Mixed mp38/mp40?

[Larcheveque]

I was looking at WWII related pictures saved on my hard drive and I found something unusual on one of them:

It's an old picture found on the web few years ago, so I don't know the source. I never saw before a MP38 upper with a MP40 lower. I guess they were compatible, but does anybody know if it was a common practice by the Germans during WWII? I will take another look at my books, but I found nothing on the subject so far.

 

[M1-Garand]

Good observation,I just looked at my dewat BD38 and indeed the lower is solid aluminum.
I imagine the lowers must be dimensionally the same making them interchangeable.

 

[can14]

I think it was common for this to happen during field salvage operations. The main concern was to be able
to replace lost equipment in the field with workable firearms

 

[Larcheveque]

These are also my guess, most mp38 and mp40 parts are probably interchangeables, and german had the habit to salvage anything they could. But I never saw a WWII picture of a mixed mp38/40.

 

[gaff]

they may be post-war prop guns, or new builds.

 

[can14]

I got some out of Israel and they were mixed . Lucky that we bought them all, we managed to match up four of them , they were imported and registered with the two miss match serial numbers and had to be re registered with just the one

 

[Larcheveque]

I got some out of Israel and they were mixed . Lucky that we bought them all, we managed to match up four of them , they were imported and registered with the two miss match serial numbers and had to be re registered with just the one

You were lucky! I still didn't find anything about a mp38 upper on a mp40 lower, but I found another mix from the vietnam war:

I guess it only takes one guy like me who love to customize his stuff and everything is possible on the battlefield.

 

[XRCD011]

Why am I seeing just a MP38 in the pic ?

 

[recce]

Why am I seeing just a MP38 in the pic ?

The only difference I see is the barrel nut, muzzle end that is.

 

[Larcheveque]

On both MP, the lower receiver and grip are from a MP40, but the upper receiver and mag housing are from a MP38. And yes, the one at the top also have a MP40 barrel assembly, the other one have a MP38 barrel assembly.

The grip(I mean the frame of the grip, not the bakelite panels) of the MP38 was made of aluminium. The one of the MP40 was made of steel.

This is the difference between lower receivers: https://www.mp40.nl/index.php?page=photo&pid=3867

 

[Larcheveque]

I found other interesting ''hybrids''.

This one have a lower receiver, grip and front sight hood of a MP38, but other parts are typical for an early MP40:

http://www.deactivated-guns.co.uk/d...-mp38/40-hybrid-submachine-gun/prod_2487.html

This one is a MP38 with a MP40 magazine housing?? Not sure it was assembled like this from the begining...: https://www.auction.fr/_fr/lot/originale-maschinenpistole-mod-38-mp-38-code-27-kal-9-mm-para-9790845