World War II Database

Country of Origin	Austria
Type	Submachine Gun
Caliber	9.000 mm
Capacity	32 rounds
Length	850.000 mm
Barrel Length	200.000 mm
Weight	4.480 kg
Rate of Fire	500 rounds/min
Range	200.000 m
Muzzle Velocity	410 m/s

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe MP 34 submachine gun design was completed by Louis Stange based on the German MP 18 submachine gun design. They were manufactured by the Austrian firm Waffenfabrik Steyr starting in 1929. They made use of 20-round or 32-round clips, which were fed at a slight angle, and featured wooden stocks and semi-pistol grips. They also featured bayonet lugs. They could fire up to 500 rounds per minute with an effective range of 150 to 200 meters. They were introduced into the Austrian police force in 1930 under the Steyr designation of S1-100 MP 30; four years later, the Austrian Army accepted them as the designation of MP 34. These weapons were also exported to Chile, China, Bolivia, El Salvador, Greece, Portugal, Uruguay, Venezuela, and the United States. The German military soon gained interest in these weapons, but they were restricted by the Versailles Treaty; this obstacle would prove to be easy to overcome, as the German firm Rheinmetall had a controlling interest in Steyr, as well as a controlling interest in the Swiss firm Waffenfabrik Solothurn that could serve as the distributor. Ultimately, however, the Germans would gain full access to them after the 1938 annexation of Austria. With the new German designation of MP 34 (ö), they equipped police and military police units in the rear, as well as certain Waffen-SS units early in the European War. Production of MP 34 submachine guns ceased in mid-1940, supplanted by MP 40 submachine guns, which were simpler in design and cheaper to produce, both of which were attractive factors during war time. They remained in service long after WW2, serving as late as the 1970s with Portuguese forces during the Portuguese Colonial Wars in Africa.

Source: Wikipedia ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Nov 2015

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