MP3008
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| MP 3008 Volks MP | |
|---|---|
 One of the final stages of MP3008 construction, showing a wooden stock and transposed ejection port and cocking handle. |
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| Type | Submachine gun |
| Place of origin |  Nazi Germany |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1945 |
| Used by | Nazi Germany |
| Wars | World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1945 |
| Produced | 1945 |
| Number built | ~10,000 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 3.2 kg (7.1 lb) |
| Length | 760 mm (29.9 in) |
| Barrel length | 196 mm (7.7 in) |
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| Cartridge | 9x19mm Parabellum |
| Action | Blowback, open bolt |
| Rate of fire | 450 round/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 365 m/s (1,198 ft/s) |
| Feed system | 32-round detachable box magazine |
The 9 mm MP 3008 (Maschinenpistole 3008, literally "machine pistol 3008") was a Nazi German substitute standard submachine gun manufactured toward the end of World War II.
Also known as the "Volksmaschinenpistole" (people's submachine gun), the weapon was almost identical to the British Sten, except for its vertical magazine; some even featured additional pistol grips. Many other versions were direct copies of the original Sten, right down to its manufacturing stamps.
The MP 3008 was an emergency measure, designed at a time when Germany was at the point of collapse. Desperately short of money and raw materials, the Germans sought to produce a radically cheaper alternative to their standard submachine gun, the MP40.
The MP 3008 was a simple blowback design operating from an open bolt. It was crudely manufactured in small machine shops and variations were common. Typically, the magazine was bottom-mounted unlike the side-mounted Sten. Initially, all steel without handgrips, the wire buttstock was welded to the frame and was typically triangular, however the design changed as conditions inside Germany worsened and on final guns wooden stocks and other variations are found.
Some confusion exists between the MP3008 Volksmaschinenpistole and the Neumünster Device. The Neumünster Device was manufactured prior to the MP3008 under great secrecy by Mauser Waffenfabrik. The Neumünster device was an almost perfect copy of the British Sten, even down to its British proof marks. The reason for manufacturing the Neumünster Device is unknown but they were manufactured at great expense. Each Neumünster Device cost eight times as much as a Mauser Model 98K rifle.
[edit] See also
- Submachine gun
- Volkssturmgewehr 1-5 semi-automatic rifle intended for use by the Volkssturm.
- List of World War II firearms of Germany
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