MP40 info wanted

[conniie]

Since I own a couple class lll guns there are several traps to look out for. Never own a class lll weapon without paperwork that tracks it back to a civilian owner who had it papered prior to May 1986. Check the state you plan on living in to acceptiablity of this type of weapon. Because of the high rate of fire ricochets are common so many ranges don't accept automatic fire. I had one that I owned up to 1/2 mile from this particular machinegun range. These weapons are expensive and once you pay the owner, they keep the weapon. You do the paperwork pay the tax send it in and wait 9 months for approval. Only after the approval comes back to the seller then you will recieve it from the owner.

[sheepherder]

I can't comment on the legality, but I have shot an MP40. Two things stick out in my memory...

- There is a perceptible time lag between squeezing the trigger and the bolt/firing pin striking the cartridge. It's open bolt, and a fairly long travel...let me measure it...I get 3 5/8" travel [first shot]...I don't have anything to measure the time to ignition but it is a perceptible fraction of a second...maybe 1/4 sec, maybe 1/8...Whatever, it is disconcerting if you're used to firing a closed bolt SMG [M16]...

- The bolt is pretty heavy...When it starts moving forward, everything else moves back...First hits were rare...

And it's heavy...Especially fully loaded...My book says 10.4 pounds...(It also says an M1A1 Thompson is 10.75 pounds)...

That's about all I recall, these many years later...