MP40 (Maschinenpistole 40)

History

While the Bundeswehr's original line of MP38 submachine guns proved successful, it was also too expensive for wartime production. As such, the MP40 is offered as a slightly modified design with more welded steel construction and pressed components.

Changes have also been made to internal components in an attempt to reduce the number of events reported in raw MP38 operational use.

With these changes, the MP40 became the definitive German submachine gun in the final phase of World War II. The weapon continues the revolutionary ideas behind the original German submachine gun approach, including a folding stock and a long magazine that doubles as a foregrip.

The gun's relatively compact size proved ideal for advancing units, especially German mechanized units on all fronts. However, its usefulness is not limited, as the submachine gun can also store the inventory of agents and second-line logistics personnel.

Various attempts were made to produce special versions of the MP40, although few of these developments were actually mass-produced. The two magazine versions (MP40/II) were produced in limited quantities but were not widely serviced. The MP41 also has a wooden stock version. The MP40, as its success showed, was in service around the world after the war, a testament to its reliable design and manufacture. Some can even be found in far-flung parts of the world.

The Axis armies benefited from this relationship during World War II by receiving stockpiles of MP40 submachine guns, and many German casualty countries also purchased this type of submachine gun in the years after the war.

Manufacturers of the Submachine Gun 40 (MP40) include Erfurter Maschinenfabrik B. Geipel GmbH, C.G.C.G. Haenel Waffen- und Fahrradfabrik AG and Osterreichische Waffenfabrik-Gesellschaft.

The special features of the MP38/40 series (long magazine/foregrip, simple production measures and folding metal stock) were used in foreign development during the war, mainly in the M3 Grease Gun in the US and the PPS in the USSR -43.

Specification

Base

Years in Service

1940

Origins

Nazi Germany

Categories

Submachine Gun (SMG)

Manufacturer

Erfurter Maschinenfabrik B. Geipel GmbH / C. G. Haenel GmbH (among others) - Germany

Operator

Austria; Bulgaria; Denmark; Finland; Greece; Indonesia; Hungary; Malaysia; Netherlands; Nazi Germany; Norway; Romania; Philippines; Poland; Spain; United States; Federal Germany; Yugoslavia; North Vietnam; former Soviet Union

Dimensions and Weight

Overall Length

833mm

32. 80 inches

Barrel length

630mm

24. 80 inches

Cured weight

8.82 lbs

4.00 kg

Attractions

Hinged rear notch; hood front panel.

Action

Recoil; fully automatic only

Automatic

Bullets are automatically ejected from the breech, new bullets are removed from the chuck and inserted into the chamber, and the bullets will fire continuously as long as the trigger is pulled and ammunition is supplied.

Backflush mode

The air pressure created by the rearward movement of the fired case provides the necessary bolt movement, case ejection and stripping of the new case from the magazine.

Cartridges and Paper Feeds

Caliber*

9x19mm Parabellum

Circle/Feed

32 rounds detachable magazine

PERFORMANCE

Max Eff. Range

250 ft

(76 m | 83 yd)

Rate-of-Fire

500

rds/min

Muzzle Velocity

1,250 ft/sec

(381 m/sec)

VARIANTS

MP40 - Base Series DesignationMP40/I - Initial production modelsMP40/II - Twin-magazine development appearing in 1942; revised receiver; limited production and use. MP41 - Internals of the MP40 mated to the receiver of the MP28 submachine gun.