MP-40
The MP-40 (German: Maschinenpistole 40) (English: Machine pistol 40), is a type of sub-machine gun. It is also known as the Schmeisser for Hugo Schmeisser, who designed other weapons but not this one. It was developed in the late 1930s and was first used in the early 1940s. It was used by the German Military during World War 2. It fired 9mm bullets and had a 32-round magazine. The weapon could only fire in full-automatic fire, but since the weapon had such a slow rate of fire of 500 rounds per minute, it was possible to fire individual bullets. It was one of the first weapons made completely out of plastic and steel, making it both cheap and quick to make. The design was so good and so reliable that British soldiers would often ditch their own Sten sub-machine guns and use the MP-40 instead. This would not have been a big problem since both weapons fire the same type of bullet and clip.
MP-40 Media
MP-40 on display for the Springfield Armory National Historic Site Archives
MP 40 made by Erma Werke in 1943 with the stock folded
MP-40 front sight and muzzle
A soldier of the Russian Liberation Army with an MP 38 in 1943
U.S. Army Signal Corps instructional video from 1943.
An MP 41 with wooden stock
Simone Segouin, a French partisan, posing with an MP 40 in 1944
