The MP40 is often called the most iconic submachine gun of World War II, but in reality, it was a weapon carried by a select few. Most German soldiers marched into battle with the bolt-action Mauser K98k. The submachine gun was typically reserved for squad leaders, platoon commanders, and those whose duties made a full-sized rifle a burden. In a typical American infantry squad of eleven men, only the squad leader carried a submachine gun, usually the Thompson M1A1.
Everyone else had an M1 Garand. The British were a bit more generous, issuing Stens to both the section commander and his second-in-command. Only the Soviet Union issued submachine guns on a massive scale, sometimes equipping entire platoons with the PPSh-41. But even then, the submachine gun was the exception, not the rule.
But where did these weapons rank in terms of cost? That’s what I wanted to find out. So, I broke down the production costs of the most numerous submachine guns from six major combatant nations in 1945, starting with the cheapest. At number six, we have the British Sten Mark II.
This weapon was born out of desperation. After the evacuation from Dunkirk, Britain was critically short of small arms. They had been buying the expensive American Thompson, but they needed something cheaper, something they could produce en masse with limited resources. The answer was the Sten, a brutally simple weapon made from stamped metal and just 47 parts.
It could be assembled in only five and a half man-hours. Over 2 million Mark IIs were made out of the 4 million Stens produced. It fired the 9mm Parabellum round from a 32-round magazine and weighed just over 7 pounds. In 1945, the manufacturing cost was £2 and 10 shillings, which equates to about $11 at the time or roughly $204 today.
In comparison, the standard British rifle, the Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk I, cost the equivalent of $628 today. The British could produce three Stens for the price of a single rifle. At number five, we have one of the most iconic weapons of the war, the Soviet PPSh-41.
Its development was spurred by the Winter War with Finland, where the Red Army was stunned by the effectiveness of the Finnish Suomi submachine gun. The Soviet answer was a cheap, rugged weapon chambered in 7. 62mm Tokarev. It weighed about 8 pounds and had a furious rate of fire of over 1,200 rounds per minute, which is why the heavy 71-round drum magazine was so practical.
The Red Army loved it, and so did the Germans, who captured so many that they rechambered them for their own 9mm ammunition. The Soviets kept the cost down by cutting Mosin-Nagant rifle barrels in half to make two PPSh barrels. In 1945, a PPSh-41 cost about 50 rubles, or $11. 32, which is about $210 today.
That was actually two and a half times more expensive than the standard Mosin-Nagant rifle, which cost just $85 to produce. At number four, we have a rarity: the Japanese Type 100. Japan never fully embraced the submachine gun concept. They were produced in small numbers, and even fewer were issued.
It wasn’t until 1944 that large-scale production began. The Type 100 was a 8mm blowback-operated weapon that weighed 3. 8 kg and used a 30-round magazine. It was often fitted with a bayonet, reflecting the Japanese army’s obsession with edged weapons.
In total, only about 30,000 were ever made. In 1945, it cost 60 yen, or $15, to manufacture, which is around $297 today. Interestingly, this was actually cheaper than the standard Arisaka Type 99 rifle, which cost about $370. Third place goes to the Italian Beretta Model 38.
It was the oldest design on our list, entering service in 1938. It was chambered in 9mm Parabellum and weighed about 7. 2 pounds. Italian industrial limitations meant it was made in relatively small numbers until Germany seized the Beretta factory in 1943.
The M38/42 version was then produced in large numbers for the German military. Of the half a million made during the war, 231,000 were produced under German supervision. In 1945, the unit cost was about $20, which is around $372 today. At number two is the most famous submachine gun of the war, the German MP 40.
It was designed to be cheap to build, relying on stamped steel and synthetic grips rather than expensive machined parts. It was accurate, controllable, and highly effective. About 1. 1 million were made.
It weighed about 8. 75 pounds and fired the 9mm Parabellum from a 32-round magazine. The unit cost in 1945 was 60 Reichsmarks, or about $24, which is roughly $446 today. This made it slightly more expensive to produce than the standard German rifle, the Mauser K98k, which cost about $407.
And the most expensive submachine gun of World War II? The American Thompson M1A1. The M1A1 was already an old design by 1945, but it was still the most numerous American SMG. Over 1.
5 million Thompsons were produced during the war. It was heavy, weighing a full 10 pounds empty, and it was chambered in the powerful . 45 ACP. The early M1921 model had a rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute, but the later M1A1 was simplified and had a reduced rate of 700 to 800 rounds per minute.
The 1939 price was a staggering $209, but simplified production brought the 1942 price down to $70. By 1945, the M1A1 unit cost was $45, which equates to about $837 today. That’s more than the M1 Garand rifle, which cost $666 in today’s money. To put it in perspective, the British could build four Stens for the price of a single M1A1, and the Germans could build two MP 40s.
If I had to choose one to take into combat, I’d take the MP 40. It was the most practical and controllable of the bunch, and in a war where every dollar counted, it’s the cost-effectiveness that wins the day in my book.
