Erma EMP

Erma EMP
Name	Erma EMP
Origin	Weimar Republic
Type	Submachine gun
Manufacturer	Erma Werke
Production date	1920s–1930s
Cartridge	9×19mm Parabellum
Action	Blowback, open bolt
Rate	~900–1,200 rounds/min
Feed	32-round box magazine; 20-round optional
Sights	Iron sights

Erma EMP is a family of German 9×19mm Parabellum submachine guns developed and produced by Erma Werke during the interwar and early World War II eras. The EMP series influenced several contemporaneous and later designs in Europe and the United States, and saw service with German paramilitary organizations, police units, and export customers. Noted for its compact size, relatively high cyclic rate, and stamped construction, the EMP contributed to the evolution of close-quarters automatic weapons alongside designs like the MP 18, Sten gun, and Thompson submachine gun.

History

The EMP emerged in the context of post-World War I restrictions, technological experimentation, and clandestine rearmament in the Weimar Republic. Erma Werke, located in Zella-Mehlis and later associated with firms in Erfurt and Suhl, capitalized on demand from organizations such as the Schutzpolizei, Reichswehr-adjacent units, and private security firms. Early prototypes and small-batch production occurred during the 1920s, with broader manufacturing in the early 1930s as the Nazi Party consolidated power and rearmament accelerated. The EMP competed with and complemented other German projects like the MP 34 and the later MP 38, and it circulated internationally through sales to countries including Spain, China, and various colonial and South American buyers prior to and during the early phases of World War II.

Design and variants

The EMP family was characterized by blowback operation, an open-bolt firing mechanism, and a relatively simple receiver that allowed for stamped and machined parts. One principal variant, often called the EMP 36, used a tubular receiver and featured a wooden shoulder stock similar to contemporaries from Austria and Czechoslovakia. A later EMP model, sometimes referenced as the EMP 46 or EMP 9, adopted a more compact form, folding stocks, and different safety/fire selector arrangements to satisfy military and police specifications from buyers including Turkey and Hispano-Suiza-associated procurement agents. Export variants were chambered in several calibers or adjusted for different magazine types to meet requirements from Belgium, Netherlands, China Nationalist Army, and private security clients.

Design elements shared across the family included a high cyclic rate—comparable to the MP40 and faster than many Western designs—selective-fire capability, and compatibility with 32-round double-column magazines similar in capacity to the Bergmann MP35 magazines. Customized examples featured heat shields, compensators, and bayonet mounts for units influenced by doctrines from the Spanish Civil War and the Chinese Civil War, where close-quarters automatic fire and urban engagement tactics demanded compact, portable firepower.

Specifications

Typical specifications for a standard EMP variant included a 9×19mm Parabellum chambering, blowback action, and open-bolt firing with a cyclic rate ranging from approximately 900 to 1,200 rounds per minute. Overall length varied with stock type—fixed wooden stocks paralleled the lengths of the MP 18 while folding-stock versions approximated the compactness of the MP38. Barrel lengths tended to be in the short submachine gun range, producing effective ranges under 200 meters in alignment with doctrinal use by police and assault troops. Magazine capacity commonly 32 rounds, with 20-round variants for export and policing roles. Materials included steel stampings and machined components, with wooden fittings on earlier models echoing small arms practice from Germany and neighboring arms producers.

Service use and operators

The EMP saw service with a range of state and non-state operators. In Germany, it was used by police formations such as the Schutzpolizei and by paramilitary units affiliated with the Sturmabteilung during the late Weimar and early Third Reich periods. Export customers included Spain (both Nationalist and Republican forces at different times), China (various warlord and later Nationalist units), and several Latin American and Balkan states acquiring the weapon through European suppliers and arms dealers. Captured EMPs were documented in inventories of the Soviet Union and in Allied intelligence reports during World War II. Postwar, surviving EMPs occasionally appeared in police arsenals, private collections, and small military reserves, with examples turning up in conflicts where surplus European arms circulated, such as Greece in the 1940s and various postcolonial African theaters.

Civilian and legal status

Due to its select-fire capability and historical classification as a military submachine gun, surviving EMPs fall under restrictive regulated-weapon frameworks in many jurisdictions. In countries such as the United Kingdom, United States, and France, fully automatic EMP examples are subject to licensing, registration, or prohibition under national small arms laws and international agreements like protocols associated with postwar arms control measures. Semiautomatic conversions, deactivated museum pieces, and demilitarized examples appear in collections under the regulatory oversight of institutions such as national museums and licensed firearms dealers. Export and import of EMP originals historically required permits from authorities including those in Germany and receiving-state ministries.

Cultural impact and appearances

While not as widely depicted as the Thompson submachine gun or the MP40, the EMP appears in historical literature, collector periodicals, and demonstrations at military museums in Germany and elsewhere. It features in photographic studies of interwar small arms, auction catalogues documenting prewar European weapons, and in specialized reenactment circles focused on Weimar Republic and early Third Reich paramilitary history. The EMP has also been cited in scholarly work on industrial arms production in Thuringia and in analyses of clandestine rearmament, alongside references to firms like Erma Werke, Mauser, and Rheinmetall.

Category:Submachine guns Category:Interwar weapons