Panic Submachinegun 1938

A Sten Mk V which is mechanically identical to the earlier marks but merely built to a higher standard with wooden furniture including a fore grip, is IMVHO a perfect choice for Rurarliar. Any competent gun designer in the mid 1930's should be able to come up with a gun similar to that. And this could be made in small workshops and Factories. If the Barrels have to ne bought in from abroad that might be a problem.
 
The M3 requires very sophisticated heavy engineering to produce the dies and stamps required to make the receiver pressings! Not ITTL countries industrial capacity I think.
 

Deleted member 1487

Precision thin high quality steel stamping requires considerable investment in materials and technology. The Soviets went a simpler route using cheaper thicker steels and folded rather than die stamped such as the PPS 43
True, but it was also a 3rd generation weapon that had been developed for years and the USSR had substantial experience with mass production as well as access to heaps of the best US machine tools thanks to L-L. By 1943 that was really reaching major proportions too.

Machined parts in 1938 for a small country are basically going to be the only way to go unless they buy machine tools abroad...which may not affordable considering this is just an SMG. Using Slovakia as a model it doesn't seem like they even had an SMG early on, but I've seen pictures of the Slovak troops in Russia with Suomi SMGs.

Of course if you're really interested in stupid cheap and produceable in small machine shops then something like the already mentioned EMP-44 is about as simple as it gets: it's mostly made from pipes and was welded together.
 
Consider that the Ruralan motorcycle factory is already stamping light sheet steel fuel tanks and mud guards ... good enough for make SMG magazines, sights and dust covers.
If the Ruralin motorcycle Factory can build motorcycle engines, they already have most of the tools needed to make SMG barrels.
Pre-War, RMF only imports rubber and electrical components.

A generation of Ruralian farm mechanics raised on distant sheep stations .... accustomed to building their own spare tractor parts soon learn which tolerances are important. Start with a farm mechanic, like Aussie Owen and equip him him with plenty of materials, ammo and an assistant machinist plus a welder.

A smart production engineer can figure out which tolerances have to be tight and which tolerances can be loose. For example, chambers and bolt faces need tight tolerances, but who really cares about tolerances on the outside of the barrel? The farther you get from the chamber, the less important the tolerances.
 
What rifle does Ruralan build?

If any?

I am thinking a Lanchester style MP28 designed around the stock of the in production rifle (in the Lanchesters case it used the same jigs etc used to create SMLE Stocks - which would have then been free as the British rifle production had moved on to the No4 rifle) would work for them.

Would not be cheap but should be able to be built locally using common tooling and even things like bayonets, Sights, triggers, safety etc

Also the production could take into consideration the differing needs of the Navy and Army (ie Barrel length)
 

marathag

Banned
That’s why the Winchester 1910 has a bolt assembly which weighs as much as a loaded Colt 1911. I can only imagine the hilarity that would generate in an open-bolt subgun.
French used a full auto version in WWI

And an SMG doesn't need a round as powerful as the 401SL, it's damn near at Intermediate Cartridge class of power.
The 1905 Winchester Self Loading
65 gr (11 g) 1,392 ft/s (424 m/s)710 ft⋅lbf (960 J)
That's more in line for SMG use, and almost twice the muzzle energy of the 45 ACP. This was the basis for the WWII .30 Carbine: and still beat 9mm Mauser Export :)
The 1905 Rifle was 7 pounds, vs 8.5 pounds for the 1910 with .401SL
 

marathag

Banned
The M3 requires very sophisticated heavy engineering to produce the dies and stamps required to make the receiver pressings! Not ITTL countries industrial capacity I think.
GM' Guide Lamp Division before the War made Headlight buckets for the sealed beam bulb, Bumper guards and Hub caps before making millions of Grease Guns.

