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Post by volkssturm on Apr 5, 2016 22:38:25 GMT -5
Interesting fact I ran across about Birmingham Small Arms (BSA). From Wikipedia. "In 1939, BSA acquired the blueprints for a submachine gun designed by Hungarian arms designer Pál Király as well as the rights to manufacture it. Examples were produced in 9mm Mauser Export calibre according to Kiraly's design. It was estimated that these arms would only cost 5 pounds each to manufacture. However, at the time, submachine guns were viewed as "gangster weapons" and plans to manufacture it were shelved.[21]" Apparently this would be the Danuvia 39M. www.forgottenweapons.com/submachine-guns/danuvia-39m/The 9mm Mauser Export was a 9x25mm, somewhat more powerful than the 9x19mm used in the MP40, Luger, P38 etc. Had it gone into production it would have been a valuable asset for the British infantry (and given Brit reenactors something besides the Sten.) Why they didn't take the plans off the shelf after the Battle of France showed the need for SMG's is an open question. Possibly BSA had its hands full producing Lee-Enfields. And it was a more complex design than the Sten.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Apr 6, 2016 11:31:46 GMT -5
The power of the round appears to be significantly better than the 9mm. The way the magazine folds into the stock is clever. Not a particularly elegant looking weapon. I suspect ammo availability was the main concern.
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Post by volkssturm on Apr 7, 2016 12:40:56 GMT -5
A 125 grain bullet at 1500 feet per second, versus the 9x19mm 124 gr. at 1200 fps. ( depending on the loading.) The .30 M1 carbine pushes a 110 gr. bullet at 1900 fps.
I've read that one reason they went with the 9x19mm for the Sten was that the British had captured a lot of 9mm ammo when they took Abyssinia from the Italians. Probably though it was more because the 9x19mm was much more common, and they were copying an existing German SMG for the Lanchester SMG. They also copied the MP40 magazine for the Sten. There's a logic there. If they'd gotten serious in 1939 about the 39M and had a production line set up for 9mm Mauser it might have been different.
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