Hand weapons

[uros k]

Was the numbe next to the german hand wearon name the year first produced?
Mg 42-1942
mp 40-1940
k98-1898

[daveh]

These numbers were the year they entered service. In general this was the case with German army small arms. However this was not the case with larger weapons eg the 5cm Pak 38 started development in 1937 finished in 1939 and was introduced into service in 1940.