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118-696: The Sterling submachine gun is a British submachine gun (SMG). It was tested by the British Army in 1944–1945, but did not start to replace the Sten until 1953. A successful and reliable design, it remained standard issue in the British Army until 1994, when it began to be replaced by the L85A1 , a bullpup assault rifle . In 1944, the British General Staff issued a specification for

236-411: A closed-bolt design, open-bolt weapons generally have fewer moving parts. The firing pin is often part of the bolt, saving on manufacturing costs; the inertia of the bolt closing also causes the fixed firing pin to strike a blow on the primer, without need for a separate hammer/striker and spring. In automatic weapons, an open bolt helps eliminate the dangerous phenomenon known as " cook-off ", in which

354-789: A telescoping bolt that extends forward wrapping around the barrel, and a vertical handgrip housing the magazine and trigger mechanism. The vz. 23 series was widely exported and especially popular in Africa and the Middle East with variants made by several countries. The vz. 23 inspired the development of the Uzi submachine gun . In 1949, France introduced the MAT-49 to replace the hodgepodge of French, American, British, German, and Italian SMGs in French service after World War II. The 9 mm Parabellum MAT-49

472-456: A Sten gun with a Sterling magazine fitted would cause the breech block to foul the rear of the magazine, while attempting to counteract this by withdrawing the magazine by 3 ⁄ 32 inch would merely result in the magazine's top round being out of alignment with the breech block by 3 ⁄ 16 inches. This issue is not present on Sterling guns fitted with Sten magazines; while the magazine will be 3 ⁄ 32 inch further away from

590-407: A cartridge from the magazine or belt into the chamber , and fires that cartridge in the same movement. Like any other self-loading design, the action is cycled by the energy released from the propellant, which sends the bolt back to the rear, compressing the mainspring in readiness for firing the next round. In an open-bolt gun firing semi-automatically, the bolt is caught and held at this point by

708-405: A complete break with previous Beretta designs. It is a small, compact, very well made SMG and among the first to use a telescoping bolt design. The M12 was designed for mass production and was made largely of stamped steel and welded together. It is identified by its tubular shape receiver, double pistol grips, a side folding stock and the magazine housed in front of the trigger guard. The M12 uses

826-696: A copy of the Israeli UZI SMG magazine, modified to fit the Colt and lock the bolt back after the last shot. The Colt was widely used by US law enforcement and the USMC . In 1999, H&K introduced the UMP "Universal Machine Pistol" . The UMP is a 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, or .45 ACP, closed-bolt blowback-operated SMG, based on the H&;K G36 assault rifle. It features a predominantly polymer construction and

944-432: A degree in closed-bolt firearms as well). Closed-bolt designs are often used in rifles . The improved accuracy of closed-bolt weapons is more desirable, while the poorer heat dissipation is less of an issue for slower-firing weapons. In contrast, open-bolt designs are more often used in automatic weapons, such as machine guns . For fast-firing automatic weapons, heat will rapidly build up from sustained firing, but accuracy

1062-403: A degree of what is known as Advanced Primer Ignition , in that the cartridge is fired while the bolt is still moving forward, a fraction of a second before the round is fully chambered. The firing of the round thus not only sends the bullet flying down the barrel but simultaneously resists the forwards movement of the bolt. By this means it is possible to employ a lighter bolt than if the cartridge

1180-632: A failed attempt to storm the Tallinn barracks . Some of the defenders were armed with the MP18s ; and this was possibly the first engagement where submachine guns were used on both sides. Germany transferred its MP 18s to the German police forces after World War I. They also saw use in the hands of various paramilitary Freikorps during the aftermath of the German Revolution . In the 1920s

1298-437: A fixed firing pin, when the bolt is closed gently, without the momentum of the bolt closing at normal speed, there is not enough force imparted to the firing pin to ignite the primer. In this circumstance there will be a round in the chamber and a firing pin pressing on it with some force, but not enough to ignite the primer, which requires a sharp, focused impact. However, the weapon would be at risk of firing if dropped, much like

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1416-515: A high degree of parts commonality with parent weapons, thereby easing logistical concerns. In 1982, Colt introduced the Colt 9mm SMG based on the M16 rifle . The Colt SMG is a closed bolt, blowback operated SMG and the overall aesthetics are identical to most M16 type rifles. The magazine well is modified using a special adapter to allow the use of the smaller 9mm magazines. The magazines themselves are

