Germany’s Wartime Standard Submachine Gun
Adopted by the German Wehrmacht beginning in 1940, the MP 40 became the standard submachine gun issued to squad leaders, NCOs, paratroopers, and armored vehicle crews throughout World War II. Chambered in 9mm Parabellum and fed from a 32-round box magazine, it offered close-range firepower in a compact package well suited to mechanized and airborne warfare.
Its distinctive underfolding stock and all-metal construction made it instantly recognizable, and it remains one of the most iconic small arms of the war.
From the MP 38 to a Wartime Standard
The MP 40 was designed by Heinrich Vollmer at Erma Werke as a refinement of his earlier MP 38, itself an evolution of Vollmer’s MP 36 and the influential Erma EMP. Where the MP 38 still relied on machined steel components, the MP 40 was engineered around stamped sheet-metal parts and a folding stock with no wood furniture at all.
The redesign cut production time and cost while keeping the same general layout and reliable open-bolt blowback action that had proven itself in the MP 38.
Erma, Steyr, and Haenel Kept the Line Running
Steyr-Daimler-Puch in Austria built the largest share of wartime MP 40 production, with Erma Werke in Erfurt — the design house and an important early maker — and C.G. Haenel also contracted to keep pace with demand. Estimates of total wartime output vary, though a commonly cited figure runs to roughly 1.1 million units produced between 1940 and 1945 — records from the period are incomplete, so any precise count should be treated as an approximation.
Inspection and acceptance stamps, like the one pictured here, were applied at each factory to mark parts as passed for service.
From German Service to American Collections
The MP 38 family saw combat from the invasion of Poland in 1939; the MP 40 itself entered service in 1940 and became the Wehrmacht’s mass-production stamped SMG from the campaigns in France onward, then through North Africa and the Eastern Front, generally issued to squad leaders and specialists rather than every rifleman. Captured examples were also prized and reused by Allied troops and partisan forces when they could be found, valued for their reliability and volume of fire.
At war’s end, many were brought home as trophies by returning American servicemen. Because the design is capable of automatic fire, surviving examples properly registered before the relevant federal cutoffs remain legally transferable machine guns today, while undocumented guns were typically demilitarized — which is why parts kits like this one circulate widely among collectors.
The MP 38 and MP 41 Family
The MP 40 is easy to confuse with its direct predecessor, the MP 38, which shares the same general profile but uses machined rather than stamped major components and commands a premium among collectors as the rarer of the two.
The MP 41 was a distinct variant built by Haenel that paired the MP 40’s internals with a wooden stock and pistol grip more reminiscent of earlier designs; it saw limited German use and was produced mainly for export, including to Romania.
Why the MP 40 Still Matters
Few small arms carry the visual shorthand for World War II that the MP 40 does, and that instant recognizability keeps demand for original parts and components strong among militaria collectors.
Even a disassembled kit like this one preserves genuine wartime manufacture and markings, offering a tangible piece of the weapon’s history for collectors who may never have the opportunity to own a fully transferable, live example.
