The Moschetto Automatico Beretta 38: Italy's Best World War II Submachinegun

     Designed in 1935 by Tullio Marengoni, the Moschetto Automatico Beretta 38 (Beretta Automatic Musket 38; MAB 38) would prove to be one of the best Italian small arms of World War Two. The MAB 38, better known simply as the Model 38, was a traditional blowback firearm. Other features included a recoil compensator fitted to the muzzle, a sliding dust cover operated by the bolt, and utilization of a floating firing pin. Unlike many select fire weapons, the Model 38 used dual triggers instead of a lever. The forward trigger fired the weapon in semi-automatic while the rear trigger fired the Model 38 in full automatic. The key advantage of this was that the operator could quickly change fire modes without having to take the weapon off target or potentially lose critical seconds by having to flip a lever. The Model 38 also enjoyed a longer range than most sub-machineguns thanks to the Cartuccia 9mm M38 ammunition. This was a standard 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge but the M38 round was a “hot” load, meaning, additional gunpowder within the cartridge in order to increase muzzle velocity which in turn produced a greater effective range. 

     The Model 38 was a high quality weapon, even when the war situation forced some changes to allow for faster and cheaper production. The Model 38 was widely used by Italian forces, many of them elite such as the Reggimento San Marco and 185ª Divisione Paracadutisti Folgore. So well respected was the Model 38 that captured weapons were quickly put into service with German forces as the Maschinenpistole MP 739(i) where it was preferred over their own German built MP 38 and MP 40 sub-machineguns. Not surprisingly, even Allied troops, when able, used captured Model 38s as this picture of a U.S. soldier with one attests to.
 

The Erma Maschinenpistole: Soldiering into World War Two

     A Waffen-SS officer, cigarette in his mouth, smiles for the camera from his dugout. Where he is isn't known but given the extent of both the foxhole he is reclining in and the prone fighting position dug near it, it may be a defensive line location in which he and his men had the time to make more substantial fighting positions. The sticks driven into the ground near his head were likely for securing his camouflage zeltbahn (shelter quarter) to as a means to provide a more complete covering for his position since it appears that he has simply flipped half of it back. That he is an officer can be determined by the round belt buckle (Koppelschloss) that holds the black leather belt (koppel) around his waist as well as the white braid on the feldmütze (field cap) on his head.

     The photograph is of interest because of the weapon sitting next to his stahlhelm (steel helmet), the latter fitted with a camouflage cover. The weapon is a EMP, which stood for Erma Maschinenpistole, and this was a pre-World War Two weapon built by the Erma-Werke. The EMP, which was sometimes also called the MPE (Maschinenpistole Erma), was derived from the VMP1930 that was designed by Heinrich Vollmer. Vollmer had originally sold small numbers of the VMP1930 to Bulgaria under his own company, Vollmer Werk. However, financial difficulties forced Vollmer to liquidate and Erma-Werke bought all of his intellectual properties, including the VMP1930. Vollmer himself became the chief weapon designer for Erma-Werke.

     The VMP1930 was modified by adding a cooling jacket around the barrel and the name was changed to the EMP. Erma-Werke started to produce the weapon in 1932 and offered customization to customer specifications. Despite this, there were generally three common models. The first had a 11.8” barrel, a tangent rear sight, and a bayonet lug. The second had a shorter, 9.8” barrel, no bayonet lug, and either a tangent or flip-L rear sight. The third make did away with the characteristic front grip and instead, used a grooved stock. Customers, in addition to Bulgaria, included Mexico, Spain, and Yugoslavia. It was not until 1933 that the German Heer (Army) submitted a purchase order for the EMP. In addition to the Heer, the EMP was also obtained and issued to the SS as well as German Polizei (Police) forces. In all, some 10,000 EMP weapons were built when production ceased in 1938 to make way for producing the Maschinenpistole 38 (MP 38). By 1942, the EMP had disappeared from the ranks of the Heer, replaced by the MP 38 and its successor, the MP 40. However, the SS, Waffen-SS, and Polizei continued to use the EMP throughout the war. Interestingly, some 3,250 former Spanish EMP weapons ended up in French hands after being confiscated from Spanish Republican fighters who fled from Spain following the Republican defeat in the Spanish Civil War. Unfortunately, there were only 1,540 usable magazines and so between 700 to 800 EMP weapons were actually able to be issued and the majority of these were provided to the 638 Infanterie-Regiment, better known as the Légion des Volontaires Français Contre le Bolchévisme (LVF), a combat unit made up of French volunteers that fought for Germany on the Eastern Front. After the LVF was disbanded in September 1944, some of the former LVF members transferred into the Waffen-Grenadier-Brigade der SS Charlemange (Franzönische Nr. 1) and took their EMP weapons with them.

     The EMP had a overall length of 35.5”, had a weight of a little over 9 pounds, and used a blowback action. Weapons used by Germany were chambered for 9mm Parabellum. Internally, the weapon used a telescoping mainspring casing designed by Vollmer. This same casing would be used in the MP 38. A simple tubular receiver carried the bolt and casing. The weapon used a side-mounted feed which accepted 25- or 32-round detachable box magazines. The magazine well had a slight forward angle to improve ammunition feed. To set the EMP on safe, the bolt handle was pulled back and secured into a slot on the receiver. In the photograph, the officer has his EMP on safe based on the position of the bolt handle. Muzzle velocity was 1,250 feet per second with a cyclic rate of fire of 500 rounds per minute. The effective range was 150 meters with a maximum range of 250 meters. Without being able to see the rest of the officer's EMP, it is difficult to say for sure what model it is but chances are good it is the second model.