SMG use in West Germany..........................

[oradour]

Gentlemen, a thread to discuss use of SMG in West German forces.
The Bundeswehr, has since its inception had an SMG in its inventory, in the early days 1955-59 it was the MP1 or the Thompson SMG's, the latter being supplied by the U.S. Army....the ammunition pouches for these weapons tended to be again U.S. or the breast pockets of the Splittertarn combat uniform were used, they held three mags per side......In 1959 the BW got the Uzi 9mm (of Arnie fame !) this weapon in its many guise served the BW for well over thirty years ! under the name MP2, it was replaced by the MP7. See here for more information on the Uzi Uzi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I show a 1960-70's web/canvas style magazine pouches for the Uzi, they were available in the 1980's made of olive drab plastic.
In the mid 1960's a new kid on the block appeared....the Heckler & Koch MP5, it was used in limited quantities in both the BW and the BGS (Federal Border Police) and was used by many Police Forces around West Germany, for more information on the MP5 see here
Heckler & Koch MP5 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ......in the BW it tended to be used in Feldjager (Military Police) and the Marine (Navy), but could be seen in other units.....It was famously used by members of GSG9 the BGS elite commando squad, run along the lines of the British SAS (who also used the MP5).I show an airsoft MP5 I use in a Panzergrenadier NCO display, along with its magazine pouches, the olive drab plastic plastic versions, I believe they were also available in cloth, I also show a BGS set in their typical "moose green" colour.......
If anyone has either more information or corrections for this thread please post.
I show first my MP5 airsoft , pouches and display....................
Prost ! Steve.

[oradour]

and the Uzi pouches.......................the soldat on the left is wearing a pair of these.
Prost ! Steve.

[oradour]

and finally the BGS MP1 pouches.................looking at the curvature of these pouches I would suggest use by MP5 mags as well............
Prost ! Steve.

[oradour]

Gents, use of the MP1 in the BGS, as shown here.....along with the black leather straight mag pouches............
Prost ! Steve.

[Scout]

The MP 5 is a classic and surprisingly controllable even in sustained auto fire mode.
I had the chance to test a suppressed version.

Personally I prefer the KRISS, but thats neither here nor there, as it hasnt been approved for offcial West German use.

As the MP5 is a good quality and controllable SMG, I predict that itll be in use for many years to come.

[oradour]

Here the GSG9 units with MP5's , notice the MP5's amongst the kit inspection display......judging by the Mercedes models sometime in the mid 1970's to early 1980's..............
Prost ! Steve.

[oradour]

The Thompson SMG.................in use by the BW very early on in its history......seen here, spare mags probably carried in breast pockets of the cammo uniform, as I show here.............
Prost ! Steve.

[James C]

a very informative thread steve and in my opinion a definite sticky for the forum and something of huge interest to me ,many thanks for the superb links and the pictures you provide ,also your display looks great ,the mp5 compliments it very well all the best james

[oradour]

The current SMG in the Bundeswehr, the MP7 since 2001............see here for more information Heckler & Koch MP7 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia yet to see any BW issue spare mag pouches for this weapon............als shown is a private purchase three standard capacity MP7 magazines pouch for the German IdZ vest.
Prost 1 Steve.