AH Sub-machine Gun

How plausible is this design for a sub-machine gun or automatic rfile:

-Date of Development: 1905 or '06
-Rate of Fire: 60 rounds
-Magazine: 30-rounds
-Shell ejection: a system that uses the gas from the bullet's blast opens up the bolt and ejects the shell, and an electrical system allows the gun to fire automatically
-Country of Origin: USA
-Caliber: Probally .30-caliber

non-electric

I doubt that you'll use an electrical system to do anything--batteries were quite heavy, and it would be overly complex. To this dya, most machine guns and submachine guns use strictly the reciol energy and the gas to do anything. As far as plausibility of a portable machine gun, I'm no expert, but I could concieve of it happening. It would take a serious effort on the part of a skilled armament developer to make it happen. It would also be an incredible example of precision manufacturing for the time--the first ones would be expensive and prone to jamming, I'd expect.
Not for use by general infantry, but by elite forces for a set piece assault, where the guns can be gone over thoroughly before the action.
Lessons learned from the prototype may lead to a better gun later on.
Anyone with a better knowlege of small arms please speak up if I'm wrong.
(Remember, to someone like me who likes the battleships, 5" guns are small arms...)

Although not an SMG, wasn't the Luger pistol with stock and 32 round snail drum was available in 1905?

Submachine gun developement is possible as soon as a reliable smokeless powder pistol calibre cartridge is available. (From 1895 or so) Before that a self loader is simply too prone to breakdowns since black powder jams the mechanism and has a nasty recoil since it burns so quickly.
The developement of the 9*19 pistol cartridge followed closly by the 45 acp provided sutible ammo for a SMG. In some respects SMG development is even easier then pistol developement, since Borchert, Luger, Browning et al had to find a way to slow the opening of the pistols` breach. A SMG can use the simpler "inertia" mechanism which is too heavy for pistols. An early SMG could either be a variant of the Mauser C 96 which could easily adapted to selective fire and a larger magazine and already had a detatchable stock. This was done several times after WW1 in OTL. The problem with these was a too high rate-of-fire, leading to lack of control.
Or weapons like the MP 18, which was simple and straightforward enough, using a "inertia" locking mechanism and a side magazine like the later Sterling.
The big question is will the pre-WW1 military want this SMG and the most likly answer is that they won`t. At that time normal soldiers were expected to fire at enemy columns at up to 2000 Meters, and the full power cartridges introduced between 1880-1900 were considered the very last thing. The first use for these weapons before trench warfare sets in is for Arty crews and the like which are not expected to need full-calibre rifles and could do with somethig smaller and cheaper.

.......
The big question is will the pre-WW1 military want this SMG and the most likly answer is that they won`t. At that time normal soldiers were expected to fire at enemy columns at up to 2000 Meters, and the full power cartridges introduced between 1880-1900 were considered the very last thing. The first use for these weapons before trench warfare sets in is for Arty crews and the like which are not expected to need full-calibre rifles and could do with somethig smaller and cheaper.[/QUOTE]

............................................

Consider the last few wars before WW1.
The last significant war fought by British soldiers was the Boer War, when Borrs used the latest Mauser rifles to snipe at British soldiers riding horses on open terrain. This forced the British Army to focus on open-country marksmanship out to 1,000 yards. One thousand yards is about the maximum effective range with iron sights.
Sure artillery and cavalry carried carbines, but those were just slightly shorter versions of standard infantry rifles.
WW1 trench raids were the first impetus for developing sub machine guns. Trench raiders needed rapid-fire weapons that were short enough to swing around corners of trenches. Pistols were not quite potent enough. German trench-raiders started carrying artillery Lugers with longer barrels, larger magazines and clip-on butt-stocks.
Longer barrels increased muzzle energy of pistol ammunition by up to 44 percent.
Snail-drum magazines (20 versus the pistol's 10) reduced the need to reload in the middle of a scirmish, while clip-on butt-stocks improved accuracy. A few Artillery Lugers were modified to fire full-auto, but they soon broke.
In 1918 the US Army introduced "trench broom" shotguns.
In 1918 Germany introduced the far more robust Bergman SMG firing 9 mm Luger pistol ammunition. Early Bergmans stuck Artillery Luger snail-drum magazines in their left sides and were copied by a dozen nations.

The next major advance in SMG design was the perfection of advanced ignition, blowback actions during WW2. Eliminating the locking mechanism allowed them to vastly simplify production. Sten Mark 3 were built for as little as $8!

WW2 also saw specialists (artillery, signallers, tankers, etc) carrying more SMGs because they were easier to carry in vehicles and less likely to interfere with the specialists' primary duties.

These days few soldiers carry SMGs because their roles overlap with modern assault rifles. A short-barrelled M-4 carbine (cut down M-16 assault rifle) is about the same weight and size as an SMG with double the range and double the killing power of an SMG.

SMGs are still valuable for house-clearing. SMGs are especially popular with police because their reduced range reduces the risk of over-penetrating walls and killing in innocent by-standers.

Some earlier European conflict(s) would probably result in SMG production early on. Have a couple wars right at the end of the 19th/beginning of the 20th Century and see them bogged down and it would force the nations involved to start developing SMGs. Even if the war wasn't long enough for them to put it in the field during it, it could lead to development of the gun for future use, as long as they take away the right lessons. I imagine some serious urban fighting would also do the trick, maybe some kind of civil war somewhere?

ALERT!

126 month old Zombie thread sighted.

Gunned down.