Not Pretty, but Full of History: Partisan-Modified MP40 (VIDEO)

Although it’s ratty and well-used, this classic WWII-era German SMG was likely modified after it was picked up by new owners.

Ian McCollum with Forgotten Weapons, reporting from the Mediterranean island country of Malta, profiles a 1942 all-matching Maschinenpistole 40 that looks as if it has spent a good portion of its life underground, both figuratively and literally.

Lacking a barrel nut– possibly removed for use so a suppressor could be added– but complete with a homemade brass catcher, the sub gun’s provenance holds that it came from a German collection years ago and was likely tweaked by Eastern European partisan forces during the war.