ERMA EMP 36 submachine gun - in half a step to MP 38/40

ERMA EMP 36 submachine gun - in half a step to MP 38/40
ERMA EMP 36 submachine gun - in half a step to MP 38/40

Video: ERMA EMP 36 submachine gun - in half a step to MP 38/40

Video: ERMA EMP 36 submachine gun - in half a step to MP 38/40
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The first submachine guns appeared during the First World War. As conceived by their creators, this new type of rapid-fire small arms, in which an ordinary pistol cartridge was used, was supposed to significantly increase the firepower of the advancing troops. According to the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, Germany was allowed to arm police units with submachine guns. Therefore, in the 20s and 30s of the last century, the country was actively working on the creation of new models of such small arms.

One of those designers who were involved in the development of new submachine guns was the talented gunsmith Heinrich Volmer. In the period from 1925 to 1930, he managed to create several fairly successful samples of such weapons. In 1930, the German company ERMA (Erfurter Maschinenfabrik) bought all the rights to the weapons created by Vollmer. And soon the Nazis came to power in Germany, after which new submachine guns began to be developed for the needs of the army. So in the mid-1930s, ERMA converted the EMP submachine gun to the EMP 36 model, which became an intermediate option between the EMP and MP 38 models.

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ERMA EMP submachine gun

Immediately after acquiring the rights to weapons, the company began mass production of Volmer's submachine guns. The engineers of the company "restored" the cooling jackets on them, but the rest of the design of the submachine guns practically did not change. After the purchase, the weapon received a new designation EMP (Erma Maschinenpistole). Since 1932, these models have been offered for sale domestically as well as in third countries. At the same time, the company tried to adapt the weapon to the requirements of specific customers, for this reason the submachine gun was produced in several basic versions. They differed among themselves, mainly in barrel length, caliber, type of sight used, presence or absence of a fuse.

Experts distinguish today three main modifications of the EMP submachine guns. The first one has a 30 cm barrel, a bayonet attachment point and a tangential sight. These submachine guns were supplied by Germany to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, in particular to Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. The second model was the most popular and was considered standard. The barrel length was 25 cm, there was no bayonet mount, a simplified L-shaped sight was installed on some models, and a tangential sight on others. Most often, these submachine guns were equipped with a fuse. The third version of the EMP was distinguished by the presence of a stock similar to the MP-18.1 submachine gun.

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ERMA EMP 36 submachine gun

It is worth noting that Erma's submachine guns were a commercial success in the market. Of course, it was difficult to call him significant, but he should not be underestimated either. In total, at least 10 thousand EMP submachine guns were produced in Germany, but the exact volume of their release has not yet been established. A batch of these submachine guns in 1936 was purchased by the SS, which used this weapon throughout the Second World War.

At the beginning of 1936, the German Arms Directorate submitted a report to the Wehrmacht High Command on the state and prospects for the development of submachine guns. The report contained conclusions about the need to equip the technical arms of the troops and, in part, the infantry with such weapons. Taking into account these recommendations, the task was set to create individual automatic weapons for the crews of tanks and armored personnel carriers, which would use submachine guns for self-defense in the event of an emergency evacuation from equipment. The weapon had to be developed with amendments to the fact that it would be used in the cramped conditions of the fighting compartments of tanks and armored vehicles.

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ERMA EMP 36 submachine gun

In the same year, the director of the ERMA arms company, Dr. Berthold Geipel, initiated the design of the required weapon based on the samples already produced by the company. For the initial model, he took a fairly well-mastered EMP submachine gun. When working, the designers proceeded from the future specifics of the use of such weapons by the crews of armored vehicles: most often the shooting would be forced. This predetermined a number of design elements for the new submachine gun. In particular, the idea of a folding butt was first implemented in it, the barrel casing was removed, also for the convenience of firing from the tank, the reload handle moved to the left side of the bolt carrier, and a special device appeared on the barrel - a support hook, which was necessary for reliable fastening of the pistol -machine gun in the embrasure of an armored vehicle. It is worth noting a truly revolutionary technology for the production of the main parts of the new weapon: instead of traditional machining, a qualitatively new method of cold stamping of parts from a thin steel sheet was used. Until then, this method was mainly used only in the automotive industry. The use of stamping made it possible to significantly reduce labor costs and, as a result, the cost of the submachine gun. German designers of the ERMA company managed to create a unique design that had a direct impact on the entire further evolution of this type of small arms.

