Collectively, the three-volume work totals over 1,000 pages with more than 2,200 photos. This is the definitive guide to ERMA and a crucial reference for any collector of German firearms.
Virtually every production model and prototype made by ERMA receives its own subchapter with photos, technical specifications, and historical context. The author dedicated more than 20 years of research and writing to produce a definitive history of this significant manufacturer of both military and commercial small arms.
Volumes 1 and 2 are in stock and almost available to order, while Volume 3 is available for preorder and scheduled for publication in February 2025.
Volume 1 provides a complete corporate history from 1920 to 1997, and detailed profiles of all rifle and shotgun models produced at ERMA's factories.
It features a wide variety of guns from lever actions and shotguns, to .22-caliber replicas of the American M1 carbine, to K98s and modern sniper rifles.
The author does not shy away from ERMA management's close ties with the NS regime in the 1930s and '40s, or from their use of forced labor during the Second World War.
The corporate history includes photos of many pieces of obscure marketing ephemera, including posters and adverts, pens, desk clocks, cigarette lighters, and much more.
Volume 2 profiles all handgun models produced at ERMA's factories. The descriptions are extremely detailed: production numbers and features, markings, specifications, and more are all here.
The pistols made by the "Werke" include variants of many of the most famous designs of the 20th century, including the P.08 Luger, the Walther P38 and PPK, the Colt 1911, and the Glock 17. These include both military and sporting models. Some of ERMAs pistols were quite unusual, such as the miniature "Baby" Luger and a selection of previously unknown prototypes.
Volume 3 provides detailed profiles of all ERMA's flare and submachine gun models. These include the interwar EMP, which ERMA had foreign customers for in Europe and the Americas. A significant number of EMPs were also sold to the SS in the buildup to WWII.
During the war, production shifted away from the EMP to the MP38 and MP40, of which ERMA produced hundreds of thousands of examples for the Wehrmacht.
Before, during, and after the war, the "Werke" designed a significant variety of prototype or very small production submachine guns, all of which are described in unprecedented detail in this book.
Aside from the submachine guns, this volume includes descriptions of flare guns and some miscellaneous accessories and summarizes ERMA's substantial wartime production of the Sturmgewehr assault rifle.
This final volume also includes a treasure trove of notes and appendixes.