Send us your own comments about this object.

Title:	GUN, SUBMACHINE -  GERMAN SUBMACHINE GUN MP-L WALTHER 9MM SN# 7774
Maker/Manufacturer:	WALTHER CO.
Date of Manufacture:	C 1964
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 1664
Measurements:	OL: 74.2CM 29 1/4" BL: 26CM 10 1/4" 6.6 lbs.

Object Description:

GERMAN SUBMACHINE GUN MP-L WALTHER 9MM SN# 7774
Manufactured by Walther, Ulm, Germany - Standard German MP-L submachine gun. Blowback design. Full-auto fire only. Folding stock can fold on the left or right side of weapon. Safety lever is also located on both sides of frame. 6-groove rifling, right hand twist. Muzzle velocity 1300 fps. Cyclic rate of fire 600 rpm. Weapon weighs approximately 6 lbs. 6 oz. Complete with sling and 32-round detachable box magazine. Also complete with original box, target, and spare part. All items except weapon placed in

Markings:
Frame: Walther banner and markings: MP WALTHER CAL. 9MM.
Magazine housing: 7774.

Weapon transferred to the Museum on 23 August 1966 from the 91st Ordnance Detachment (Technical Intelligence Control). At that time weapon was appraised at $250.

See, SPAR -1387 for short (kurz) version of this same weapon.

Notes: "Walther have been in the firearms business for a very long time with an impressive list of products and it is therefore surprising to find that they have only once ventured into the submachine gun field. Their design was a blowback weapon utilizing steel pressings for most of its basic structure. The bolt was overhung, the bulk of it being above the barrel and overlapping the breech in the closed position, and it was located on a guide rod which also carried the return spring. The sights were an ingenious combination of open sights for snap shooting and an aperture and barleycorn for more accurate aim when time allowed.
Two models were produced, the long MP-L and short MP-K, the sole difference lying in the length of the barrel and its associated handguard. These weapons were developed in 1963 and, although excellent designs and well made and evaluated by several military authorities, they were only ever adopted by the Mexican Navy and some police forces. The prospects were not bright and in the early 1980s Walther very wisely decided to get out of this highly competitive field while they still had a whole skin." - Hogg

References:
Hogg, Ian. GREENHILL MILITARY MANUALS: SUBMACHINE GUNS. Stackpole Books. Mechanicsburg, Pa. 2001.