The new 9mm submachine gun received the official designation EMP 36 and was designed to combat enemy manpower at a distance of up to 200 meters. The EMP 36 submachine gun consisted of a barrel with a bolt box; a bolt with a striker connected together with the parts of the return mechanism (movable system); forend with folding stock, trigger box, trigger mechanism and box magazine. The use of a folding metal stock of the original design made it possible to reduce the length of the weapon from 831 mm (unfolded stock) to 620 mm (folded stock). Also on this model there was a pistol grip for fire control.

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ERMA EMP 36 submachine gun

In the EMP 36 submachine gun, a new constructive solution to the magazine neck was implemented, which was moved down, however, not strictly vertically to the barrel of the weapon, but with a slight offset to the left. This approach finally made it possible to overcome the old drawback of German-designed submachine guns, which was associated with the side arrangement of stores. The transfer of the center of gravity to the plane of symmetry of the submachine gun immediately had a positive effect on the accuracy of fire from the weapon, regardless of the emptying of the store, especially if the shooter was firing continuously. Especially for this model, a 32-round box magazine was created, which differed from the previously produced magazines in a number of parts.

The automatics of the EMP 36 submachine gun worked on the principle of free breechblock recoil. On this model, a striker-type percussion mechanism was used, it worked from a reciprocating mainspring. The trigger was taken almost unchanged from the EMP model. The weapon had a translator of the type of fire. Its button was located above the fire control pistol grip. The only fuse for the submachine gun was the cranked cutout on the slide box, where the handle for reloading the weapon was inserted when retracted to the rearmost position. The recoil spring, as in the EMP submachine gun model, was enclosed in telescopic guide tubes. A buffer spring was located in the channel of the striker, which, together with a relatively large (738 grams) mass of moving parts (striker, bolt and return mechanism), rolling out the free bolt at the time of the shot and the long stroke of the automatics, made it possible to reduce the rate of fire to 350-400 rounds per minute.

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ERMA EMP 36 submachine gun

For the EMP 36, the process of servicing the weapon has been significantly simplified. Now, to disassemble the submachine gun, instead of pressing the lever protruding beyond the trigger guard and separating from the butt of the bolt carrier, which was not very convenient in the EMP model, it was only necessary to pull back the locking bolt, turning it by 1/4 of a turn, and with the trigger pressed to separate the barrel with the bolt box and the moving parts of the automatic machine of the submachine gun from the box with the firing mechanism and the folding metal stock.

After the start of serial production, it became clear that the stamped parts were not yet reliable enough. Then, when the head of the ERMA company, Berthold Geipel, received an official order from the Wehrmacht Arms Directorate for the development of a new submachine gun for paratroopers, tankers and police officers, he had to return to the technology of machining the main parts of the weapon. In the period from 1936 to 1938, the EMP 36 submachine gun was modified into the MR 38. This model of the submachine gun was officially adopted on June 29, 1938, becoming a truly massive model of small arms and one of the symbols of World War II.

ERMA EMP 36 submachine gun - in half a step to MP 38/40
ERMA EMP 36 submachine gun - in half a step to MP 38/40

Submachine gun MP 38

For its time, the MP 38 submachine gun had a revolutionary design. No wooden parts were used in its construction. The lack of a wooden stock not only made it more convenient for paratroopers and tankers, but also lighter. Wood was not used at all in the production of MP 38 submachine guns, only metal and plastic, which was first used in the design of submachine guns.

The performance characteristics of the EMP-36:

Caliber - 9 mm.

Cartridge - 9x19 mm Parabellum.

Overall length - 831 mm.

Length with folded stock - 620 mm.

Barrel length - 250 mm.

Weight without cartridges - 3, 96 kg.

The store is a box magazine for 32 rounds.

Bullet muzzle velocity - 360 m / s.

Rate of fire - up to 350-400 rds / min.

Sighting range - 200 m.

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