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So, you think you know your World War II weapons? Beyond the MP40 and Thompson lies a forgotten arsenal of strange, experimental, and almost completely unknown axis submachine guns. The Armagera OG43 was built for a nation that switched sides. The Denuvia 39M hid its magazine inside the stock. And the bizarre Condors beltfed SMG, we still don't even know its real name. The Armagera OG43 and OG44. Italy's experience in World War II is a lot like a relationship status on social media. It's complicated. It started out as part of the Axis before switching sides halfway through the war. After the switch, part of the country formed the
Italian Social Republic, a puppet state under the direct control of Nazi Germany. It's way more involved than that, but that's the basic idea. Anyway, the social republic was in need of weapons and they needed them quickly and on a very tight budget. The challenge was taken up by Giovani Olani at the Soeta Anonyima Refuura Armagera. The Armagera OG43 and the follow-up OG44 were the last of a series of submachine guns, the Republic designed to fill a desperate need for new guns. chambered in 9 by1 19 mm parabellum. The OG43 was 28.3 in length, though it had a folding stock that reduced the length to 18 1/2 in, and it had a 12 1/2 in barrel. The OG44 is a bit longer at 31 in length and had a fixed wooden
stock, which made the manufacturing simpler. Both weapons weighed in at around 7 lb, though the OG44 was slightly heavier. It also has a more traditional pistol grip that the OG43 lacks. They both had a rate of fire of around 500 rounds per minute and were fed from 20, 30, or 40 round detachable box magazines. They were also capable of firing full or semi-auto from an open bolt. Both versions were designed to be as economical as possible, but were too little too late, and they saw limited production and field use before the war ended. The Arma EMP44. Even today, German weapons have a reputation for their elegance and sophisticated engineering. For every rule, however, there is an exception.
The main German submachine gun was the MP40. But as early as 1942, there were concerns that the materials and production were too costly, and so the airfitter machine and fabric, better known as the Irma, took up the challenge. The result was a prototype called the Irma EMP4. This was stripped back to the bare necessities. Simply a series of metal tubes that were welded together and the barrel, receiver, and stock was a single metal tube, possibly inspired by the British Sten gun. It was around 28 1/2 in length with 10 in of the primary tube dedicated to the barrel. It weighed in at around 8 lb. It was chambered in 9 by1 19 mm parabellum and had a rate of fire of around 500 rounds per minute.
The most interesting part of the EMP44 was the magazine system. It accepted MP 40 magazines. More specifically, it could carry two at the same time, giving the total capacity of 64 rounds without having to be reloaded. A trait it shared with the MP40, too. The design of the Arma EMP44 began in early 1943 with it going into production in 1944, ending later that year. Irma took it upon themselves to create the weapon without being asked and the German military had no interest in it. Instead, putting their hopes in the new STG-44 assault rifle. The exact number produced is also unknown. Apparently, a shipment was intercepted before it reached German lines, probably destined for Volk units,
though this is disputed and the weapon never reached full production. Today, there's only one known surviving example, serial number 00015, which would imply that at least 15 were made, but the exact numbers are impossible to confirm with any certainty. The Condors SMG. If the Arma EMP 44 was rare, the Condor SMG44 is downright enigmatic. Late in the war, firearm designer and engineer August Condors created a prototype submachine gun on his own initiative. What he pieced together was dubbed the Condors SMG, mostly because no one has a better name for it. The weapon is chambered in 9 by19mm Parabellum and was fed by a nondisintegrating belt that had an alleged rate of fire of a blistering
1,000 rounds per minute. It was made entirely of metal and more than likely operated on a simple blowback action. That's pretty much all that's known about this unique piece of firearm history. The weight of the weapon unknown. The length, barrel length, and belt capacity, no idea. The one and only example was captured in an incomplete state. So the exact dimensions of the finished product is speculative at best. When it was captured, the original belt cover was missing. So the US Army created a replacement belt cover based on the M42 for use in testing at the Aberdine proving grounds. Sometime after the war, the original belt was stolen and lost to history. This one-of-a-kind weapon is currently in Balta as part of
a private collection. the Denuvia 39M and 43M. In the late 1930s, Hungarian gun designer Palarai, working for the Denuvia company, began working on a prototype for a new submachine gun. After being offered to several buyers, including the British military, it was finally adopted by the Hungarian military in 1939. The Denuvia 39M is a select fire openbolt lever delayed blowback action and was chambered in the powerful 9x 25mm mouser cartridge which hit much harder than the more conventional 9x19 mm parabellum. It measured in at 37 1/2 in length with a 16 1/2 in barrel and weighed in at 8 lb. The weapon had a rate of fire of around 750 rounds per minute fed from 40 round magazines. It was reliable and
popular, but also expensive, and the action was too difficult to manufacture. As the war progressed, the design was simplified. The solid wooden stock replaced by a folding metal stock. The barrel, shortened by about 3 in, and a wooden pistol grip was added. The new weapon was designated the 43M. The 39M and 43M's magazine could also fold forward, folding into a recess in the stock, which made carrying it a bit easier. Both weapons could mount the standard Hungarian 35N bayonet just in case things got too close for comfort. Even with these modifications, it was still expensive to produce, and the 9x25mm ammunition, although it hit like a truck, was chronically in short supply. Palarai worked on another
modification, which had a much simpler blowback system and was chambered in 9x19 mm parabellum, which wasn't as powerful, but much easier to get a hold of. This weapon, the 44M, never left the prototype phase as the Red Army invaded and occupied Hungary, ending this overlooked line of weapons, the Orita M1941. When Romania entered World War II on the Axis side, they were mostly equipped with German and Czech weapons. Starting in 1941, work began on a homegrown submachine gun, which was designed by Czech national Leopold Yasik and Romanians Nikolai Sterva and Captain Marin Orita, who gave the weapon its name. Most of the Orita M1941 was made up of the stock, which is one piece extending from the foregrip to the fixed
buttstock. It was chambered in 9x19 mm parabellum and fed from a 32 round detachable box magazine. It was a bit over 35 in length with an 11in barrel and weighed a bit over 7 1/2 lb. Its rate of fire was 600 rounds per minute. It had an effective range of a bit over 200 yd, though was much more effective within 150 and had an openbolt blowback design. It was the first Romanian submachine gun produced and was issued in large numbers to Romanian troops fighting on the Eastern Front starting in 1943. It was overall a successful weapon, but had some shortcomings. The pistol grip had a tendency to snap off and could also discharge accidentally when dropped. Even with these limitations, the M1941 Oita was used
throughout the war and in spite of being a bit expensive to produce, was popular and well regarded by the troops that used it. In 1948, it was redesigned with a folding metal tubular stock and it was used by Romanian forces into the 1970s. These are just a few of the more obscure Axis machine guns. If you want us to take a look at Allied guns, let us know in the comments.
