Vollmer then worked on Berthold Geipel's MP 36 and in submitted a prototype to answer a request from the German Armament services for a new submachine gun, which was adopted as MP 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, notably in the more extensive use of stamped steel rather than machined parts.
Schmeisser had designed the MP 18, which was the first mass-produced submachine gun, and saw extensive service at the end of the First World War. He did not, however, design the MP 40, although he held a patent on the magazine. He later designed the MP 41, which was an MP 40 with a wooden rifle stock and a selector, identical to those found on the earlier MP 28 submachine gun. The muzzle itself without the subparts is one of the few parts of the MP40 that did not undergo a simplification.
In fact the MP40 muzzle is exactly the same as the one used on the MP Biggest difference is the finish. The finish of the MP38 muzzle is of outstanding pre-war quality and has a beautiful polished look. Quality of the finish decreased during the war years. The quality of the steel remained however very good. Muzzle MP40 [ read more ]. Early and late [ read more ]. Berlin-Borsigwald often with a "bnz 1" stamp. Barrel stamped with "Stg" [ read more ]. Barel with [ read more ].
Furthermore a steel "sample number" or "lot number" can be found stamped in the barrel. This code is sometimes confused with a serial number. Some collectors thought their MP40 was not numbermatching because this "steelstamp" did not match the serial numbers. This number can sometimes be found under the barrel protector. All the subparts can be fairly easy stripped down apart from the front sight holder.
This is soldered on to the muzzle. It can be removed by heating it. Since the barrel section consists out of numerous parts I don't want to describe the difference between complete barrel sections. Instead I will describe the variation in subparts. The collar nut is the part that connect the barrelsection with the receiver tube. The muzzle nut holds the 2 split rings or "half moon" rings. These split rings are there to hold the barrel in position so it cannot move forward or backward.
This connection is fairly unique in the world of small arms in my opinion. The muzzle protector holds the muzzle nut on it's place when unscrewed from the receiver tube. Without it one would loose quickly the split rings. The 2 sided simplified version is quite rare and sofar I only registrated them on number matched Erma ayf and Steyr bnz MP40's built in and Barrel protector [ read more ].
The barrel rest was a new feature that probably was added after the first trials with the MP36 as the MP36 did not have this feature.
I think in the period till it became clearer that thenext war was going to be mechanized and that a new kind of soldier named "Panzer Grenadier" would fight from armored vehicles as this fitted in the new Blitzkrieg doctrine.
In these armored vehicles, the Panzer Grenadier would often be armed with sub-machineguns. Already on the MP36 there was a hook located under the barrel that prevented the sub-machinegun from accidentally pulling in during firing.
Apparently, the "Heereswaffenamt" was not yet convinced about the safety of MP36 bolt. When a sudden jolt from the hard metal of the steel barrel contacting the hard metal of the armored vehicle a shock could be generated, the MP36 could then still bounce back into the vehicle when fired, because of this concern, the engineers from Erma invented a "shock absorber" of sorts, a softer material that could absorb the bouncing when firing the MP Apart from this shock absorbing function the designers gave it a second function.
The barrel rest had to prevent the collar nut from unscrewing from the receiver nut, sliding backwards and then releasing the 2 half rings inside the collar nut, thereby changing the headspacing of the bolt to the barrels chamber. Apparently the Bakelite barrel protector frequently broke, since the "Oberkommando des Heeres" later issued a message in the "Von der Front fur die Front" on the 2nd of August that broken barrel protectors could be replaced by a hard wood version.
This was then to be made by the "Waffenmeister". This message was submitted by Feldwebel Bemme. Von der Front fur die Front [ read more ]. Often the barrel rests of the in the bataillon available M. When a new one is not at hand I have tried to have them made from hard wood which is possible to make in a few minutes by any troops weapons specialist. These barrel rests have proofed to be good, I can recommend this method to every comrade.
The barrel rest is ususlly made from plastic. Bemme, Fw. To be honest I think that many soldiers left the MP40 as it was. I have seen a few pictures from that time with MP40's without the barrel protector on it. These days you hardly see MP40 without the barrel rest. Very good reproductions and hard to ditinguish from real ones are available made from the exact same material. As mentioned earlier Aluminum was a scarce material and almost all of it was used in the production of airplanes.
It was very cheap to produce and was issued almost at the same time as the 2 side barrel nut. Most sheet metal barrel rests have a Waffenamt number and a part of the serial number stamped on it.
The barrel protector proved to be an unnecessary invention since we have not seen it back on any other sub machinegun after the MP Hugo Schmeisser already decided not to use it on the MP41 although this sub machinegun had a different function and was not meant for armoured vehicles and paratroopers. The front sight guard used on the MP38 and MP40 is typically a military suggested feature. Most of the German sub-machine guns did not have this feature, including the MP This was probably directly copied from the in adopted K98a by the German cavalry.
This is where we see front sight guard the first time. The ones used on the MP38 and MP40 were completely closed. Again production simplification was the reason here. The front sight guard comes in 2 different versions see below. The early ones has a connector for the hinged muzzle cap. Since this overly complicated accessory was not used anymore after 2 years, the designer removed this from the front sight guard.
