MP3008

Infobox Weapon|is_ranged=yes


caption=One of the final stages of "MP3008" construction, showing a wooden stock and transposed ejection port and cocking handle.
name=MP 3008 Volks MP
type=Submachine gun
origin=flagcountry|Nazi Germany
era=World War II
design_date=1945
production_date=1945
service=1945
used_by=Nazi Germany
wars=World War II
spec_type=Submachine gun
part_length= mm to in| 196|abbr=on|precision=1|wiki=yes
cartridge=9x19mm Parabellum
feed=32-round detachable box magazine
action=Blowback, open bolt
rate=450 round/min
velocity= convert| 365|m/s|0|lk=on|sp=us|abbr=on
weight= kg to lb| 3.2|abbr=on|precision=1|wiki=yes
length= mm to in| 760|abbr=on|precision=1|wiki=yes
variants=
number=~10,000

The 9 mm MP 3008 ("Maschinenpistole 3008", literally "machine pistol 3008") was a Nazi German substitute standard submachine gun manufactured toward the end of World War II.

Also known as the "Volksmaschinenpistole" (people's submachine gun), the weapon was almost identical to the British Sten, except for its vertical magazine; some even featured additional pistol grips. Many other versions were direct copies of the original Sten, right down to its manufacturing stamps.

The MP 3008 was an emergency measure, designed at a time when Germany was at the point of collapse. Desperately short of money and raw materials, the Germans sought to produce a radically cheaper alternative to their standard submachine gun, the MP40.

The MP 3008 was a simple blowback design operating from an open bolt. It was crudely manufactured in small machine shops and variations were common. Typically, the magazine was bottom-mounted unlike the side-mounted Sten. Initially, all steel without handgrips, the wire buttstock was welded to the frame and was typically triangular, however the design changed as conditions inside Germany worsened and on final guns wooden stocks and other variations are found.

Some confusion exists between the MP3008 Volksmaschinenpistole and the Neumünster Device. The Neumünster Device was manufactured prior to the MP3008 under great secrecy by Mauser Waffenfabrik. The Neumünster device was an almost perfect copy of the British Sten, even down to its British proof marks. The reason for manufacturing the Neumünster Device is unknown but they were manufactured at great expense. Each Neumünster Device cost eight times as much as a Mauser Model 98K rifle.

ee also

*Submachine gun
*Volkssturmgewehr 1-5 semi-automatic rifle intended for use by the Volkssturm.
*List of World War II firearms of Germany