Until the supply of 22LR dried up, my metal-receiver GSG 522SD had become one of my favorite range toys. Accurate and reliable (if the chamber is periodically cleaned), the GSG 522 has sold like hot cakes. ATI followed up the success of the GSG 522 with a .22LR copy of the MP-44 Sturmgewehr, and is now going to market a new Teutonic plinker, the MP-40 “Schmeisser.” The MP -40 will be available as a carbine (underfolding stock and faux suppressor) and a pistol version (underfolding buttstock permanently retracted). Both 10- and 25-round mags will be available. Like the STG-44 that preceded it, the GSG MP-40 will come from ATI with a wood crate for storage. MSRP will be $539.95. So is the MP-40 really a Schmeisser? . . .
The term “Schmeisser” may be somewhat of a misnomer as related to the Mp-40, as the original 9mm submachine gun was designed and built by Erma. Over the years, we have all heard that Mr. Schmeisser “had nothing to do with” the development of the Mp-40. That may be akin to stating that Eugene Stoner had nothing to do with the development of the M-4. In any event, here is what one website, Die Maschinenpistole 40, has to say on the topic:
“Why the MP38 and MP40 were called the ‘Schmeisser’
Every book written after the early fifties states that Hugo Schmeisser did not have to do anything with the mp40. Most writers of these books base their information on previous books without having checked the patents and interviewing people who were involved in the design and production at the time. I’m not claiming that I have done this but further investigation and correspondence with experts in the field of small-arms, who have the following information first hand, leads me to belief that the statement that “Hugo and Hans Schmeisser did not have anything to do with the design” is a misunderstanding. The main reason why this has come into the world is probably the fact that Erma wanted to do business in the United States after WWII.
The American sportshooters were of course a very interesting and huge market. During this time they came in contact with the company “Interarmco Ltd” based in the the United States. Since the mp40 had built up such a notorious reputation during the war, Erma wanted to impress their future business partner with this fact. They simply “forgot” to tell that almost the entire design was based on patents of Hugo Schmeisser. This was easy since Hugo Schmeisser also died in this same period after coming back from a long period of Soviet captivity. Another event that helped disregarding the role of Hugo Schmeisser was that the important “Small Arms” series of books claimed that Hugo Schmeisser only role lay in the fact that Haenel also produced the mp38 an mp40. Hugo Schmeisser was the technical director of Haenel. Tricky fact is that the author of these “Small arms” series was a friend of the owner of Interarmco Ltd. The same company that had the deal with Erma!
Immediately after the war, even before the soviets occupied their part of Germany, the British Intelligence Service interviewed Hugo Schmeisser. In these intelligence reports Hugo Schmeisser stated that he was reponsible for all the military used sub-machine guns. All these statement were examined and confirmed by high ranking officers who played an important role in the armament industry. Apart from this, the patents proved to be the most convincing evidence on this. Below I will list the patents that can directly be linked to Hugo or Hans Schmeisser:
1) So starting with the first and most important patent which is Schmeisser’s patent on the delayed blowback. This invention was first used in the mp18 and has been used unchanged in almost any submachine gun afterwards. To rub it in clearly Haenel pressed it in the housing of the mp41 which is by the way exactly the same as the mp40 (see picture).
2) The seperate firing pin guided by a spring which is loose in the bolt.
3) The double stack/single feed magazine system. Initially Erma used a different system on their prototype, the EMP36. This was the same system as used in the Erma EMP. Their intention was to use this as well in the new mp38 but this was prevented by the military. They wanted Erma to use the doublestack/single feed system of Schmeisser. This is a good example of how big Hugo schmeisser influence was in the military. The patent for the magazine was of the 7th of september 1930.
