German machine guns designed during the buildup and during World War 2 made a number of advancements in machine gun technology from the MP35 and MP38 to the MKb42(H).

A WW2 German StG 44 rifle with matching ZF4 prototype sniper scope and sheet metal scope mount.

The German machine gun and a number of iterations faced off against the Thompson submachine gun on the beaches of Normandy and influenced the development of the M60, America’s warhorse in the Vietnam War.

Rock Island Auction Company’s Aug. 23-25 Premier Auction features a variety of rapid fire firearms dating from World War 1 to the present. These offerings bear an international flair, coming from Germany, the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Italy and more.

Developed toward the end of World War 1, this is one of the earliest German machine guns, offering a compact platform to use in "knife-fighting range." It was widely studied by a number of imitators.

German Machine Gun: Machine Pistols

The submachine gun, often called the maschinenpistole in German, dates back to the trench warfare of World War 1 with the Bergmann MP18 that fired pistol rounds and was fairly lightweight.

Heinrich Vollmer’s design from 1930 used a 32-round box magazine that refined the telescoping tube that housed the return spring. This stabilized the action, protected the spring and prevented it from getting distorted, resulting in a firing rate of 350-400 rounds per minute.

The machine milled MP35 found its way to the Spanish Civil War, was adopted by Sweden as the M38 and sold to Ethiopia and Denmark. Expensive because of the milled parts, complex bolt assembly and wood stock, about 40,000 were made during their five-year production period. These were mostly issued to Waffen SS troops. The magazine is inserted on the right side of the gun and the cocking system was similar to a bolt action that pulled the cocking handle back and up before returning it to the closed position. It could be set to single or continuous fire.

This MP35 has the “ajf41” manufacturing marking for Junker & Ruh Ag, of Berlin, and “SS ZZA1” proof mark that it was shipped to the Waffen SS.

The German High Command started developing a light burst firearm for armored vehicle crews and paratroopers. The Maschinenpistole 38, substituting wood with plastic and a folding shoulder stock, firing from an open bolt, was the forerunner of the MP40.

This is an exceptional example of a seldom-seen MP38. It has a rare original leather bolt retention strap, issued to the Eastern Front. The MP38 is a bridge from the more expensive machined metal and wood submachine guns of the 1920s and 1930s to wartime manufacture using stamped steel.

The MP40 simplified the manufacture of the wartime maschinenpistole, utilized stamped carbon steel, brazed and spot-welded with sub-assemblies performed by sub-contractors. While it saved costs in manufacturing, the United States Army tested the gun in 1940-41 and found it to be extremely reliable and very accurate. About 1 million were made.

Nearly every armed branch and paramilitary organization in Germany used the MP40 and it also found its way to the French Resistance and Poland’s Home Army. This example is mechanically excellent.

The MP40’s production techniques, embracing stamped metal with welds and rivets would also be utilized in the MP41, directly copying the stamped metal receiver and action but fitted with a hardwood stock. The MP41 also used the fire-selector mechanism from the MP28. The MP41 wasn’t adopted by the German Army and was manufactured in limited numbers for the German state police and Romanian troops.

This is a rare example of an early World War 2 MP41 with matching numbers on the barrel and receiver and the model markings on top of the receiver.

German Machine Gun: MKb42(H)

In the inter-war period, German military officials came to the realization that they needed a weapon with better range and accuracy than a machine pistol but not as unwieldy as a battle rifle. First came the intermediate 7.92mm Kurz cartridge, then came the MKb42. The example on offer here, the grandfather of the modern assault rifle, was made by Haenel, hence the “(H)” designation.

The carbine utilized a short operating rod housed in a full-length gas tube located above the barrel. It was fabricated with stamped metal and a minimum of machined parts. German military leaders tried to convince Dictator Adolph Hitler for the need of a machine carbine but he wouldn’t listen. The Army went ahead with production despite disapproval from the Fuhrer.

The total production number for the MKb42 was 11,833 from November 1942 to September 1943. Most were sent to the Eastern front where few survived.

This extremely rare MKb42(H) has bulges on each side of the rear sight base that would serve as the base for a future sniper scope/mount design. The scope mount here was sheet metal folded and welded with few machined parts. This gun would be a centerpiece to any World War 2 firearms collection along with the “Invictus” Singer.

THE German Machine Gun: Hitler’s Buzzsaw

German submachine guns at the time averaged around 500 rounds per minute, but the Maschinengewehr 42, known as “Hitler’s Buzzsaw” to American GIs, more than tripled that rate of fire, slapping out as much as 1,550 rounds per minute. The United States War Department created a training film to combat the gun’s psychological effect on soldiers by downplaying its lethality while calling it inaccurate. When most soldiers heard the gun ripping they took cover and waited for artillery or tank support to take care of the MG42. During the invasion of Italy, the Germans held Monte Cassino for about four months in 1944 using the MG42 defensively to hold off Allied assaults.

Despite its frightening rate of fire, the MG42 had its shortcomings. The barrel tended to heat up quickly and had to be swapped out as often as every 200-250 rounds. Squads carried as many as six spare barrels on hand and trained soldiers could change them out in seconds. Squads of six also carried extra ammunition since the gun spat it out at such a high rate.

Easier to manufacture and cheaper than the machined MG34, the MG42 could serve in a fixed position but also maneuverable enough to be shoulder fired and fired from the hip. It served as the inspiration for the United States’ machine gun, the M60 that was a workhorse for the U.S. military in the Vietnam War.

The MG42 found life after World War 2, in service with the West German armed forces and being rechambered for NATO-standard calibers. Professionally refinished, this example remains in excellent mechanical condition.

Machine Guns for Sale

German machine guns from World War 1 to the present are among the Class III offerings in Rock Island Auction Company’s Aug. 23-25 Premier Auction alongside American, British, Chinese, Italian and Japanese full-auto fire power. These historic and modern Class III firearms are among the roster of fantastic pieces from across multiple genres and eras in the upcoming Premier Auction. Get a good look at them on Preview Day, Aug. 22.

This Colt 1921 Thompson submachine gun is documented to Rock Island County (Ill.) Sheriff’s Department, shipped to the law enforcement agency in 1930. Located on the upper Mississippi River west of Chicago, the city faced a crime wave in the 1920s from notorious gangster and blackmailer John Looney who was portrayed in the graphic novel and film, “Road to Perdition.”