The
9×19mm MP 3008 (''Maschinenpistole 3008'' or "machine pistol 3008", also Volks-MP.3008 and Gerät Neumünster) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
last ditch
submachine gun
A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...
manufactured towards the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in early 1945.
Also known as the ''Volksmaschinenpistole'' ("people's machine pistol"), the weapon was closely based on the
Sten Mk II submachine gun, except for its vertical
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
; some had additional pistol grips.
The MP 3008 was an emergency measure, designed at a time when Germany was at the point of collapse. Desperately short of raw materials, the Germans sought to produce a radically cheaper alternative to their standard submachine gun, the
MP 40
The MP 40 (''Maschinenpistole 40'') is a submachine gun chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge. It was developed in Nazi Germany and used extensively by the Axis powers during World War II.
Designed in 1938 by Heinrich Vollmer with in ...
.
The MP 3008 was a simple
blowback design operating from an
open bolt
A firearm is said to fire from an open bolt if, when ready to fire, the bolt and working parts are held to the rear of the receiver, with no round in the chamber. When the trigger is actuated, the bolt travels forward, feeds a cartridge from t ...
. 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
A gunstock or often simply stock, the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock, a buttstock or simply a butt, is a part of a long gun that provides structural support, to which the barrel, action, and firing mechanism are attached ...
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.
The Gerät Potsdam, another version of the
Sten Mk II produced by Mauser in 1944, was an exact copy of the original Sten, right down to its manufacturing stamps in an effort to conceal its origin for clandestine operations. About 28,000 were claimed to have been produced, but postwar interrogations of highly ranked Mauser personnel failed to provide proof that any more than 10,000 units had been made.
See also
*
Austen submachine gun
The Austen (from "Australian Sten") was a 9×19mm Australian submachine gun derived from the British Sten gun developed during the Second World War. In total 19,914 Austens were produced during the war by Diecasters Ltd of Melbourne and W. T. Ca ...
: an Australian design based on the Sten and the German MP40.
*
EMP 44
The EMP 44 was a prototype, all-metal submachine gun produced by Erma Werke in 1943. It was rejected by the Heereswaffenamt.
Design
The EMP 44 fires from an open bolt. The caliber is 9×19mm Parabellum. The length of the gun is 892–950 m ...
: a separate German design analogous to the Sten; prototype only.
*
HIW VSK
The HIW VSK was a carbine of German origin developed by Hessische Industrie Werke. It was intended as a Volkssturm
The (; "people's storm") was a levée en masse national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World ...
: a carbine intended for use by the ''Volkssturm''.
*
Volkssturmgewehr 1-5
The Volkssturmgewehr ("People's Storm - Rifle") is the name of several rifle designs developed by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. They share the common characteristic of being greatly simplified as an attempt to cope with sev ...
: a semi-automatic rifle intended for use by the ''Volkssturm''.
*
Wimmersperg Spz-kr
The Wimmersperg Spz ("Sp" stands for STEN-pistole, "z" for zweiteilig. English: Sten pistol, made of two parts) was a family of German assault rifles that was in the planning stage during the latter days of Nazi Germany.
Overview
The overall w ...
: late war machine pistol that included Sten/MP 3008 components.
*
Volkssturm
The (; "people's storm") was a levée en masse national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was not set up by the German Army, the ground component of the combined German ''Wehrmacht'' armed forces, ...
*
Werwolf
''Werwolf'' (, German for "werewolf") was a Nazi plan which began development in 1944, to create a resistance force which would operate behind enemy lines as the Allies advanced through Germany, in parallel with the ''Wehrmacht'' fighting in f ...
*
List of World War II firearms of Germany
:''Note: Weapons listed were made by or for Germany and do not include captured foreign equipment.
Pistols
Rifles
.
Machine guns
Submachine guns
Anti-tank weapons
Other weapons
See also
* List of equipment used in World War II
* Lis ...
References
9mm Parabellum submachine guns
World War II infantry weapons of Germany
Submachine guns of Germany
World War II submachine guns
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1945
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