The MP-41 submachine gun was developed by Hugo Schmeisser, son of Louis Schmeisser who developed the first practical machine gun, the MP-18. At the time of development of the MP-41, that is in 1941, the company C.G. Haenel, at which Schmeisser was chief designer, manufactured MP-40 submachine guns for the German army. It is possible that Schmeisser decided to develop a submachine gun which was better suited for infantry use than the MP-40. For this reason, he combined the receiver, action and magazine of MP-40 with the wooden stock and selective-fire mechanism of MP-28. Haenel company produced more than few MP-41 submachine guns, which were mostly purchased by SS troops, which had their own supply chains. However, in late 1941 Erma company filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Haenel, and as a result, Haenel company was forced to close the production of the MP-41. Only 26 700 guns of MP-41 pattern were made during the war, and most were issued to SS and police troops.