4) OK, here it gets really tricky and confusing. It’s stated everywhere that the telescope spring was a patented invention of Vollmer. Which is the D.R.P. Nr. 580620 of july 13 1933. However a patent which was handed out on the 27th November 1930 to Hugo and Hans Schmeisser also clearly describes a telescoping main operating spring assembly in a housing exactly like the spring used in the Erma EMP and MP40 series. This leads me to believe that that there is a possibility that the patent that is always linked to Heinrich Vollmer is actually an earlier invention of Hugo Schmeisser. The Vollmer VMP 1930 was the first Sub-Machine hat used the new telescoop spring. The earlier models like the VPG, VPGa, VPF and the VMP 1925 did not use this invention yet. I don’t really understand why there would be 2 different patents on 1 invention. Maybe there are small technical differences. I don’t really know. What I do know is that I have seen the patents (on photo’s) of the Schmeisser patents and not of the Vollmer patents. If you have any further information or copies of the patents please let me know.
5) Then the folding stock. Again a revolutionary patented invention of Hugo Schmeisser. Hugo Schmeisser already applied for a patent on this invention in 1935. This folding stock is however different than the one used on the mp38 and mp40. The principle is however the same. Hugo Schmeisser’s folding stock was in fact not a “folding stock” it looked a bit like the extending stock later used on the American “Grease gun”. The difference lay in the fact that the part which is pressed against the shoulder became part of the handgrip when folded in. Apparently there is no patent of Erma for the folding stock used on the MP38 and mp40. Possibly because the patent office thought that the functional principle remained the same as the one from Hugo Schmeiser. Another interesting thing is that the patent office did not grant Hugo Schmeisser the patent until 1939. 4 years is quite a long grant period. Since Germany was heading for war it didn’t want it’s future enemies to know about this invention. In 1939 the MP38 was already spotted by the enemies and therefore there was no reason anymore to not grant the patent.
The attachement of the barrel to the receiver housing is not an patented invention of Hugo Schmeisser. He used a diferent attachement as used on the MP41. Also the attachment of the reciever housing to the grip section is not Hugo Schmeisser’s invention. It might be that this is an invention of Heinrich Vollmer since the Erma EMP has the same ingenious disassembly system. The mass cooling barrel was also more or less copied from the VMP models from Vollmer.
Off course it was the design team of Berthold Geipel of Erma who combined the patented inventions of Hugo Schmeisser but to say that Hugo schmeisser did not have anything to do with the design is untruth.”
“They are terrible things, I wish they had never been invented”.
So well educated, The “educated elite”,without an ounce of wisdom or perception. They remind me of children that have been shown how to turn on the key of a vehicle and press the gas pedal without any understanding of how the vehicle works, how to steer or where the brake is.
No understanding of human nature, of history, of experience. No logic or critical thinking skills, all the “education” and all of the decisions of how to use that knowledge based on nothing but emotion and wishful thinking.
And these are the people that help decide what direction this vehicle called civilization goes; Wow!, It is incomprehensible, after the complete failures of every pet theory these people have helped to enact, that they are STILL held in some level of respect and that their ideas STILL have any validity.
I won’t give your article credibility of a reply other than if you can’t write without being vulgar shove your article and all your guns where the sun don’t shine.
So basically they are kinda hoping everyone obeys this law because if they don’t, then what?
I think they really stirred up a bees nest with this and actually backed themselves into a corner. Now they are obligated to find, search, confiscate and probably arrest the owners of the guns.
No way this is going to end well. Some people around here claim the OFWG types will just roll over and sit when told to but I don’t think that applies to all of them. And it only takes a few to make headlines. I really wish they hadn’t done this because it’s really not necessary to keep people safe.
The Constitution State should start the Second American Revolution.
If I were to make recommendations, I’d say for starters that the addition of a high speed camera has great potential, but needs to be paired with equally good sound work and context, otherwise it just feels shoehorned. Slow down the sounds to match the rate of the scene being shot, or it just ends up being distracting. One of the things that really appealed to me about the older stuff was not the over the top nature of the vids, but the number of cool and unique firearms that FPSRussia brought on screen. It seems everyone and their mother has a SCAR nowadays, so I felt none of the wow factor like I did for the Juggernaut bullpup, or the Honeybadger. What about rarer toys, like the RAS-12, or the XM-25 (a longshot, but hey)? Things I’ll probably never get the chance to see in real life, let alone fire or own. What about crazy ammo variants? That was the kind of stuff that drew me in and that was what I’m still looking forward to with the new vids. But, most of all, please fix the sound and make it fit the slow-mo better…
SCOTUS can regulate what ever they can fantasize.
