{"product_id":"original-german-pre-wwii-erma-emp-9mm-largo-inert-display-sub-machine-gun-with-spanish-civil-guard-marked-magazine-serial-no-e-0743","title":"Original German Pre-WWII ERMA EMP 9mm Largo Inert Display Sub Machine Gun with Spanish Civil Guard Marked Magazine, Serial No. E-0743","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginal Item: Only One Available. This is a very attractive original pre-WWII ERMA EMP inert display submachine gun configured in \u003cstrong\u003e9mm Largo\u003c\/strong\u003e for the Spanish market and marked with serial number \u003cstrong\u003eE - 0743\u003c\/strong\u003e. Built from original prewar components around a permanently non-firing steel display receiver, it is complete with its original wood stock and an especially interesting Spanish \u003cem\u003eGuardia Civil\u003c\/em\u003e marked magazine. The combination of German ERMA manufacture, Spanish caliber marking, distinctive early submachine gun profile, and Spanish service marked magazine gives this example excellent historical and display interest.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis inert display submachine gun was built from all original parts on an original BATF compliant non-firing inert display receiver, making this a 100% legal display Sub-Machine gun. This receiver was created using an inert hollow steel tube, which has had the original deactivated bolt welded in the forward position. It has no ability to ever be turned into any type of functional device. Every part on this display gun is original Pre-WWII manufacture other than the steel receiver (as required by BATF). The barrel has also been deactivated and the chamber welded up.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a very nice example of the ERMA EMP (\u003cem\u003eErma Maschinenpistole\u003c\/em\u003e) designed and manufactured by \u003cem\u003eErfurter Maschinenfabrik\u003c\/em\u003e (Erfurt Machine Factory or ERMA), usually simply called ERMA Werke. The magazine well is marked with serial number \u003cstrong\u003eE - 0743\u003c\/strong\u003e, over a \u003cstrong\u003eCAL.9.L\u003c\/strong\u003e. marking, indicating chambering in 9mm Largo, the standard round used for guns supplied to Spain. It comes with an original magazine, marked with number \u003cstrong\u003e8894\u003c\/strong\u003e over struck through number \u003cstrong\u003e4702\u003c\/strong\u003e. Above this is a stamped crossed \u003cstrong\u003eSword and Fasces\u003c\/strong\u003e, the insignia of the Spanish \u003cem\u003eGuardia Civil\u003c\/em\u003e (Civil Guard). We do not know when these markings were added, but we assume during the Francoist era, when the Civil Guard was utilized extensively. The included magazine will be deactivated where required.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe trigger retains some movement, as does the receiver release, although the receiver can no longer be unlocked using it. The selector switch on the right side remains present and movable, positively engaging both positions. These observations describe only the surviving movement of individual inert components.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe rear sight remains complete and mechanically adjustable. Both the front and rear sling loops are also intact.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe metal components associated with the stock, including the trigger assembly and rear receiver cup, retain a strong original blued finish. The inert display receiver and barrel jacket have been refinished with a modern gunmetal gray painted coating to provide a uniform display appearance. This painted finish is not represented as original.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe wood stock is in very good service used condition, showing expected handling wear but no major cracks, repairs, or missing sections. Particularly attractive flame figuring is visible along the left side of the buttstock, producing considerable chatoyancy as the wood is viewed from different angles.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOverall condition is very good. The strong surviving original blue on many components, attractive undamaged stock, intact sling loops, functional rear sight, Spanish \u003cstrong\u003eCAL.9.L.\u003c\/strong\u003e marking, and distinctive Guardia Civil marked magazine make this an especially appealing example of ERMA's prewar export production.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the collector of early European submachine guns, Spanish Civil War material, or German pre-WWII small arms, this ERMA EMP offers an unusually interesting combination of histories. Serial number \u003cstrong\u003eE - 0743\u003c\/strong\u003e, its Spanish \u003cstrong\u003e9mm Largo\u003c\/strong\u003e configuration, original prewar components, attractive wood furniture, and the separately numbered Guardia Civil property marked magazine give the display considerable character and research potential.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe German sub-machine gun EMP (Erma Maschinenpistole) also known as MPE (Maschinenpistole Erma) was produced by the Erma factory, and was based on designs acquired from Heinrich Vollmer. The gun was produced from 1931 to 1938 in roughly 10,000 exemplars (in three main variants) and exported to Spain, Mexico, China and Yugoslavia, but also used domestically by the SS. It was produced under license in Spain by the arsenal of A Coruña under the designation M41\/44.