Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is an excellent MP40 display gun built from original parts and constructed into a totally legal non-firing BATF approved display Sub-Machine Gun.

IMA has been very fortunate in finding this highly sought after Original WW2 German MP 40 Display Gun which shows that has been reconstructed using a CNC cut aluminum receiver to finish off an original parts set. Offered with totally original bakelite stock and functional extending butt stock, this is the real thing that will only appreciate in value as time passes.

All complete, simulated fixed aluminum bolt system gives the impression of an original unit and is fitted with the original safety bolt handle. Barrel (not visible) de-milled to current US Import requirements by having holes drilled under the "resting bar". Original markings maintained and make a keystone item for any serious WW2 Collection.

The rear receiver cup of this display gun is marked with the date and manufacture codes:

This indicates 1940 manufacture by Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG, Werk Steyr, whose manufacture code 660 was later superseded by bnz.  The magazine well catch is marked cos for Merz-Werke Gebrüder Merz, Frankfurt am Main, Rheinland. The barrel is marked fxo for C.G. Haenel of Suhl, who made barrels for numerous small arms under contract.

Included is an original MP 40 magazine, marked ayf 43 for maker ERMA-Erfurter Maschinenfabrik B Geipel GmbH, Erfurt, the company that developed the MP38 and MP40. Magazine will have the spring and follower removed if sent to a state that prohibits high capacity magazines.

History of the MP40

The Maschinenpistole 40 ("Machine pistol 40") descended from its predecessor the MP 38, which was in turn based on the MP 36, a prototype made of machined steel. The MP 36 was developed independently by Erma Werke's Berthold Geipel with funding from the German Army. It took design elements from Heinrich Vollmer's VPM 1930 and EMP. Vollmer then worked on Berthold Geipel's MP 36 and in 1938 submitted a prototype to answer a request from the Heereswaffenamt (Army Weapons Office) for a new submachine gun, which was adopted as MP 38. The MP 38 was a simplification of the MP 36, and the MP 40 was a further simplification of the MP 38, with certain cost-saving alterations, most notably in the more extensive use of stamped steel rather than machined parts.

It was heavily used by infantrymen (particularly platoon and squad leaders), and by paratroopers, on the Eastern and Western Fronts. Its advanced and modern features made it a favorite among soldiers and popular in countries from various parts of the world after the war. It was often erroneously called "Schmeisser" by the Allies, despite Hugo Schmeisser's non-involvement in the weapon's design and production. From 1940 to 1945, an estimated 1.1 million were produced by Erma Werke.