June 25th 2025

A Forgotten MP40 from the Siege of Sarajevo

Earlier this month, I received an message from Bosnia. Attached were several photos of an MP40—split in two, incomplete, and tucked away under a wardrobe for years. The sender had recently stumbled across one of my website’s pages after watching a restoration video on YouTube. He wrote:

“I don’t know much about this rifle, so I’m sending you some pictures. I’m from Bosnia, and during the war here, my father saw one part of this rifle, and as he continued walking—about 500 meters further—he found the other part. He went back, took the first piece as well, and we assembled it. It doesn’t have a magazine or the spring that pushes the firing pin, so it's not usable. This rifle has been sitting in my house under a wardrobe for years, collecting dust.”

But this wasn’t from World War II, as I first assumed. It was found during the Siege of Sarajevo—a brutal chapter of the 1992–1996 Bosnian War, in which the capital city was surrounded and shelled for nearly four years. Cut off from the outside world, residents relied on whatever they could find to defend themselves. That included not only police weapons and private firearms, but also pieces from museums, shooting clubs, and other institutions.

The MP40 in the photos was found on the front line in Sarajevo, near a river that marked the dividing line between the defenders and enemy positions. In this area, the opposing forces were sometimes less than 150 meters apart. According to the sender, his father found the two main parts of the gun separately and reassembled them. It was in surprisingly clean condition—almost as if it had never been used.

Although originally developed in the 1930s, the MP40 wasn’t just a relic at the time. In fact, it remained in limited use well into the postwar period; for example, Norwegian tank crews and home guard units were still issued refurbished MP40s as late as the early 1990s. So it’s not impossible that an MP40 ended up on the front lines of Sarajevo—not as a collector’s item, but as a potential weapon.

How this particular example got there, who discarded it, and why, will likely remain a mystery. Perhaps someone realized it couldn’t function without its firing-pin spring and magazine, and simply left it behind.

Still, this broken and non-matching MP40 tells a story. It's not just a historical artifact, but part of a much more recent chapter of European history—one where old weapons briefly returned to new wars.

My thanks to the contributor from Bosnia for sharing both the story and the images. They not only help document an MP40, but also offer a human glimpse into a conflict still within living memory.

June 4th 2025

Frankenstein’s First SMG: The Collector’s Nightmare

Well, sure—everyone’s free to ask whatever they want for a collectible. Whether anyone actually pays that amount is another story... But this so-called "MP38" really takes things to the next level.

Frankenstein looks like a factory-original compared to this thing:

• Early wooden grips (of course!)

• MP40 pistol grip

• MP40 Bakelite foregrip 

• Repro Diettrich BD38 housing

• Repro Diettrich BD38 tube

• Repro Diettrich BD38 magazine receiver

• What on earth is going on with the muzzle nut???

• Late MP40 sheet metal barrel bar

• Comically fake stampings on the end cap

• Sling loop on the wrong side
  
  

And all of this can be yours for the bargain price of just €10,100! (I assume the €100 is the generous "negotiation discount.")

After the skirmish, Pflueger found a discarded MP40 (serial #44526)and a German helmet near a trench. He sent both home as souvenirs, with the MP40 disassembled and hidden in a cardboard shell box—common practice among GIs.

Years later, Pflueger’s local police officer friend, aware of the MP40, reminded him to register it. When the 1968 gun amnesty deadline neared, the officer even paid the small fee to make the gun legal.

Though the MP40 survived the war, so did Pflueger’s trauma. He often relived the moment he was shot, haunted by the memory of the camouflaged soldier and the bullet that struck him.