1534-518: A lighter gun, but a more controllable one since there is less mass moving to and fro within it as it fires. The suppressed version of the Sterling (L34A1/Mk.5) was developed for covert operations. This version uses a ported barrel surrounded by a cylinder with expansion chambers. The Australian and New Zealand SAS regiments used the suppressed version of the Sterling during the Vietnam War . It

1652-644: A longer barrel . In 1915, the Kingdom of Italy adopted Revelli's design as the FIAT Mod. 1915 . It fired pistol-caliber 9mm Glisenti ammunition, but was not a true submachine gun, as it was originally designed as a mounted weapon. In late 1915, the first submachine gun with a buttstock was built: the Austro-Hungarian Standschütze Hellriegel M1915 although the weapon was never used in combat. In February 1916,

1770-604: A lot more controllable. It could be configured to fire either .45 ACP or 9mm Luger ammunition. The M3A1 was among the longest-serving submachine gun designs, being produced into the 1960s and serving in US forces into the 1990s. France produced only about 2,000 of the MAS-38 submachine gun (chambered in 7.65×20mm Longue ) before the Fall of France in June 1940. Production was taken over by

1888-567: A lot of bullets and most of the killing in Korea was done at very close ranges and it was done quickly—a matter of who responded faster. In situations like that it outclassed and outgunned what we had. A close-in patrol fight was over very quickly and usually we lost because of it." U.S. servicemen, however, felt that their M2 carbines were superior to the PPSh-41 at the typical engagement range of 100–150 meters. Other older designs also saw use in

2006-447: A new submachine gun to replace the Sten . It stated that the new weapon should weigh no more than six pounds (2.7 kg), should fire 9×19mm Parabellum ammunition, have a rate of fire of no more than 500 rounds per minute, and be sufficiently accurate to allow five consecutive shots (fired in semi-automatic mode) to be placed inside a one-foot-square (30 cm × 30 cm) target at a distance of 100 yd (91 m). To meet

2124-508: A new, more reliable box magazine was developed for the MP 18 to replace the older snail-drum magazines. In 1928 a new version of the MP 18, the MP 28, saw the light of day, it featured the new box magazine as standard, a bayonet lug and a single shot mode. The MP 28 was manufactured in Belgium and Spain and was widely exported from there, including to China and South America. Another variant based on

2242-411: A prominent Chinese combat tactic in the conflict. The gun's ability to deliver large quantities of short-range automatic assault fire proved very useful in both defense and assault during the early part of the war when it was constantly mobile and shifting back and forth. Many Chinese Thompsons were captured and placed into service with American soldiers and marines for the remaining period of the war. In

2360-518: A quick-release barrel and butt-stock, double pistol grips, top-mounted magazine, and unusual offset right-side-mounted sights. The Owen was the only entirely Australian-designed and constructed service submachine gun of World War II and was used by the Australian Army from 1943 until the mid-1960s, when it was replaced by the F1 submachine gun . Only about 45,000 Owens were produced during the war for

2478-423: A right-handed shooter, the correct position for the left hand while firing is on the ventilated barrel-casing, but not on the magazine, as the pressure from holding the magazine can increase the risk of stoppages, and a loose magazine can lead to dropping the weapon. The barrel-casing hold provides greater control of the weapon, so the right hand can intermittently be used for other tasks. A semi-circular protrusion on

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2596-587: A side folding stock. The m/45 was widely exported and especially popular with CIA operatives and U.S. special forces during the Vietnam War. In U.S. service it was known as the "Swedish-K". In 1966, the Swedish government blocked the sale of firearms to the United States because it opposed the Vietnam War . As a result, in the following year Smith & Wesson began to manufacture an m/45 clone called

2714-647: A slightly offset position. The army quickly recognised the Patchett's significantly increased accuracy and reliability compared to the Sten and ordered 120 examples for trials. Towards the end of the Second World War , some of these trial samples are rumoured to have been used in combat by airborne troops during the battle of Arnhem and by special forces at other locations in Northern Europe where it

2832-663: A total of 653 units, though U.S. customs authorities in New York seized 495 of the units in June 1921. The Thompson, nicknamed "Tommy Gun" or "Chicago Typewriter" became notorious in the U.S. due to its employment by the Mafia : the image of pinstripe-suited James Cagney types wielding drum-magazine Thompsons caused some military planners to shun the weapon. However, the FBI and other U.S. police forces themselves showed no reluctance to use and prominently display these weapons. Eventually,

