GSG to make 9mm semi-auto only MP40 replica

[Vincent]

WWII German MP40 in 9mm GunsAmerica Digest

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[browningautorifle]

Watch and shoot...I can't wait. Doubt we'll ever see them here in Canada...let us know if you get to try one Vincent...

[Vincent]

The MP-40 is my wife’s favorite and my orders are to secure one at the earliest opportunity. I will let you know. That's if I can pry it away from her.

[browningautorifle]

I've shot the originals and the MP 38 also, MP 41s too...don't know how this will compare.

[Vincent]

I think it will be more like the other GSG guns than the original.

For some reason the MP-40 never appealed to me.

The MP-34 is a different story. It’s one of the last combat guns made with the old traditional methods and skills. I looked at one for a long time trying to figure out how it was made. I couldn’t see how they could have made the receiver out of one solid chunk of steel, but there it was in my hands. Not a seam to be seen anywhere. I was baffled and really wanted to know how they did it.

After a lot of searching I found the answer. It was not milled from one solid piece of steel. The shroud, magazine well and body are separate components. The seams are so tight that you can’t normally see them with the naked eye. You have to remove the bluing and use a mild acid to see them. It’s pretty amazing when you consider the machines of the time were all manual. Today we have CNC machines, but the guns they produce don’t come close the MP-34. There’s no substitute for that level of craftsmanship.

[browningautorifle]

I remember seeing one in the field carried by a Turkish soldier in 1975. He was way out in the country near Nicosia Cyprus and the sun was shining off his silver MP 38. He had 6 mags in pouches on his back, two three cell pouches, and they were blanched white by the sun too...that wasn't the only really neat piece out there either...Lanchesters, MP 40s, Mg 34s and 42s...all the USA and Commonwealth stuff...

[Vincent]

I corrected the year model in the previous post to MP34.

MP34 parts kits are hard to find here. Most are really Steyr-Solothurn S1-100’s imported from Chile and have the markings on the top cover obliterated by a TIG welder. It’s a shame they did that, but the history is interesting to me. I will keep looking. Maybe one will come up. They are easy to convert to semi-auto only and well worth the $200 tax stamp (SBR).

[browningautorifle]

I had the chance to buy a dewat MP34 at one point a few years ago but they cost way too much for a paperweight...it had several mags and mag pouch...nice guns though.

[sam steele]

I spoke to a Canadian importer the other day, and he won't try to bring in the GSG MP38 in .22. His words were "because of QC and their warranty". Sounds like they're not impressed with GSG.

It may not matter, because the .22 calibre version is still sitting with the RCMP. They decide whether it's allowed into Canada or not. I remember the SSD BD38 in 9mm. A nice gun, brought in as restricted, then re-designated as prohibited. Still not a final decision on that as of last Thursday, and some BD38 owners are still going to their shooting clubs with them. For now. If you can't sell them, and the government won't compensate you for them, then the only alternative is to pay $75 to get them "new spec" deactivation - turned into a lump of steel. And since they're a copy and not an original, what do you think that they'd be worth then?

That's the Canadian story at the moment.

Cheers,

Bill

[browningautorifle]

Sounds like they're not impressed with GSG.

Good info to have on hand. Thanks...