Erma EMP


 * ''This article is about the Erma submachine gun, not to be confused with the Bergmann MP-35 or the Austrian MP34.

The German sub-machine gun EMP (Erma Maschinenpistole) also know as MPE (Maschinenpistole Erma) was produced by Erma factory was based on designs acquired from Heinrich Vollmer. The gun was was produced from 1931 to 1938 in roughly 10,000 exemplars (in three main variants) and exported to Spain, Mexico, China and Yugoslavia, but also used domestically by the SS. It was produced under license in Spain by the arsenal of A Coruña under the name of WFP Mle 41/44.

History
In the early 1920s, Vollmer started to develop his own sub-machineguns. His early models, named VPG, VPGa, VPF and VMP1925 were fairly similar to the MP18. The VMP1925 had a wooden handgrip and was fed by a small 25-round drum magazine, connected directly to the gun. The VMP1925 was secretly tested by the Reichswehr, along with competing designs from Schmeisser and Rheinmetall. (The Reichswehr was prohibited by the Versailles Treaty from having sub-machine guns in service, although the German police was allowed to carry a small number.) Secret funding was given to Vollmer to continue development, and this resulted in the VMP1926, which mostly differed from its predecessor by the removal of the cooling jacket. A subsequent development was the VMP1928, which introduced a 32-round box magazine sticking from the left side. The final development of this series was the VMP1930. (It can also be seen at the WTS.) This model introduced a substantive innovation—a telescoping main spring assembly, which made the gun more reliable and easier to assemble and disassemble in the field. Vollemer applied for a patent for his innovation in 1930 and it was granted in 1933 as DRP# 580620. His company, Vollmer Werke, produced however only about 400 of these, and most were sold to Bulgaria. In late 1930, the Reichswehr stopped supporting Vollmer financially; consequently he sold the rights to all his designs to the company known as Erma Werke (which is an abbreviation for Erfurter Machinenfabrik, Berthold Geipel GmbH).

The sumbachine guns that Erma started to sell in 1932 under the names EMP (Erma Machinenpistole) or MPE (Machinenpistole Erma) was basically just the VMP1930 with the cooling jacket restored. Although there were several variants with varying barrel lengths and sights made to customers' specifications, roughly three main variants were produced: one with a 30 cm barrel, tangent rear sight and bayonet lug was apparently sold to Bulgaria or Yugoslavia. The second model, sometimes called the MP34, or the "standard model", had a 25 cm barrel and no provision for a bayonet; the rear sight on these varies—some had a tangent sight, others a simplified flip-up "L" sight. A third variant was basically similar in the metallic parts, but replaced the forgrip with a MP18-style stock with fingergrooves. Overall, at least 10,000 of these Vollmer-based designs were made by Erma. They were adopted by the SS in 1936, but also sold to South-American countries and to Spain, were it was subsequently manufactured locally under the designation M41/44.

The French Army designated it PM Erma Mle 1935, apparently after some 3,000 exemplars came into its possession from disarmed republican fighters that took refuge in France from Spain.

Design
Its arming lever is on the right. The magazine housing, which is on the left, is slightly canted forwards to assist in feeding ammunition. The weapon could be fired either in semi-automatic or fully automatic modes.

Influence
The final development at Erma is known as the EMP 36. This can be considered an intermediate model between the EMP and the MP38. Although many details of the mechanism were changed from the EMP, it retained Vollmer's telescoping main operating spring basically unchanged. On the exterior, the most obvious differences are that the magazine housing was now almost vertical, although still canted slightly to the left and forward. The solid wood stock was replaced with a wood frame and a folding metal butt. It is not entirely clearly who designed the EMP 36, although Berthold Geipel himself is usually credited. Apparently, the features of the new design were the result of another secret contract with the German army. The EMP's telescopic cylinder return spring guide was retained for the Maschinenpistole 38.

Users

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