MP40

The MP 40 (MP designates Maschinenpistole, literally "Machinized Small Gun") is a sub-machine gun developed in Nazi Germany and used extensively by paratroopers, platoon and squad leaders, and other troops during World War II. The MP-40 was characterized by its relatively low rate of fire and recoil.

Info
After their experience in the Spanish Civil War, the Germans decided that their armored and airborne troops needed a sub-machine gun that was reliable and easily manufactured. The resulting MP38 was the first military weapon to be made without wood, using plastic instead, along with minimal machining. The MP40 was a later improvement for reducing production cost, designed to simplify manufacturing even further. The protrusion on the underside of the barrel allowed the weapon to be hooked on the sill of a window or gun port for stability. Only issued to NCO and high-ranking officers, the MP40 was a rare-find on the battle field. Only a little over 1 million guns were produced, not as much as it opponent, the Thompson, with over 2 million guns produced in the US during World War II. Over 3 million could have been produced, due to the need of submachine guns for the US Army in World War II.

Its magazine is capable of holding 32 rounds of 9mm Parabellum ammunition. The MP-40 is useful for clearing enemy positions. It does not have a very good range, but the gun is very plentiful and you might find it useful in intense battles. It is very useful in close quarters combat

In actuality, MP40s were rather rare on the battlefield, and Allied forces scavenged them whenever possible. In the Call of Duty series, it portrays Germans armed almost entirely with MP40s. This is inaccurate to historic facts. In reality, German infantry squads were made up of a squad leader who wielded the MP40, a machine gunner who had either an MG42 or the older MG34 (the center of a German infantry squad), and a 5-man rifle element with the Kar98k, G43, or later in the war, the STG-44.

Call of Duty and United Offensive
The MP40 is a solid submachine gun used by the Axis that has 32 rounds in its magazine. While it has a somewhat low rate of fire for close quarters, this makes it easier to control while burst-firing. Like the Thompson, it can be used at close or medium range, making it a pretty versatile weapon. It's arguably the most solid SMG in the game; combining decent power with a controllable rate of fire, minimal recoil, and good accuracy. However its ironsights are a bit intrusional.

In view of the fact that ammo for Thompson or PPSh-41 submachine guns is not too readily available in enemy territory, it is frequently advantageous to swap those for an MP40 off a fallen foe fairly soon, because nearly all enemies you mow down from then on will top up your ammo supply.

Call of Duty: Finest Hour
The MP40 is a stable submachine gun found on all fronts. It is the first automatic weapon encountered by the player in the level Not One Step Back. It does decent damage and has controlable recoil, compared to some other submachcine guns. On the last level of the game, Wehrmacht troops carry often up to 1,000 rounds or more with them. Anywhere elsewhere in the game each soldier has 96 at the most except for the first mission, where one can be found with 319 rounds in it. The most a player can hold at once is 32 rounds in the magazine and 160 rounds of reserve ammunition, but with a glitch you can have up to 38,000 rounds, if not more.

Call of Duty 2
The Call of Duty 2 MP40 has been slightly changed. While its damage and rate of fire are the same, its recoil has been significantly increased, though this isn't technically correct, the MP40 is one of the most stable automatic weapons of all time; it has hardly any recoil. This game makes it much harder to control, but burst firing a target that isn't in close quarters is essential if you want to hit him. Otherwise, it's the same MP40 that was in Call of Duty. The recoil, when compared to the Thompson, is a steady recoil, while the Thompson is a steady rise.

Call of Duty 3
The MP40 is very similar to the other games, and is one the most common weapons available, as a large amount of German soldiers wield the MP40. It does have a shocking recoil, but soon back to position after the recoil. It is not as powerful as the Thompson, as people sometimes comparing them both, MP40 is a good option for someone who is out of ammo.

Singleplayer
The MP40 is commonly used by the German soldiers in Call of Duty: World at War, during the Russian campaign, though this was false, in reality it was mainly issued to officers and mid to higher ranked NCOs. It is common to switch to the MP40 in campaign since the Russian's PPSh-41 eats up ammo extremely fast, and many allies have to be killed to obtain a usable amount of ammo, though this is not the case in Heart of the Reich, as the majority of allies will be wielding the PPSh-41 during the main assault on the four Flak 88s, making ammo much more readily available in this part. In any case, ammo for the MP40 is widely available in campaign. It is a reliable sidearm to the Mosin-Nagant Rifle, due to the stated reason that ammunition is easily found, and that it also is powerful in close quarters.

Multiplayer
The MP40 is unlocked at level 10, and statistically the most powerful SMG in the game, in terms of damage per round - however in reality the 9mm Parabellum round has less stopping power than the .45 caliber Thompson (the MP40 also has low recoil and was accurate even when firing full auto, but in-game it has very high and unpredictable recoil).

Stopping Power and Steady Aim make the MP40 incredibly powerful in close quarters, as it is very accurate while hipfiring. The low fire-rate is somewhat balanced by the large-capacity magazine and high power. These traits make the MP40 one of the most popular weapons in multiplayer. The lower rate of fire sometimes allows users to manage their ammo supply efficiently. The widespread use of the MP40 make ammunition a non-issue, so Bandolier is the only perk that shouldn't really be used with the weapon.

