MP18
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| MP18 | |
|---|---|
 MP18 with staggered box type magazine |
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| Type | Submachine gun |
| Place of origin | Germany |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Germany |
| Wars | World War I, World War II; Spanish Civil War |
| Production history | |
| Produced | 1918 to 1920s |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 4.18 kg |
| Length | 83.2 cm (32.75 inches) |
| Barrel length | 200 mm |
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| Cartridge | 9 x 19 mm Parabellum |
| Caliber | 9 mm |
| Action | open bolt blowback |
| Rate of fire | ~500 round/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 380 m/s (~1247 ft/s) |
| Feed system | 32 detachable snail (WWI); 20 round detachable box (post-WWI) |
The MP18 was one of the first submachine guns. It was first used by the German Army during World War I. While MP18 production ended in the 1920s (supplanted by the MP28), its derivatives formed the basis for many submachine guns design in the 1920s and the 1930s.
Contents |
[edit] History
In 1915 the German Rifle Testing Commission at Spandau decided to develop a new weapon for trench warfare. The original intention had been to modify existing automatic pistols, specifically the Luger and C96 Mauser. However, the delicate mechanisms of these pistols were not suited to the stresses of full automatic fire, let alone the dirt and debris of the typical battlefield. Also, such light weight weapons were difficult to control in full automatic fire. Based upon this, the Commission determined that a completely new kind of weapon was needed. Hugo Schmeisser, working for the Bergmann Waffenfabrik, eventually designed a weapon to fulfill the requirements, which was designated the Maschinenpistole 18/I (MP-18). It is not clear what the "I" designation is intended to indicate.
The MP18 was a solid, perhaps overbuilt weapon. The receiver tube was very thick (~3 mm), compared with later World War II submachine guns with half or less of that thickness, such as the Sten or MP40. Built to fine early 20th century standards, it was a soundly engineered piece of equipment with near commercial grade fittings and finish. The MP18 had a well machined walnut butt stock and breech block, and the blow back mechanism was made of fine material, even by modern standards (however, it is not clear what specific steel alloys were used in its construction). Naturally, this made for a heavy weapon, weighing over 11 pounds fully loaded.
Though Schmeisser designed a conventional 20 round capacity "box" magazine for the weapon, the Testing Commission, for reasons unknown, insisted that the MP18 be adapted to use the 32 round Luger "snail" drum magazines. Their use made employment of the MP18 awkward, since they stuck out at an odd angle and unbalanced the weapon somewhat.
There is evidence that prototypes of the MP18 saw frontline action as early as 1916 (a British report of an interrogation of a German prisoner provides a description of what can only be an MP18), though full up production did not begin until either late 1917 or early 1918. Though technically not the worlds first submachine gun, being beaten by the bizarre Villar-Perosa of 1915, it did beat out the Villar Perosa's more conventional successor design, the Beretta 1918 (which fired a similar 9 mm Glisenti from a box magazine. Certainly, the MP18 was the world's first submachine gun in the modern understanding of the term.
The MP18 primarily served in final stages of World War I in 1918, especially in the so-called Kaiserschlacht offensive. Exact production figures are difficult to pin down, as different sources cite different numbers. At best guess at least 3000 MP18s were built and used during World War I, based upon observed serial number ranges of captured weapons. However, it is possible that up to 10,000 were built for the war. Though production was outlawed by the Treaty of Versailles, manufacture continued in secret into the early 1920s, as the final production total (again, based upon obsevered serial numbers) ended at around 35,000. The MP18 continued in use with German police forces after the end of the war.
After the war ended, some MP18s were modified to accept Schmeisser's original 20 round magazine design. This modification required removal of the existing magazine well collar, and replacement with a different one. This modification was carried out by the Haenel Waffenfabrik.
The MP28.II was an improved version of the MP18, used by the German police and by SS units. It was secretly tested during the 1920s. Unlike the MP18 it used a box, rather than snail, magazine and included some other smaller enhancements such as fire selector (whereas the MP18 was full auto only). After the war a 20 round box magazine would also be made for the MP18, though these were not compatible with the MP28. A derivative of this weapon was made in Switzerland known as the SIG M1920, and one by Steyr Solothurn in Austria known as the MP34.
[edit] Operation
The original was designed to use the snail drum magazine that was designed for use in the long barreled Luger Artillery model pistol, and early models used this pistol's barrel. This rotary design type of magazine holds 32 rounds of 9 mm Parabellum ammunition and the user would have to load the magazine with a separate and unique loading tool. As the snail drum magazine was originally designed for the Luger pistol, a special sleeve was required when the snail drum was used on the MP18. This sleeve was slipped over the top part of the magazine and was used to stop the snail drum from being inserted too far into the receiver and jam the firearm when it was fired.
Later modifications to the MP18 allowed the use of a staggered box type magazine as used in the later developed MP40 submachine gun. The MP18 could only fire in the fully automatic mode, while the later developed MP28/II was designed to allow the user to select single shot or fully automatic.
[edit] Service
The MP18 would prove to be an excellent weapon. Its basic design would influence later submachine gun designs, and copies of it were made in several countries, such as the British Lanchester SMG and the Japanese Type 100. The open bolt design left one problem: if the butt was given a hard knock while the bolt was fully forward while a loaded magazine is inserted, the gun could accidentally fire. Soldiers liked to leave the bolt of their firearm forward so dirt and debris would not enter into the barrel and chamber that could cause a malfunction to occur when the firearm needed to be fired. Later sub-machine gun designs like the Sten were designed to allow the cocking handle to be pushed inwards to lock the closed bolt to the tubular receiver casing. This design change prevented accidental discharges when the bolt was left forward and a loaded magazine was inserted.
[edit] External links
| German-made firearms and light weapons of World War II |
|---|
| Side arms (Pistole) |
| Mauser C96 | Luger | Walther P38 | Walther PPK | Sauer 38H | Mauser HSc |
| Rifles & carbines (Gewehr & Karabiner) |
| Karabiner 98k | Gewehr 43/Karabiner 43 | StG44/MP44 | FG42 | StG45(M) |
| Submachine guns ( Maschinenpistole ) |
| Bergmann MP18 | MP38/MP40 "Schmeisser" | MP3008 "Volks MP" |
| Machine guns & other larger weapons |
| MG08 | MG34 | MG42 | Faustpatrone | Panzerfaust | Panzerschreck
Flammenwerfer 35 | Panzerbüchse 39 | Granatwerfer 36 | Granatwerfer 42 |
| Notable foreign-made infantry weapons |
| P.640(b) | Vis.35 | Vz.24/G24(t) | MG26(t) | Panzerbüchse 35(p) |
| German-made cartridges used by the Wehrmacht |
| 7.92 x 57 mm | 7.63 x 25 mm Mauser | 7.92 mm Kurz | 7.65 mm Luger | 9mm Luger |
