The year 1938 was marked in the history of the PP by the fact that at that time a number of armies received their samples, which no longer copied the MP-18. That is, he, of course, was also their ancestor, but already quite distant. The second generation of submachine guns went on, and many of them met on the battlefield.
Internal diagram of the MAS 38.
Let's start with the French MAS 38 submachine gun, which at the St. Etienne began to develop back in 1935, but at the same time they tried to "get away" from the design of the MP-18 as much as possible. And the creators of this sample did it. It turned out to "leave". But to create a weapon that everyone would talk about as something impressive, alas, no. But nevertheless, this sample of PP also went down in history and it is quite possible to compare it with its main enemy at that time - the German submachine gun "Schmeiser" MR-38.
MAS 38
Since the weapon is made "from the cartridge" and it is precisely its characteristics that are provided by almost 50%, then I must immediately say that the French made a clearly unsuccessful choice. They took their own, "national" cartridge of 7, 65-mm "Long", and it seemed to be good. But … the cartridge turned out to be low-power. And besides, it was produced only in France! But what about export, what about … "business"? It turns out that the French A - either did not count on selling this PP abroad at all, or B - for some reason thought that people would buy them directly with cartridges, or even better with a license to produce the latter at home. However, who needs a cartridge only for a submachine gun? Yes, and quite weak.
Interestingly, the design of the MAS 38 had many original solutions, each of which seemed to be good in itself, but, combined into one whole, they ended up with "not quite what" was expected.
So, the bolt of this submachine gun had a long stroke. Long travel is a long receiver, and the French wanted a compact weapon. How to be? The solution was found quickly. The box was made inclined, moreover, turning into the butt, and it was in it that the return spring was placed. A beautiful solution in terms of technology. But … a blow to the head with such a butt of the enemy could lead to a breakdown of the weapon and it was no longer possible to repair it on our own. However, there was nothing to take this submachine gun for in order to stun the enemy, except for the barrel, which did not have a casing and, moreover, was thin and long. That is, if he warmed up when shooting, then it was clearly not necessary to grab onto him. And in general, it was quite problematic to hold this weapon in your hands. There was no forend under the barrel. The receiving window of the store was located directly under the barrel. And if we consider that it is impossible to hold a weapon for a magazine, then … for what in general it was possible to hold MAS 38? For just one pistol grip? Agree, not very convenient. Moreover, the same location of the store receiver was on the American "Thompson", but there, under the barrel, they first put an additional handle, and then the forend. And there were never any problems with keeping it. And here…
General John Thompson with his submachine gun. The handle under the barrel is clearly visible, which was absent on the French model.
By the way, the magazine receiver had a cover that moved forward when it was required to load the weapon. And the cover is good! It prevented dust and dirt from entering the mechanism. But the lid sliding forward is bad! Since she again interfered with holding the weapon with her left hand.
The reloading handle was on the right and was not connected to the bolt, that is, it did not move when firing. But … it was not very convenient to use it in the absence of a reliable hold of the weapon with the left hand. It was wiser to place it on the left.
The weight of the MAS 38 turned out to be small - only 3, 356 g. The rate of fire was 600 rds / min, and the bullet speed was 350 m / sec, which was clearly not enough for such a caliber.
By the beginning of the war with the Germans, these PPs did not have time to produce in sufficient quantities, moreover, the army refused the first samples altogether (and this is not surprising!) And they all went to the police. But with the beginning of the war, under the crackle of the German MP-35 and MP-38, enlightenment came quickly and the industry immediately received a large order. Received … but failed to fulfill it! The French then ordered Thompsons from the United States, but they arrived too late to help the French army stop the enemy. But the MAS 38 was still produced. In factories in the territory controlled by the Vichy government. Moreover, not only during the war years, but also after it until 1949. French soldiers fought with him in Indochina, but he did not find any special laurels and there and no one adopted him. Although no - in addition to the French army, it was adopted by the army … of Germany, where it was standardized under the designation Maschinenpistole 722 (f). The rear troops in France and parts of the defense of the Atlantic Wall were armed with them.