2950-510: A traditional wooden stock , a 25-round top-fed box magazine , and had a cyclic rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute. By 1918, Bergmann Waffenfabrik had developed the 9x19mm Parabellum MP 18 , the first practical submachine gun. This weapon used the same 32-round snail-drum magazine as the Luger P-08. The MP 18 was used in significant numbers by German stormtroopers employing infiltration tactics , achieving some notable successes in

3068-731: A unit cost of about A$ 30. While most other countries during World War II developed submachine guns, the Empire of Japan had only produced one, the Type 100 submachine gun , based heavily on the German MP28. Like most other small arms created in Imperial Japan, the Type 100 could be fitted with the Type 30 bayonet . It used the 8×22mm Nambu cartridge, which was about half as powerful as a standard Western 9mm Parabellum round. Production of

3186-417: Is a brief delay between the trigger-pull and the firing of the cartridge because the (rather inert ) bolt has to move forward a significant distance between the two events. Since after the first shot an open-bolt firearm operates effectively indistinguishably from a closed-bolt firearm, this latency problem is generally less of a concern in full automatic fire and mostly applies to semi-automatic mode. The issue

3304-418: Is an inexpensive stamped-steel SMG with a telescoping wire stock, a pronounced folding magazine housing, and a grip safety. This "wildebeast-like design" proved to be an extremely reliable and effective SMG and was used by the French well into the 1980s. It was also widely exported to Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In 1954, Israel introduced a 9mm Parabellum open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine gun called

3422-782: Is based on the AK-74 rifle and offers a high degree of parts commonality with the AK-74. It is the standard submachine gun for all branches of Russian military and police forces. In 2009, KRISS USA introduced the KRISS Vector family of submachine guns. Futuristic in appearance, the KRISS uses an unconventional delayed blowback system combined with in-line design to reduce perceived recoil and muzzle climb . The KRISS comes in 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, 9×21mm, 10mm Auto, and .357 SIG. It also uses standard Glock pistol magazines. By

3540-479: Is because prior to the Hughes Amendment in 1986 , most semi-automatic open bolt Mac-10s, Mac-11s, and several other models were lawfully converted to full auto making these rare semi-automatic open bolts even more desirable as collector's items. However, there are many open-bolt firearms, that were designed from start to be semi-automatic firearms and are not classified as machine guns . The Fox Carbine

3658-726: Is made from stamped metal instead of cast metal and is capable of handling a C1 bayonet, which is only used during public exhibition events and not for combat operations. A similar weapon, the Sub-Machine Gun Carbine 9 mm 1A1, was manufactured under licence by the Indian Ordnance Factory at Kanpur beginning in 1963, along with a Sub-Machine Gun Carbine 9 mm 2A1, manufactured beginning in 1977. As of 2012, it has been reported that at least 5,000 of these SMGs were made in India. A prototype rifle in

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3776-602: Is notable for having been used by both Argentinian and British Special Forces during the Falklands War . A Sterling was used by Libyan agents to kill WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan Embassy in London, which sparked the 1984 siege of the building. The Sterling has a reputation for excellent reliability under adverse conditions and, even though it fires from an open bolt, good accuracy. With some practice, it

3894-486: Is of less importance. Thus, the improved heat dissipation of open-bolt designs is generally more desirable in automatic weapons. Submachine guns were for much of their life designed with open bolts such as the Thompson submachine gun , MP-40 and the Uzi , mainly for the simplicity and economical advantages, and their rates of fire and close-range nature mitigated the reduced accuracy of the design. SMGs used and built in

4012-457: Is said to be one of the best ever designed. While Sterling provided magazines for British Armed Forces weapons, with these being designated as "Magazine, 9mm, L1A1", cost issues led the Ministry of Defence to pursue the design and production of a non-Sterling L1A2 version which used a stamped and electrically seam-welded two-piece construction with a singular positioning lug and was 9.8" long down

4130-571: Is that this weapon was originally designed as an aircraft gun. In reality ground use was taken into consideration from the very beginning, particularly for the Bersaglieri 's cyclist battalions . Stocked pistols were common at the beginning of the 20th century, the Germans initially used heavier versions of the P08 pistol equipped with a detachable stock, larger-capacity snail- drum magazine and

4248-515: Is thus only exposed to the residual heat for a fraction of a second. These two features combine to make open-bolt operation more suitable for weapons such as machine guns , which are intended to be capable of prolonged automatic fire. Open-bolt firearms also allow water drainage in underwater firearms . Firstly, the bolt retention mechanism may fail, resulting in a spontaneous discharge (i.e. without prior trigger input), with potentially dangerous consequences. Some simple submachine gun designs, such as

