National Firearms Act before they could be imported, but this was curtailed later in the occupation, meaning a relatively small number of civilian-transferable MP 40 remain in circulation and are valued around $15,000 as of 2017.[54]

There are several semi-automatic variants and cosmetic replicas of the MP 40 available for civilian ownership in the U.S. Beginning in 2014, American Tactical Imports began importing an MP 40 replica manufactured by German Sporting Guns GmbH chambered in .22LR,[55] and since 2016 has also imported a pistol variant chambered in 9mm.[56] The .22LR variant features an all-metal construction with period-accurate Bakelite furniture, a folding stock, and a faux-suppressor to meet barrel length import requirements. The 9mm variant is classified as a pistol and therefore does not ship with a folding stock. Both variants are closed-bolt, blowback-operated semi-automatic firearms that vary substantially from originally manufactured MP 40s in internal operations, making them more of affordable cosmetic replicas than faithful reproductions. Neither of the GSG-manufactured variants are compatible with originally manufactured MP 40 parts and magazines.

• List of common World War II infantry weapons
• List of submachine guns
• List of World War II firearms of Germany

• Axworthy, Mark (1991). The Romanian Army of World War II. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1855321694.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Bishop, Chris (2002). The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 978-1586637620.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Dunlap, Roy (1966). Ordnance Went Up Front. R & R Books. ISBN 978-1884849091.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Fowler, William (2005). Stalingrad, the Vital Seven Days. Spellmount. ISBN 978-1862272781.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Hobart, Frank (1975). Pictorial History of the Sub-machine Gun. Scribner Publishing. ISBN 978-0684141862.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Hogg, Ian; Weeks, John, eds. (1977). Military Small Arms of the 20th Century. Arms & Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-301-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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• Ingram, Mike (2001). The MP40 Submachine Gun. Zenith Imprint. ISBN 0-7603-1014-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Katz, Samuel (1988). Israeli Elite Units Since 1948. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-8374.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Myatt, Frederick; Ridefort, Gerard, eds. (1992). New Illustrated Guide to Modern Rifles & Sub-Machine Guns. Smithmark Publishing. ISBN 978-0831750558.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Neil, Grant (2015). Mauser Military Rifles. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1472805942.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Peterson, Philip (2011). Standard Catalog of Military Firearms: The Collector's Price and Reference Guide. F+W Media, Inc. ISBN 978-1440228810.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Priestley, Rick; Cavatore, Alessio, eds. (2014). Bolt Action: World War II Wargames Rules. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1782009702.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• de Quesada, Alejandro (2014). MP 38 and MP 40 Submachine Guns. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1780963884.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Rottman, Gordon L (2012). The AK-47: Kalashnikov-series Assault Rifles. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-835-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Willbanks, James (2004). Machine Guns: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1851094806.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• "Erma MP-38 and MP-40 submachine gun (Germany)". World Guns. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
• "MP40 Manufacturers and Markings". Medal Net. Retrieved 7 March 2015.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to MP40 and MP41.

• Website dedicated to the MP 38, MP 40 and MP 41
• Gunworld article on the MP 40
• The Schmeisser MP41: A Hybrid Submachine Gun