MP-35
By the way, the above-mentioned German MR-35 submachine gun (which appeared just in 1935) became a kind of result of the improvement of the MR-18. The magazine was moved to the right side, and the reloading handle was placed at the back. It turned out to be a completely closed receiver, where the dirt just couldn't get into! And - along with the purely German workmanship, it was the MP-35 that attracted the attention of … the SS troops, one of the features of which was the desire to be different from the army in everything! So they differed, having adopted the MP-35, the production of which in difficult, tense wartime conditions continued, as Christopher Shant writes about this, until 1945! Truly, God who wants to punish is deprived of reason. And, by the way, this is a direct hint to filmmakers - if you want to realistically show the SS troops - arm them not with the MP-38, but with the MP-35. Well, at least in the form of layouts! By the way, they are still in service with the police of various South American "banana republics". And it is not surprising, because most of their parts were sharpened and milled from solid metal blanks, turning whole mountains of metal into shavings!
And it is not surprising that for the armament of the mass army of the era of total wars, the Germans themselves recognized the MP-35, with all its quality, as unsuitable.
Another peer of the loser "Frenchman" and "German SS man" was the "Italian" - the Italian submachine gun "Beretta" MAV 38A. It was also designed in 1935. Also adopted in 1938. Designer Tullio Maregnoli. It seemed that there was nothing special about it: a cylindrical receiver, a carefully crafted wooden box with a slot for a magazine inserted from below, a perforated barrel casing, a reloading handle on the right. Everything seems to be as usual and nothing special. But … the main highlight of the design was … excellent balancing. This weapon was just a pleasure to hold in your hands! Although each "machine gun" was finished by hand, the production cost of the M38A was not too high, but the reliability and accuracy of fire, on the contrary, impressed everyone who dealt with this submachine gun. That is, it was a simple, but very high quality weapon!
"Beretta" MAV 38/42. Right view.
"Beretta" MAV 38/42. Left view.
When the Second World War began, the MAV 38A was "modernized": they began to make the barrel casing stamped and welded. But this was the only tribute to the fashion for an all-round simplification of weapons. More was achieved only in 1944, when Italy had already withdrawn from the war, or rather divided into the South occupied by the allies and the North occupied by the Nazis. And it was there that the production of "Beretta" for the German army began under the designations MP 739 (i) and MP 738 (i) - MAV 38A and MAV 38/42. On the last model, the forend was shortened, the perforated casing was removed from the barrel, and two cuts were made at the end of the barrel immediately behind the front sight to reduce the barrel toss up when firing. Interestingly, Maregnoli abandoned such a device as a fire translator. Instead, it had two triggers - a rear one for burst fire and a front one for single fire. The fire was fired from an open bolt. For some reason, there were a lot of shops: for 10, 20, 30 and even 40 rounds.
Beretta M38 / 49 (Modello 4) at the 6913th Electronic Security Squadron during DISPLAY DETERMINATION '85.
It's funny, but the Germans also had a model of a submachine gun, similar to the "Beretta". It just appeared in 1941 and it was designed by Hugo Schmeisser, who had nothing to do with the MP-38. But, taking into account the wishes of the infantry, he designed the MP-41. Which, in fact, was a hybrid MP28 / II - from which he took a wooden stock with a stock, a bracket and a trigger, and an MP-40, from which he borrowed a barrel and a bolt box, the bolt itself, a reciprocating mainspring and a receiver for store. It also differed from the MP38 and MP40 in that it had two modes of firing: bursts and single shots. The wooden stock made it possible to achieve higher shooting accuracy. But despite this, the Armaments Directorate of the German army rejected the MP-41, considering it unprofitable to change the MP-40 to the MP-41. And, nevertheless, the company "Haenel" began to produce it, as it is believed, by order of Romania. In addition to this country, they were supplied to Croatia and some of Hitler's other allies in the Balkans. In the German army, the MP-41 was not officially in service, but in the very last months of the war they began to arm Volkssturmist fighters with them. In total, Haenel produced 27,500 M-41 submachine guns. 26000 units in 1941, and at the end of 1944 another 1500. Moreover, it was possible to produce the MP-41 in the amount of 100 submachine guns per day, but the MP-40 - 300. And it turns out that the MP-41 was exactly three times harder for the manufacturer than the MP-40 and clearly not suitable for all-out war!
MP-41 with the magazine removed.
Captured "Beretta" that fell into the hands of the Anglo-American allies, enjoyed the glory of reliable and accurate weapons, and they willingly used them in battles. Although, it happened that the soldiers complained about the insufficient capacity of the store in those cases when they came across magazines for 10 and 20 rounds.