Most MP38's should have this connector. If not the barrel or the front sight guard probably has been changed over the course of time. On MP40's however this feature is quite rare. Early front sight guard [ read more ]. Late front sight guard [ read more ]. The MP40 fires from an open bolt, which means that prior to firing, the bolt is held to the rear by the trigger sear against pressure from the recoil telescope spring.
When the trigger is pulled, the sear frees the bolt to go forward under pressure of the recoil spring. As the bolt, with its firing pin projecting from the front of the bolt face, moves forward, it strips the topmost cartridge from the magazine, pushing the round into the chamber of the barrel.
The front of the brass 9mm case will be fully seated when it comes to rest against the rim inside the barrel chamber, however, a micro-second before the round is fully seated, the protruding firing pin detonates the primer of the 9mm round and initiates the chemical reaction of the gun powder to fire the round.
Some argue that the bolt does not fully seat the round into the chamber before detonation occurs! As the propellant gasses expand, they operate on both the bullet, forcing it through the barrel and out the muzzle, and in the opposite direction against the bolt, forcing the bolt to recoil backwards to the rear against the pressure of the recoil spring.
Since the bolt is about a hundred times more massive than the bullet, it moves much more slowly. In fact, by the time the bullet has left the barrel, the breech has not moved to the rear far enough to fully withdraw the fired case from the chamber. The bolt continues to recoil to the rear, while extracting and ejecting the fired shell to the right and out the ejection port.
The bolt assembly continues its rear-ward travel. At this point, if the trigger is still pulled back, the bolt will continue to move forward under the telescope spring pressure, repeating the cycle. Bolt of a MP18 left and MP40 right [ read more ]. Since the development of the bolt for the MP18 by Louis Schmeisser there has been very little change in the design of the bolt. The MP18 bolt is very similar to the later MP40 bolt. An unfortunate choice in my opinion since the single feeding system of Schmeisser would prove to cause so many problems in the future.
The retracting handles may have slight differences in contour as they were all hand crafted. This operation was supposed to be finished before May 20th Another way of recognizing an improved bolt is by the grinding marks on the inside of the bolt.
Bolt MP40 left and MP41 right [ read more ]. This bolt is suitable for semi-automatic firing. The difference with the standard MP40 bolt is that on the bottom side there is a ridge over the full length of the bolt on the right side.
In the last phase of the war some experimenting was done with a fixed firing pin machined onto the face of the bolt. The regular telescoping recoil spring assembly was replaced by a shortened MG42 recoil spring. Note: These bolts are not to be confused with the Portuguese FDP bolts which have also a fixed firing pin and very similar telescoping recoil spring assembly as the MP40, but without the firing pin pinned to the front. This FDP bolt and telescope spring assembly will fit an MP40, but typically, after firing 5 to 10 cartridges it may jam in operation because the telescoping spring often is too weak.
I think the German weapon developers realized this as well and therefore replaced it with a cut MG42 spring. Retractor MP38 top left and MP40 top right. The extractor is responsible for pulling out the fired cartridge shell after the bullet has left the barrel.
Fully automatic fire was the only setting, but the relatively low rate of fire allowed for single shots with controlled trigger pulls. The bolt features a telescoping return spring guide which serves as a pneumatic recoil buffer. 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. It also served as a safety by pushing the head of 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.
The absence of this feature on early MP 38s resulted in field expedients such as leather harnesses with a small loop, used to hold the bolt in forward position.
The MP 38 receiver was made of machined steel, but this was a time-consuming and expensive process. 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.
The MP 38 also features longitudinal grooving on the receiver and bolt, as well as a circular opening on the magazine housing. One unique feature found on 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 Sdkfz half-track. A handguard, made of a synthetic material derived from bakelite, was located between the magazine housing and the pistol grip. The barrel lacked any form of insulation, which often resulted in burns on the supporting hand if it was incorrectly positioned.
The MP 38 and MP 40 also had a forward-folding metal stock, the first for a submachine gun, [7] resulting in a shorter overall weapon when folded; however, this stock design was at times insufficiently durable for hard combat use. Although the MP 40 was generally reliable, a major weakness was its round magazine.
Unlike the double-column, dual-feed magazine insert found on the Thompson M variants , the MP 38 and MP 40 used a double-column, single-feed insert. 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.
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.
M is the better option because it offers an increased rate of fire. Shotguns are the best weapons to use inside the buildings and clear rooms. For close range combat, always prefer a shotgun. M is a heavy machine gun that can be only found in airdrop crates. German MP40 "Maschinenpistole. The Maschinenpistole 40, commonly known as the MP40 , is similar to the Thompson, but uses a smaller 9-mm round. MP5 means "Heckler and Koch submachine gun". Called the " burp gun " by G.
It was used by the German Military during World War 2. It fired 9mm bullets and had a round magazine. The weapon could only fire in full-automatic fire, but since the weapon had such a slow rate of fire of rounds per minute, it was possible to fire individual bullets. They are more alike than different , but there are differences. The MP38 was made with several parts of machined steel, while the MP40 used many sheet metal stampings. Other improvements occurred during development of the MP38 and MP40 , but were not limited to the implementation of the new model.
Captures of this gun were not at all uncommon to American troops in the early and mids.
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