MP40 machine gun, 9 mm, Germany 1940. 1111C

Reproduction of a submachine gun, made of metal and plastic, with simulated loading and firing mechanism, removable magazine and adjustable leather strap.

The MP40 (Maschinenpistole 40) was designed by Heinrich Vollmer in 1940, with the aim of providing German soldiers with an assault weapon. It used 32-round 9mm magazines and its effective range was about 100-150 meters. It was a very reliable weapon and very cheap to manufacture. It had a relatively weak recoil even when fired in bursts, due to its low rate of fire; this allowed it to be more accurate at close range (urban areas, forests, etc.) than other submachine guns of the time, but it was less effective in open fields due to its short range; this was one of the reasons that motivated the design of the Stg-44, the predecessor of modern assault rifles.

This automatic submachine gun was extensively used by Nazi German troops (usually officers, mechanized infantry and paratroopers) during World War II, a global military conflict that took place between 1939 and 1945, in which most of the world's nations were involved, including all the major powers, grouped into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis Powers. It was the largest war in history, in which the major contenders devoted all their economic, military and scientific capacity to the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources.

By the end of the war, approximately 1,047,000 submachine guns had been built, thousands of which were captured by the Red Army. It was also involved in the Indochina conflict by the French army and later in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.