Original Item: One-of-a-Kind. Just purchased from a private collector, this is a fantastic experimental SIG-Bergmann MP 18 - 20 Inert Display Sub Machine Gun, designed with a VERTICAL magazine well, instead of the usual horizontal. It was built using original parts on an original BATF compliant original display receiver, which was re-welded with 30% replaced by solid steel, as required.

The collector we purchased this from informed us that it was a USGI WWII bring back from the European theater of WWII, which makes this extremely interesting, as we have never seen such a configuration having come out of WWII Europe before. Comparison to known designs has led us to believe that it is an experimental German SMG based on the SIG-Bergmann design, most likely based on further design changes by Heinrich Vollmer. It is very possible that it was in fact produced by Vollmer himself during the interwar years. Truly a fantastic collector's opportunity!

The MP 18 manufactured and designed by Theodor Bergmann Abteilung Waffenbau was the first submachine gun ever used in combat. It was introduced into service in 1918 by the German Army during World War I as the primary weapon of the Sturmtruppen, assault groups specialized in trench combat. Although MP 18 production ended in the 1920s, its design formed the basis of most submachine guns manufactured between 1920 and 1960.

During WWI, the MP 18 was noted especially for being used during the Kaiserschlacht offensive, also known as the Ludendorff offensive. More than 25,000 were produced before the Treaty of Versailles banned production of military SMGs in 1920. Several modifications were made to the already produced units so that they could take different types of magazines, and were issued to Weimar police units.

After the war ended, Theodor Bergmann had continued working on the design, particularly with C.G. Haenel, who were responsible for modifying the Police versions of the MP 18 used by the Weimar republic. Wanting to still promote the design and gain profits, Bergmann licensed the design, most notably to Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (Swiss Industrial Society or SIG), a factory still in existence today as the SIG Neuhausern location of SIG Combibloc.

They began production of the SIG-Bergmann Model 1920 machine gun, heavily based on the MP18, but with a different magazine well and distinctive magazine catch unlike those used on the Bergmann produced Variants. It was also different from the later produced MP28, which the British copied to make the Lanchester SMG. This design was then utilized as the basis for a Chinese machine gun, usually called the Tsing Tao MP 18 or SMG. The main difference was the use of a vertical magazine well, much like with our example.

However it is notable that the Chinese arsenals were assisted by Heinrich Vollmer, a small arms designer on the same level as Bergmann, who would go on to design to design the iconic MG 34 and other famous designs. He is also known for having developed several MP18-derived submachine guns in secret in the mid 1920s, which were clandestinely tested by the Reichswehr. He continued development up until the early 1930s, when the Reichswehr stopped supporting his continued submachine gun development. He then sold the designs to Erfurter Maschinenfabrik (ERMA), which continued development as the EMP and later designs.

Given that Vollmer had assisted in the development of the Chinese Tsing Tao SMG, it is not unreasonable to consider that he experimented on the design back in Germany while making further improvements to his VP and VMP series of submachine guns. We believe that is how this experimental SMG came to be in Europe, where it was most likely pressed into service during the final days of WWII. It definitely looks to be German manufactured, possibly produced once Germany started "ignoring" the Treaty of Versailles. The style of manufacture and markings are distinctively German, with the serial number 73 being stamped on almost every component, including the butt plate and even the screws. The font is also typical of those used on German made machine guns from the mid to late 1930s.

Condition is very good, with just a bit of past oxidation on the metalwork, and a great condition stock. Both sling swivels are present, as is the trigger. The SMG comes with a display magazine made from a British Sten magazine, which has had the top portion removed, so it is completely inert and not subject to magazine capacity restrictions.

A truly remarkable offering, ready to research and display!

More on the History of the MP 18 Submachine Gun:

What became known as the "submachine gun" had its genesis in the early 20th century and developed around the concepts of fire and movement and infiltration tactics, specifically for the task of clearing trenches of enemy soldiers, an environment within which engagements were unlikely to occur beyond a range of a few feet.

In 1915, the German Rifle Testing Commission at Spandau decided to develop a new weapon for trench warfare. An attempt to modify existing semi-automatic pistols, specifically the Luger and C96 Mauser failed, as accurate aimed fire in full automatic mode was impossible due to their light weight and high rate of fire of 1,200 rounds per minute. The Commission determined that a completely new kind of weapon was needed. Hugo Schmeisser, working for the Bergmann Waffenfabrik was part of a team composed of Theodor Bergmann and a few other technicians. They designed a new type of weapon to fulfill the requirements, which was designated the Maschinenpistole 18/I. It is not clear whether the 'I' stands for the number 1 or the letter I, although its successor, the MP28, was designated the Maschinenpistole 28/II (suggesting the former).

Full-scale production began in early 1918. Though technically not the world's first submachine gun, being beaten by the double-barreled Italian Villar-Perosa of 1915, in modern usage of the term the MP 18 is considered the world's first submachine gun since the Villar Perosa had been designed to be used as a light machine gun on aircraft before it was adapted to infantry use as a single-barreled shoulder-fired weapon in late 1918.

The MP 18 served in the final stages of World War I in 1918, especially in the Kaiserschlacht offensive. More than 25,000 were produced, until the Treaty of Versailles banned production of military SMG in 1920.

The MP 18 proved to be an excellent weapon. Its concept was well-proven in trench fighting. The basic design directly influenced later submachine gun designs and showed its superiority over the regular infantry rifle in urban, mobile, and guerrilla warfare. The MP 18 served with German police and paramilitary forces after the end of the war. It was widely used in combat by the Freikorps Von Epp against the Spartacus League in Bavaria and by other Freikorps in Berlin, where its efficiency in urban combat was demonstrated.

All the limited conflicts between 1920 and 1940 saw an increasing use of this new class of weapons, first in South America during the Chaco War, then in Europe during the Spanish Civil War, and in China during the Warlord Era and the Japanese invasion, where its use by well-trained Chinese troops was costly for the invaders as in the Battle of Shanghai. It was also used during World War II by various partisans and resistance forces.

Since the treaty allowed the Weimar Republic to keep a small quantity of submachine guns for police use, a few hundred MP 18.1s were modified to accept Schmeisser's original 20-round magazine design. This modification, conducted by Haenel Waffenfabrik, required removal of the existing magazine well collar, and replacement with a different one. These weapons were overstamped with the date "1920" on the receiver and magazine well to show they were legitimate weapons owned by the Weimar Republic and not war bringbacks or clandestine weapons.

Bergmann sold the licence of the MP 18. 1 to SIG Switzerland; the Swiss made model was known as SIG Bergmann 1920. It existed in .30 Luger, 9mm Parabellum and 7.63 mm Mauser. The Bergmann MP 18.1 represents a milestone both in terms of armament technology and warfare tactics. It opened the way for a whole new class of weapons and triggered the research for lighter automatic firearms to be used by mobile troops. Its first direct competitors did not see service in World War I, but most of them saw use in all the limited conflicts taking place in the inter-war period.

The MP 18 submachine gun is a simple blowback operated weapon firing from the open bolt. The original MP 18.1 was designed to use the snail drum magazine of the Luger Artillery model pistol. This rotary design type of magazine holds 32 rounds of 9 mm Parabellum, the user having to load the magazine with a proprietary loading tool. A special sleeve was required when the snail drum was used on the MP 18 to stop the snail drum from being inserted too far in the magazine well.

After 1920, the MP 18 was modified to use a straight magazine similar to those used in the later developed MP 40 submachine gun. The MP 18 could only fire in the fully automatic mode. Its successor, the MP 28/2, received a modified mechanism with a selector for single shot or fully automatic fire.