If they can make Motorcycle or Bicycles, that's all that's needed for SMGs
 
Poor little Ruralia bears neighbours rattling sabres during the 1930s. She realizes how out-dated her infantry small arms are.
Ruralian Coast Guard and anti-smuggling police have a variety of foreign-made pistols and sub machine guns , but some are wearing out . American, British, Czech, French, etc. factories either refuse to sell or charge ridiculously high prices.
Ruralian police have already decided to standardize on 9 x 19 mm Luger ammo.
The task is assigned to the Ruralian motorcycle factory who have a variety of modern casting, rolling, pressing, spot-welding, etc. tools. Coast Guard wants the shortest possible gun for boarding parties, while Ruralian infantry insist on a 19 inch barrel for range and accuracy. Ruralian infantry also insist on wooden or plastic or leather grips to prevent hands from freezing to guns during winters. They also want selective fire with decent first-round accuracy. Finally, it needs better reliability than a Sten gun (please ignore the miss-matched dates).
I suppose if they want decent first round accuracy a design that fires from the closed bolt might be useful. That being said as this is a "panic" requirement for a sub machine gun (as opposed to a precision carbine) I would be inclined to focus on getting a simple and reliable open bolt design into service ASAP. Perhaps later a more refined closed bolt variant could be produced.
 
The Ruralian Coast Guard it appears already have some foreign SMGs. Assuming they are in the MP28 class the task of 'Stenising' is no different to that made within 6 weeks by the OTL Sten designers and they too had to make it suitable for production by local light industry not firearms manufacturers. Thus a Ruralian 'Sten' is quite feasible. Forget all the bells and whistles. The Ruralian Army can wants what it likes but it will get what can be afforded and made fast. They will just have to find the best way to use them as a standard infantry weapon. Telescoping bolts, closed bolt firing etc. add cost, complexity and slower production. Ruralia needs them now and in sufficient numbers to equip all those called/volunteering for the colours if war occurs.
 
I suspect the Ruralian Treasury will tell the Army to make do with the Coast Guard's short barrelled SMG on the grounds of cost. "We can make two 8 inch barrels for each 19 inch barrel saving 1/3rd of the cost for each pair"
 
I suspect the Ruralian Treasury will tell the Army to make do with the Coast Guard's short barrelled SMG on the grounds of cost. "We can make two 8 inch barrels for each 19 inch barrel saving 1/3rd of the cost for each pair"
Or the army is advised to submit a request for a slective fire carbine for future consideration :)
 
Cheap?
Look this way
news.guns.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/nelsonslebman19113.jpg
nelsonslebman19113.jpg

The Lebman Gangster special.
But with a Browning Hipower, than 1911. Some had detachable shoulder stocks and extended magazines

Still not as cheap or as good as a ground up design like the Owen or M3 Grease gun, it's still cheap to modify existing semiauto handguns to SMGs
There were selective fire High Powers manufactured, in small numbers. Like most such devices they were terrible weapons; inaccurate, uncontrollable and ineffective.
 

marathag

Banned
There were selective fire High Powers manufactured, in small numbers. Like most such devices they were terrible weapons; inaccurate, uncontrollable and ineffective.
Without a huge compensator, that's to be expected.
Inaccurate? that's pretty much baked into most of the cheap fixed sight SMG, where most uses just walked fire onto the target than carefully aiming.

For a panic SMGs, think 20 meter effective range, not 200.

Babyface Nelson got good use from his Lebman Special during the New Bohemia Lodge raid.
 
Without a huge compensator, that's to be expected.
Inaccurate? that's pretty much baked into most of the cheap fixed sight SMG, where most uses just walked fire onto the target than carefully aiming.

For a panic SMGs, think 20 meter effective range, not 200.

Babyface Nelson got good use from his Lebman Special during the New Bohemia Lodge raid.
Which in no-way alters the general uselessness of such machine pistols; there's a reason for the failure of the Stechkin, VP-70, Glock 18, M-93R st cetera.


Try building a carbine type SMG; the Owen is probably the best WW2 design (though an offset magazine and skeletal stock would be improvements). The most suitable design for mass production would depend on local manufacturing capacity.
 

Falk

Banned
Here is a relevant article about the 'shipyard specials' of Northern Ireland.

 
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