MP 3008

The 9 mm MP 3008 (Maschinenpistole 3008 or "machine pistol 3008") was a German substitute standard submachine gun manufactured toward the end of World War II in early 1945.

Also known as the Volksmaschinenpistole ("people's submachine gun"), the weapon was closely based on the Sten MKII submachine gun, except for its vertical magazine; 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 3008 was a simple blowback design operating from an open bolt. 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 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 made.

A modern, semi-automatic, reproduction, the BD 3008, is produced by HZA Kulmbach GmbH in Germany.