Original Item: Many years ago I stood in a European military arsenal watching soldiers "destroy" endless numbers of original MP 40 Sub Machine Guns. No amount of begging did me any good whatsoever. One by one each gun was disassembled, the parts crushed then fed into the smelter. I was actually there collecting a Government release of militaria, helmets and leather goods, but that didn't compensate for my anguish at seeing what was going on. That night in the local hotel I was sitting at the bar drinking the local beer when someone I recognized came in. He wasn't wearing his uniform and he reminded me how I had offered to buy him a drink back at the depot. After three or four beers with the ice now fully broken he suggested that $ 100.00 might be a good investment for me to have him tell me a secret. I bit. The secret was a hidden treasure! The treasure was secreted in a flower box outside the Inn and turned out to be a plastic bag containing 75 MP 40 extractors each carefully removed from the weapon before destruction. An investment indeed! I never saw my benefactor again and believe you me, I looked for him. Now, 25 years later, I found that bag in our big IMA clean up.

The story is true. The extractors are real. Original WW2 MP40 extractors always have been hard to find and they do cost money, but thankfully, there is no charge for the story. Approximate length 2.5 inches.

The MP 40 was a submachine gun chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge. It was developed in NSDAP Germany and used extensively by the Axis powers during World War II.

Designed in 1938 by Heinrich Vollmer with inspiration from its predecessor the MP 38, it was heavily used by infantrymen, paratroopers, platoon and squad leaders on the Eastern and Western Front. 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.