the bren? man the bren isnt a sub machine gun so you cant pick that, if you pick bren i pick then i pick MG 34, so what it spits 15 bullets per second, i put it on a tripod if thats the case.

Which submachine-gun or machine carbine (in war-time British parlance) would I choose from the American Thompson M1A1, the German MP-40, or the Soviet PPSh-41.

I'd go for the MP-40 on looks alone, very sexy-looking firearm the MP-40.

But then I could go for the Thompson M1A1 as it is of excellent quality, really well-made forged, milled, and otherwise machined to perfection (and this is the 'rough' version which had been simplified for greater ease of manufacture), with comfy wooden furniture, and it fires that great body-stopping round the caliber .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) ( which in metric is 11.43 mm X 23 mm).

After that I don't know.

The PPSh-41 was roughly mass-produced and looked it; indeed, the PPSh-41 looked really clumsy and unsexy with its semi-pistol grip and butt, very uncomfy wooden furniture, and its bulbous 71-round drum magazine. And then it fired the Soviet pistol cartridge the 7.62 mm x 25mm Tokarev, a decidedly unglamorous round if ever there were one.

After that, in the final analysis, when all's said and done, I'd have to go with the PPSh-41, which as unsexy as she is she is as reliable as clockwork and with a big, high-capacity magazine which means I don't have to reload as often, which is a decided tactical advantage in the large-scale battles of the Eastern Front. The Germans agreed. So many PPSh-41s were captured by the Germans and used against their former owners in the Red Army that they were officially adopted by the Wehrmacht on the Ostfront and some were even converted to 9 mm Parabellum. The 7.62 x 25 round also produced low recoil on the gun which allowed the shooter to hold the weapon aimed on target and so not allow the gun to climb off the target, which made the PPSh-41 deadly at close range. And one other factor is important, the PPSh-41 was so devoid of gadgetry, it doesn't even have a safety catch, training on the weapon could be kept to a bare minimum. The other factors are of course that the PPSh-41 were as cheap as chips to make and because it didn't need skilled labour to make them, just about any State workshop could turn them out. So in this 3-field horse race, I'd have to say the PPSh-41 by a good length and a half.

1vs1 fights Kiraly 39M no doubt.
It's an Hungarian gun with the 9mm Mauser export round.
It isn't the best looking gun but it sure is powerfull with an effective range of 300-400meters!It had a better effective range as the ppsh and the ammunition had a similar effectiveness (muzzle velocity 450m/s, bullet weight 8.3 gram, muzzle energy 840 Joules vs 525/s,5.5 gram,760joules.)
Had made a mistake sorry but i edited it.

And btw for the ppsh loveruring 1941-42 the Hungarian Army captured a number of PPSh-41 machine guns on the Eastern Front. These guns were re-issued to Hungarian troops. The troops did not like them, compared to the Hungarian Danuvia 39.M machine guns. The ammunition had a similar effectiveness, but the workmanship and reliability of the PPSh-41 was nowhere when compared to the 39.M. The biggest difference was in accuracy, as PPSh-41's barrel length was only about half of the M.39's. The 71-round drum magazine had a tendency of jamming if it was loaded with 65-68 rounds or more. However, the PPSh-41's shorter length gave it the advantage during house-to-house combat situations.
Only better in house to house so Russia PPSH wasn't the best for people who say it was.;P

I would say the tompson purely on stopping power

I would go for PPSh-41, fast rate of fire, drum mag, and Germans and the soviet liked it.

Franz

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"In the absence of orders, go find something and kill it." Erwin Rommel
"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. " George S. Patton
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Kiraly 39M had much more stopping power

Was this weapon in the original poll? Did I miss it's inclusion somewhere?

__________________
Happy Trails,
Clint.

No but only 3 SMG's is a bit limited...

While that is certainly true, notice that the much more ubiquitous STEN and M3 "Grease Gun" were also NOT in the list for consideration either.

__________________
Happy Trails,
Clint.

Also true.

Its merely a representation of the Idea of Germany,USA and USSR of being the major powers (Not True!). A Poll would have been much better.

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-Dustin

"Zey send zer hounds! zey to vill find only death!"

I toted a Thompson 1928 for 2 years during WWII. I was with the 2/9/3rdMarine Division on Bougainville, Guam and Iwo Jima.
I cannot compare this weapon with any other SMG but I will swear by the Thompson as a very capable and trusty companion. It was somewhat heavy (4.88kg) and required cleaning and maintenance. With a muzzle velocity of 280mps and a barrel with 6 grooves, rh, anything hit with a .45 ACP round went down and stayed down. Further, at 700 rpm,the choice of 20 or 30 box magazines as well as the heavier, clutzy 50 round drum (once set and ready to go can give you a strong sense of security). On the down side, even with a well adjusted compensator, it was difficult to control and this led to the need to fire short bursts - which in the final analysis was probably a good thing.

The effective range was in excess of 100 yards but in jungle terrain one is only concerned with accurate, rapid fire at up to ten or twenty yards.

On Iwo I carried an extra M1 .30 cal carbine as well as the TSMG. As it turned out I needed both.

Now that is a combination I can relate to. I owned a little sweetie M1A1 .30 Carbine folding stock for years. I bought it in the fifties out of a surplus box at my local Gambles hardware store here in MT., and loved it until I lost it in one of our range fires here in MT. a few years back.

I have a real good friend who was a Deputy Sheriff here in Montana, and the Department had been given two SMGs in the sixties for some reason. Both in the .45 ACP designation. An M3A1, and a Thompson in the A1 version (clip only). Pete got permission to take them out "for maintainance, testing, and cleaning", and asked me along on the condition that I would buy the bullets for us both.

I didn't leave too much smoke as I headed into the local gunshop to buy a few hundred rounds of .45 ACP. Shot them all off that afternoon. I think I stopped grinning the next week or so.

__________________
Happy Trails,
Clint.

In the Pacific Theatre Australian troops found SMG's very useful in jungle fighting. At first they were issued with tommy guns, but these were replaced by owen guns.

they found that the 9mm didn't have as much stopping power as the .45, but the owen's reliability and ruggedness and the fact that they would opperate when very dirty compensated for the difference in calibre.

the australian army initially wanted to issue the "Austen" which was a modified sten it was a POS and thankfully the owen was issued instead, very much lovedby they troops and was used in vietnam as well