Bergmann MP 18
Theodor Bergmann Waffenbau · Submachine Gun · Discontinued · 1918
Also known as: MP 18,I, Bergmann MP 18, Kugelspritze, Maschinenpistole 18
Overview
The Bergmann MP 18 is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun designed by Hugo Schmeisser and produced by Theodor Bergmann Waffenbau in Germany from 1918 to 1920. Widely regarded as the world's first practical submachine gun, it was developed to meet the German Army's demand for a compact, high-volume-of-fire weapon to equip Stormtroopers (Sturmtruppen) during the trench warfare of World War I. The MP 18 operates on a simple open-bolt blowback system and fires at a cyclic rate of approximately 500 rounds per minute from a 32-round TM 08 'snail' drum magazine (Trommelmagazin 08), originally developed for the Artillery Luger pistol. Weighing 4.18 kg empty with an overall length of 832 mm and a 200 mm barrel enclosed in a perforated steel cooling shroud, the weapon established the fundamental layout for submachine guns: a pistol-caliber cartridge, full-automatic fire, and a wood stock stabilizing a compact, steel receiver. Safety is provided by a bolt-handle notch that locks the bolt in the rearward position. Built entirely of machined steel and walnut, the MP 18 was fielded in the closing months of WWI during Ludendorff's 1918 Spring Offensive, where it proved devastating in close-quarters trench-clearing engagements. It served as the direct design template for virtually every submachine gun that followed, including the Schmeisser MP 28, Thompson, Sten, and PPSh-41.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 4180 g (147.4 oz) |
| Weight (loaded) | 5260 g (185.5 oz) |
| Overall Length | 832 mm (32.76") |
| Barrel Length | 200 mm (7.87") |
| Action Type | Blowback |
| Firing Mechanism | Open Bolt |
| Trigger Type | Single Stage |
| Magazine Capacity | 32 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Detachable Box |
| Muzzle Velocity | 380 m/s (1247 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 538 J (397 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 150 m (164 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 200 m (219 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 500 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Number of Grooves | 6 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 9x19mm Parabellum · primary · 9mm NATO — also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO, 9x19mm
Features
- Firing modes: Full Automatic
- Feed systems: Drum Magazine, Detachable Box Magazine
- Safety mechanisms: Bolt Handle Safety Notch
- Features: Open Bolt Firing, Perforated Barrel Shroud, Full Wood Stock, Flip Up Rear Sight, Tangent Sight 100 200m, Side Feeding Magazine, Machined Receiver
Variants
- MP 18,I — Original Production
- MP 28,II — Improved Successor
- SIG Bergmann 1920 — Swiss Licensed Copy
- Tsingtao Bergmann — Chinese Copy
Service history
Operators
- Imperial German Army · adopted 1918 · as MP 18,I
- Weimar Republic Police · adopted 1920 · as MP 18,I
- Finnish Defence Forces · as MP 18
- National Revolutionary Army · as Bergmann
- Imperial Japanese Navy · as Bergmann
- Spanish Republican Forces · as MP 28
- Swiss Armed Forces · adopted 1920 · as SIG Bergmann 1920
- Paraguayan Army · as MP 18
- Nazi German Wehrmacht · adopted 1939 · as MP 18,I
Conflicts
- World War I (Spring Offensive) (1918)
- German Revolution and Weimar-era Unrest (1918-1923)
- Chinese Civil War (1927-1949)
- Chaco War (1932-1935)
- Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
- Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
- World War II (limited use) (1939-1945)
Production
Estimated total produced: 35,000 · Production years: 1918-1920
Approximately 30,000 units completed by the November 1918 armistice; Bergmann Waffenfabrik continued covert production until around 1920, bringing total output to about 35,000. An estimated 50,000 additional units of varying quality appeared in paramilitary and criminal hands in post-war Germany. Successor designs (MP 28,II; SIG Bergmann 1920; Chinese Tsingtao/Dagu copies) continued in production into the 1940s.
Origin
Country of origin: Germany
Designer: Hugo Schmeisser
Discontinued: 1920
Notes
The TM 08 snail drum magazine was mechanically unreliable and required a special loader tool to fill; later MP 18,I conversions (per Weimar-era police contracts) replaced it with a 20- or 30-round straight box magazine inserted through a modified left-side magazine well. The MP 18 entered service in limited numbers during the German Spring Offensive of 1918 and was issued to specialized Stormtrooper units at a scale of approximately one per squad. Although the Treaty of Versailles restricted German submachine gun holdings to 1,134 weapons for police use, Bergmann continued covert production into 1920, and many weapons were sold or smuggled abroad. The design's DNA is present in the Schmeisser MP 28, Lanchester, Sten, and by extension most pistol-caliber automatic weapons of the 20th century. Chinese arsenals at Tsingtao (Qingdao) and Dagu produced domestic copies chambered in both 9x19mm and 7.63x25mm Mauser. Muzzle energy is approximate based on standard 9x19mm service ammunition at 380 m/s.
Background
Issued to Stormtrooper squads in the final months of WWI, the MP 18 was designed to sweep enemy trenches of defenders too closely packed for a bolt-action rifle to effectively engage. The Allies considered the weapon so uniquely dangerous that the 1919 Treaty of Versailles explicitly banned Germany from producing or possessing submachine guns, permitting only 1,134 for police use - the first and only time in history a single weapon class was outlawed by international treaty. Bergmann and Schmeisser kept the design alive through secret production and foreign licensing, ensuring that the submachine gun concept survived to dominate the infantry battlefields of the 20th century.