#mp41

“MP41”

Waffenfabrik Bern MP41/44 

By 1940 it was obvious to the Swiss military that Switzerland was at risk from German aggression as they had ignored the neutrality of numerous sovereign nations. As a result the Swiss began to consider their defence plans and decided they needed a new submachine gun. While the Swiss had the excellent K31 infantry rifle they were severely lacking in automatic small arms. In 1940, the Swiss held a competition between two rival designs from SIG and Waffenfabrik Bern. 

While SIG’s design was superior the Swiss army selected the Waffenfabrik Bern‘s MP41, designed by Adolf Furrer. Furrer claimed that his design was superior in almost every respect and that it would be cheaper and faster to manufacture than SIG’s rival design. All of Furrer’s claims turned out to be untrue. The MP41 and MP41/44 are perhaps the most over-engineered, expensive and complex submachine guns ever mass produced. Production began in late 1941 and by June 1944, 5,200 had been made, when W+F Bern revised the design. W+F Bern had made a further 4,500 guns by the time production ended in late 1945.

Left side of the MP41/44 showing the toggle lock cover plate (source)

The MP41/44 fired from an open bolt and chambered in 9x19mm Furrer’s design used a short recoil-operated action with a horizontal triple jointed toggle lock locking the weapon’s breech. The MP41 and MP41/44 fed from 40-round box magazines which loaded into the right side of the weapon. The MP41/44 was extremely heavy weighing 11.5lbs (5.2kg) and had a folding metal foregrip and wooden pistol grip. W+F Bern intended the MP41/44 to be a simplification of the MP41, however, only the sights and some of the machining were simplified while a bayonet lug was added (see image #3).  

Diagram from a Swiss MP41/44 manual showing the movement of Furrer’s toggle lock action (source)

While Furrer had initially intended the weapon to use bakelite furniture, this was prone to cracking and was soon replaced by wood. Generally, the weapon was extremely well made and served on long after the end of World War Two. However, it was found that the toggle lock was susceptible to fouling and they were finally removed from service in 1960.  

The MP41/44 was a Swiss folly but approximately 10,000 were made before production ended and the Swiss adopted a licensed copy of the excellent Finnish M31 (Suomi).

Sources:

Images: 1 2

MP 41/44 Submachine Gun, WWII After WWII, (source)

Submachine Gun, M Popenker & A.G. Williams, (2011) [Image 3 source]

Swiss MP41/44, Forgotten Weapons, (source)

MP41

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TFYLP-Episode 268-Rising Price of Premium

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