It’s one of my favourite guns of WW2, but just how good a gun was it?
I have read it suffered from jams quite often. Would allied ammo of any type fill the magazine?
roll:
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The MP38 and 40 were well-made, robust, and effective submachine guns.
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Only if the Allies manufactured 9mm Parabellum ammunition.
JT
Yeah. I’m no expert on German small arms. But I don’t ever recall seeing anything other than the MP40 was a reliable weapon.
I think the MP43 was a reliable weapon in the German armoury. It had a similar-looking magazine to the latter day AK-47, for those not familiar with it.
Personally, the MP40 is still my fav though.
I think you mean MP44…
There was a topic of the Mp-40 but I cant found it now.
Some detailed pics can be found here:
I stand corrected…MP44
The MP.40 was as reliable as any open bolt submachine-gun with a big opening right above the chamber. As long as you kept foreign matter out of there it would run smoothly. As soon as dirt or sand got in there things went sour. Unfortunatly this can be surprisingly difficult on the battlefield.
I have also read that it worked best if you didn’t load the full 32 rounds in the magazine, it was recommended to stop at 30.
Not a very flash one, but all mine:
Not really, MP.43 MP.44 and StG.44 are all the same gun. The only difference is the name which was changed because of politics.
If you mean the Mp-44, better know as StG 44 you might want to check here:
http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1898
http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5238
There was even an argentine variant:
http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1932&page=24
how about thompson submachine gun? compare to thompson, mp-40 only has 350 bullets per minute while the thompson has over 800 bullets per minute.
Which is why the Sten was chambered to take 9mm ammunition: so the Brit who wields it can take ammo from a fallen German who happened to be carrying an MP-40.
Precisely.
As many other posters have pointed out over various threads, a high rate of fire is not an advantage, in fact most wpns designers take steps to reduce the rof of their designs.
Quite apart from the general question of controllability, think about the weight.
The issue 45 ACP has a bullet weight of 230 gn, the standard NATO mm Para round carries a bullet of 115 gn - half the weight.
The WWII German 9mm was even lighter as they conserved lead, (and thereby weight,) by making the heads of a ferrous core surrounded by lead, with a steel (or gilding metal) jacket.
If we take your rates of fire, (which by the way are incorrect,) the MP40 with 200 rds could fire for over twice as long, and with a weight penalty of less than half that of a Thompson with the same number of rds.
Add to this the transport of raw materials to the munitions factory, the finished rds to the sldrs and importantly the combat payload of the individual and you can see one of the reasons why the MP40 was a good choice for the Germans - and the Sten an even better choice for the allies.
Always look at the logistics. 
On the weapon itself, the Thompson is an absolute dream to fire, it controls easily in full auto, due in no small part to it’s weight. But the weight is one of the reasons I’d have hated to have to carry one in the fd.
Not only the rds Bwing, the mags are interchangeable too.
Not too sure on the truth of that mate, will have to borrow some sten mags to test this weekend.
A nice example. Is this an original, de-activated weapon?
Original, live weapon.
Excellent, a nice gun for the collection.
The EMP44 - Erna Maschinen Pistole 44 (?)
This is probably the strangest weapon i have ever seen - it looks like a very, very improvised PPS43 using the magazine containing 9mm bullets of the MP40 etc. series.
Does anybody has further informations about that weapon? Thank you! 
Yuk! That thing makes a Sten look graceful!
Does anybody has further informations about that weapon? Thank you!
A little form Lexikon der wehrmacht:
Ebenfalls eine Volksmaschinenpistole b[/b]stellte die Firma Walther im Dezember 1944 vor. Sie ging aber auch nicht mehr in die Fertigung. Eine erheblich vereinfachte Waffe war die EMP 44, die aus Rohrstücken zusammengeschweißt war. Sie wurde von der Firma Erma entwickelt, hatte einen 250 mm langen Lauf und war insgesamt 720 mm lang. Ihr Gewicht lag bei 3,6 kg, als Magazine wurden die Doppelmagazine der MP 40/11 verwendet. Auch hier lief die Fertigung nicht mehr an.
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Waffen/Maschinenpistolen.htm