EMP submachine gun file photo [24984]

EMP Submachine Gun

Country of OriginGermany
TypeSubmachine Gun
Caliber9.000 mm
Capacity32 rounds
Length950.000 mm
Barrel Length320.000 mm
Weight4.000 kg
Rate of Fire550 rounds/min
Range150.000 m
Muzzle Velocity380 m/s

Contributor:

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

Photographs

German soldier with an EMP submachine gun, 1940s




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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Anonymous says:
30 Mar 2021 08:25:20 PM

How can i track provenance of an ERMA1936? Wholly intact.

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German soldier with an EMP submachine gun, 1940s


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