World War II Database

Country of Origin	Germany
Type	Submachine Gun
Caliber	9.000 mm
Capacity	32 rounds
Length	950.000 mm
Barrel Length	320.000 mm
Weight	4.000 kg
Rate of Fire	550 rounds/min
Range	150.000 m
Muzzle Velocity	380 m/s

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIn 1930, Heinrich Vollmer and his company Vollmer Werke completed the design for the submachine gun VMP1930. Their effective range was about 150 meters (about 490 feet), with a billed maximum range of about 250 meters (about 820 feet). They have a firing rate of 550 rounds per minute. After producing only 400 examples, the German Reichswehr stopped funding for this project, and as the result Vollmer sold the design to the firm Erfurter Maschinenfabrik Berthold Geipel GmbH (ERMA). ERMA began producing these weapons under the new designation of Erma Maschinenpistole, or EMP, in late 1931, and sold the first batch in 1932. Three major variants existed. The variant sold to Bulgaria and Yugoslavia had 30-centimeter barrels, tangent rear sights, and bayonet lugs. The second variant had a stock similar to that of MP 18 submachine gun with finger grooves. The most numerous variant had 25-centimeter barrels, tangent or flip-up sights, and no bayonet lugs. In 1936, the Nazi SS organization purchased a number of them for use by police units. A number of them were exported to Nationalist Chinese forces; these saw action in the Second Sino-Japanese War which began in 1937. ERMA ceased production of these weapons in 1938 after producing more than 10,000 examples.

Meanwhile, the state arsenal at A Coruña in northwestern Spain license built them in large numbers, and these weapons saw action in the Spanish Civil War. In 1939, a large number of Spanish Republican troops fled across the border into France and became detained, resulting in the French capturing 3,250 examples; 700 to 800 of them entered French Army service, which were later captured by the Germans; the Germans designated these Spanish-made EMP submachine guns 740(f).

Source: Wikipedia ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Oct 2015

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