mp40 rate
I bought a bunch of german ww2 stuff from a vet that told me a neat story about the mp40...he said that our GI's loved the little monster and would pick one up to use in combat whenever possible. They found that the "burp gun" had a very distinctive sound when fired, and when they used it in combat...it would draw fire from other GI's who learned to "fire at the sound" of the little gem !! He said that to get around that, they field stripped the gun, took out the spring/firing pin tube and cut "a couple of inches" from it. That changed the rate of fire, and the sound of the gun...making it safe to use without drawing fire from their buddies.
I guess the point that I was trying to make was that the fellow that answered you post was correct when he said that the rate was determined by the weight of the bolt and the recoil spring. I read somewhere that in the last frantic days of the reich, they were cutting down the mg42 recoil springs and using those in the mp40's (at the assembly factory) in order to save time. This gave the gun an erratic rate of fire, and was not a great idea...the poor "volkstrum kids" must have had a hell of a time with that !!
I owned several of those at one time (early 70's)...bought 3 from differant vets that brought them back...then found out that there was no way to register them legally and had to sell them for parts. Would love to buy a parts set for an mp40 or mp44...anyone got mags or parts for those to sell ??
artie in miami
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