The weapon is looked down upon by many players because it is generally considered to be "overpowered", however a lot of players take advantage of the high power of the MP40, and use tier 2 perks that are less common. However, Juggernaut with the MP40 is a common sight and is frowned upon, because when Juggernaut is used, the user becomes incredibly powerful in close quarters - the MP40 is able to kill in two hits at close range without Stopping Power, and the user will take less damage from enemy weapons. This combination, the MP40 plus Juggernaut is common mainly as the perk and weapon are available in the early levels.

The weapon performs well in short-to-medium range combat, as the recoil makes firing at range difficult - however, users can easily burst-fire at range. It is also one of the few weapons that is commonly used with all its attachments - most are generally used with just one. The Dual Magazines attachment is most commonly used as it allows close to ten seconds of fire, and coupled with Steady Aim, many players just "spray and pray" instead of aiming down the sights to neutralize targets. Double Tap is sometimes used to combat the low fire rate - but in doing so increase the recoil. This is less effective at range as Stopping Power kills faster with the MP40 at longer ranges, and using less rounds. Double Tap is greater in effectiveness at close range.

The MP40 with a Silencer, Bomb Squad, Camouflage, and Dead Silence is a very powerful stealth class, and is less looked down upon than a MP40 with Juggernaut. This is most common in Search and Destroy, as stealth is less of an issue in other game modes.

In Hardcore, the MP40 with Stopping Power is a one shot kill at any range, unless the enemy is using Juggernaut or Second Chance, or the target is hit through a surface. Without Stopping Power, only a headshot at long range will kill in one shot.

It is interesting to note that the Dual Magazines attachment (Marksman III) for the MP40 makes the weapon look quite odd. There are two small protrusions on either side of the MP40's magazine well. This is a result of some modifications to this gun that occurred during WWII, which was meant to compensate the PPSh's drum magazine. This modification was known as the MP40 II, but was not widely used, as it caused the gun to become off-balance, and was fairly pointless once the Soviets began to use regular box magazines with the PPSh-41 to avoid problems with the drum. It is not recommended to have Dual Magazines as the large ammunition capacity, low rate of fire, and high damage allow for the use of a different attachment, unless you are using Double Tap, or in the case of some players, hip-firing the gun and spraying it. The penetration capabilities of the MP40 are problems to some users as this means that the target has to be more visible, whilst with the Thompson, the penetration is higher, and rivals the weak penetration of the MP40.

Nazi Zombies
The MP40 appears in all Nazi Zombie levels, being available off the wall in all other maps but Nacht Der Untoten, and from the Mystery Box in every map. It is comparable to the Thompson, but with higher damage and a larger magazine at the cost of a lower ROF. Like the Thompson, it is a powerful weapon in the early to mid rounds. In the later rounds, players will frequently run out of ammo. However, its recoil is significantly reduced compared to the campaign or multiplayer version.

When you put it in the Pack-a-Punch Machine in the Nazi Zombies map Der Riese its name becomes "The Afterburner", and its ammunition capacity is doubled. Even after the upgrade, players will often run out of ammo in the middle of the round, leaving them vulnerable.

Call of Duty: World at War (DS)
On the DS, the MP-40 is very different from it's console counter-parts, though closer to the real life version. The MP-40 has the least recoil, and the least damage per bullet of all submachine guns in the game. This makes the MP-40 less common than on the consoles, though it should not be underestimated, since experienced users will take advantage of the low recoil to make easy headshots. The MP-40 is found in every level in the British or Russian campaign.

Trivia

 * The MP40 in Call of Duty: World at War has a similar reloading animation to its Call of Duty 2 variant. Other weapons that have this are the M1A1 Carbine, the STG-44, the Thompson, and the M1911 Colt .45.
 * On the Call of Duty 2 version, there is a distinct fingerprint on the curve below the iron sights.
 * Soldiers using the MP40 were taught not to hold it by the magazine like they do in the game as that would jam ammunition, and the magazine would fall out. Instead they should hold it like the German AI in the single player, with the hand holding the barrel in front of the magazine. In the game the MP-40 is held by the magazine likely to decrease the reloading speed.
 * In the DS version of the game, the fire rate of all SMGs is increased, most noticeable on the MP40, which, in the console/PC versions of the game, has the lowest rate of fire of all the SMGs.
 * In Nazi Zombies, when Richtofen acquires this weapon, he may say, "Everyone's favorite," referencing the popularity of the MP40 both in Singleplayer and multiplayer.
 * In Nazi Zombies, the MP40 has greatly reduced recoil compared to other game modes, having virtually none.
 * When using an MP40 with an aperture sight and bandolier, you start with 32 less rounds than you would without using aperture sights.
 * While the weapon's power is normally the same, the SMG's sound and rate of fire varies. The biggest differences is between Call of Duty 2's MP40, which fires slowly and louder than other submachine guns, and World at War's MP40, which fires rather quickly and quietly.
 * The Reload animation is quicker in Call of Duty 3.

Video
Gameplay footage of the MP-40 from Call of Duty: World at War Beta.

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