Yeah…..I hunted one time with a dude that had a fancy wooded thunder stick..he fell and gouged a deep slice into that beautiful wood stock…I laughed and he was pissed. Of course I had to laugh….I tried to talk him out of spending top dollar for a nice piece of wood then take it up the side of a rocky mountain??!! Since I did not and would not go hunting with what I can say now…with an idiot…let Karma commence!!
Makes no sense but hell….spend your money. Impractical as it gets.
Gentlemen
I could not help but way in on this discussion. I do not have the professional credentials that many of you that have posted on this site does. ( and by the way here is a much deserved thank you and God Speed to all of you service men ) but I also had not heard of Pride Fowler products until a couple of years ago and stumbled on to them on the web. I am nobody in the shooting industry but Rich Nguyen has personally fielded every call that i have made to Pride Fowler and gives me his cell number as he does everyone I believe. Customer Service great! I will say that the (2) different scopes I have of PFI are better than any scope that cost 3 times as much. No one makes a better reticle for engaging different yardage targets quickly than these folks (and on the 1st focal plane). The glass is better or as good as any scope 3 times the price. I have the 22 wmr scope and it is on target on every hold over and thats out to 300 yds. Now that s fun with a rimfire. Crows around here are sick of it… I also have the RR 7.62 and my lit reticle performs great.
A single round of ammo? Must have been the dreaded .88 magnum. You know, the one that shoots thru schools.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pay attention to the ads you’re running on this website! I am getting constant popups from your site asking me to install “updates to my browser” that lead to some random website. Don’t let this website get a reputation as a malware distributor.
I’m glad we have all of these manufacturing experts here who know that you can produce a centerfire version of an MP40 or StG44 for less than a grand and make money doing so.
Favorite 1911 calibers? .45 ACP and…..nope. .45 ACP.
For this price range there are several 1911s I’d prefer
Idaho ? U da ho…..
http://www.ssd-weapon.com/waffen-historisch.html
pony up or shut up , bunch of whiners. You can buy any WW2 German gun in real calibers . Before you moan about a company making a fun plinker you really should do some simple web searches .
That’s approx $2,500 in US money at the current rate .
SSD have full rights to make exact replicas, They used factory blue prints and molds made from real firearms used in WW2 ,They even have some of the original steel presses for the shrouds .
I almost like it, but that faux suppressor is dopey. It could have been great without the stupid regulations. I’ll wait for the pistol/pinned stock version. GSG should also make an M3 Greaser.
I currently own a gsg stg44 -22lr , it’s a blast to shoot as a real mp44 is completely untouchable for any average shooter to afford to own. And the ammo it fired has to be custom made (Norma brass only recently even available again for that purpose btw). And the guns themselves are a rare treasure, to be cared for not fired often. The only real one I’ve even been in the same room as was at a local war museum, it and the ww2 ammo with it are behind glass of course. So as a fan of these weapons from a gun guy, or historical standpoint a replica is the only way I can hold or fire one whenever I want. As for the mp40 in 22lr it has several changes to the length that make it legal but not as true to the original as the 44. However keep in mind yor talking about 3 to 4 hundred dollar guns, what kind of pos pistol could u get for that? Would it be more fun, start more conversations at the range? Doubtful… Also a 9mm version of the mp40 was announced at gsg booth at shots how in 2015 , to release in 2016 I’m told . So just wait and get one in the og caliber. Also u don’t need a full auto firearms license to own these replicas. A long two cents I know but gun politics aside I’ve enjoyed owning mine more than most my real assault weapons, at the range.
Anyone knocking this is a cynical a******