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the early 1920s, Vollmer started to develop his own sub-machineguns. His early models, named VPG, VPGa, VPF and VMP1925 were fairly similar to the MP18. The VMP1925 had a wooden handgrip and was fed by a small 25-round drum magazine, connected directly to the gun. The VMP1925 was secretly tested by the Reichswehr, along with competing designs from Schmeisser and Rheinmetall. (The Reichswehr was prohibited by the Versailles Treaty from having sub-machine guns in service, although the German police was allowed to carry a small number.) Secret funding was given to Vollmer to continue development, and this resulted in the VMP1926, which mostly differed from its predecessor by the removal of the cooling jacket. A subsequent development was the VMP1928, which introduced a 32-round box magazine sticking from the left side. The final development of this series was the VMP1930. (It can also be seen at the WTS.) This model introduced a substantive innovation: a telescoping main spring assembly, which made the gun more reliable and easier to assemble and disassemble in the field. Vollemer applied for a patent for his innovation in 1930 and it was granted in 1933 as DRP# 580620. His company, Vollmer Werke, produced however only about 400 of these, and most were sold to Bulgaria. In late 1930, the Reichswehr stopped supporting Vollmer financially; consequently he sold the rights to all his designs to the company known as Erma Werke (which is an abbreviation for Erfurter Maschinenfabrik, Berthold Geipel GmbH).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe submachine guns that Erma started to sell in 1932 under the names EMP (Erma Maschinenpistole) or MPE (Maschinenpistole Erma) was basically just the VMP1930 with the cooling jacket restored. Although there were several variants with varying barrel lengths and sights made to customers' specifications, roughly three main variants were produced: one with a 30 cm barrel, tangent rear sight and bayonet lug was apparently sold to Bulgaria or Yugoslavia. The second model, sometimes called the MP34, or the \"standard model\", had a 25 cm barrel and no provision for a bayonet; the rear sight on these varies - some had a tangent sight, others a simplified flip-up \"L\" sight. A third variant was basically similar in the metallic parts, but replaced the foregrip with a MP18-style stock with finger-grooves. Overall, at least 10,000 of these Vollmer-based designs were made by Erma. They were adopted by the SS in 1936, but also sold to South-American countries and to Spain, where it was subsequently manufactured locally under the designation M41\/44.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the Spring of 1939, a large number of defeated Spanish Republicans fled to France, where they were disarmed. Some 3,250 EMPs formerly in the possession of these fighters ended up in a French warehouse at Clermont-Ferrand. The EMPs were usually referred to as the \"Erma-Vollmer\" in French documents. The French tested the weapons and decided to adopt them for their own service. A provisional manual was printed in French as Provisoire sur le pistolet-mitrailleur Erma - Vollmer de 9mm, issued on December 26, 1939 and updated in January 6, 1940. However, the French had obtained only some 1,540 suitable magazines for these guns, so only 700-800 EMPs were actually distributed to the French forces, mostly to the Mobile Gendarmerie. After the NSDAP conquered France, some EMPs armed the Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism, which eventually became part of the SS Charlemagne division. This division was practically destroyed in February 1945 in Eastern Prussia, now part of Poland.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNumerous EMPs have been found in the last-stand battlefields of the SS Charlemagne division; most of these guns lack any German military stamps or marks. The EMPs which arrived in German hands via the French route were given the (Fremdgerät) designation 740(f).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn Francoist Spain, the EMP was produced chambered in the 9mm Largo cartridge. It was informally known as \"subfusil [modelo] Coruña\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCaliber 9 mm\u003cbr\u003eAction Blowback\u003cbr\u003eRate of fire 550 rpm\u003cbr\u003eMuzzle velocity 380 m\/s (1,200 ft\/s)\u003cbr\u003eEffective firing range 150 m (490 ft)\u003cbr\u003eMaximum firing range 250 m (820 ft)\u003cbr\u003eFeed system 32-round magazine\u003cbr\u003eSights Iron\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Original Items","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46352478011461,"sku":"ONSV26FDZ044","price":1295.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1524\/1342\/files\/86BF0338-1432-48EE-97A8-629406E2E2E3.jpg?v=1794256987","url":"https:\/\/www.ima-usa.com\/products\/original-german-pre-wwii-erma-emp-9mm-largo-inert-display-sub-machine-gun-with-spanish-civil-guard-marked-magazine-serial-no-e-0743","provider":"International Military Antiques","version":"1.0","type":"link"}