4366-405: Is used, breech and action internals' exposure to the elements renders open-bolt designs universally vulnerable to contamination with dirt and dust through the open ejection port. Some versions of the open-bolt M3 submachine gun utilize a hinged sheet metal ejection port cover that doubles as a safety; when closed, it both covers the ejection port and blocks the bolt from closing. When ready to fire,

4484-499: Is very accurate when fired in short bursts. While it has been reported that the weapon poses no problems for left-handed users to operate, it is not recommended without the wearing of ballistic eye protection. The path of the ejected cartridge cases is slightly down and backward, so mild burns can occasionally be incurred by left-handed shooters. A bayonet of a similar design as that for the L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle

4602-572: The .45ACP Mac-10 and .380 ACP Mac-11 , were developed to be used with silencers or suppressors . While these SMGs received enormous publicity, and were prominently displayed in films and television, they were not widely adopted by military or law enforcement agencies. By the 1980s, the demand for new submachine guns was very low and could be easily met by existing makers with existing designs. However, following H&K's lead, other manufacturers began designing submachine guns based on their existing assault rifle patterns. These new SMGs offered

4720-497: The 7.62×51mm NATO calibre was manufactured, using some components from the SMG. The rifle used lever-delayed blowback to handle the more powerful rounds and was fed from 30-round Bren magazines. To prevent ammunition cookoff , the weapon fired from an open bolt. Only one model of the rifle was produced, possibly to test the concepts of a proposed new product. It was not put into production. Submachine gun The submachine gun

4838-461: The 9×19mm round to feed more reliably. The bolt feeds ammunition alternately from the top and bottom of the magazine lips, and its fixed firing pin is designed so that it does not line up with the primer in the cartridge until the cartridge has entered the chamber. In its final iteration, the magazine uses a four-piece construction with scalloped, spot-welded edges and positioning notches. While originally intended to hold forty rounds, concerns over

Sterling submachine gun - Misplaced Pages Continue

4956-689: The Brügger & Thomet APC and SIG MPX . During the Apartheid era of South Africa and the Rhodesian Bush War / South African Border War , a semi-automatic only pistol calibre carbine based on submachine guns existed for civilian personal protection as Land Defence Pistol s (LDP). Known examples were the Bell & White 84, BHS Rhogun, Cobra Mk1 , GM-16, Kommando LDP, Northwood R-76, Paramax, Sanna 77 and TS III. First developed during

5074-648: The Dunkirk evacuation , the Royal Navy adopted the 9mm Parabellum Lanchester submachine gun . With no time for the usual research and development for a new weapon, it was decided to make a direct copy of the German MP 28 . Like other early submachine guns it was difficult and expensive to manufacture. Shortly thereafter, the simpler Sten submachine gun was developed for general use by the British armed forces, it

5192-538: The FN P90 features an unusual appearance, having a 50-round magazine housed horizontally above the barrel, an integrated reflex sight and fully ambidextrous controls. A simple blowback automatic weapon, it was designed to fire the proprietary FN 5.7×28mm cartridge which can penetrate soft body armor. The FN P90 was designed to have a length no greater than an average-sized man's shoulder width, to allow it to be easily carried and maneuvered in tight spaces, such as

5310-710: The M76 . The m/45 was used in combat by Swedish troops as part of the United Nations Operation in the Congo , during the Congo Crisis during the early 1960s. Battlefield reports of the lack of penetrative power of the 9mm Parabellum during this operation led to Sweden developing a more powerful 9 mm round designated "9mm m/39B". In 1946, Denmark introduced the Madsen M-46 and, in 1950, an improved model,

5428-583: The MPi 69 , which is similar in appearance to the Uzi SMG. The MPi 69's receiver is a squared stamped steel tube that partly nestles inside a large plastic molding (resembling a lower receiver) which contains the forward hand-grip, vertical pistol-grip and the fire control group , making the MPi 69 one of the first firearms to use plastic construction in this way. In the 1970s, extremely compact submachine guns, such as

5546-648: The Madsen M-50 . These 9 mm Parabellum stamped steel SMGs featured a unique clamshell type design, a side-folding stock, and a grip safety on the magazine housing. The Madsen was widely exported and especially popular in Latin America, with variants made by several countries. In 1948, Czechoslovakia introduced the Sa vz. 23 series. This 9 mm Parabellum SMG introduced several innovations: a progressive trigger for selecting between semi-automatic and full auto fire,

5664-399: The Sten , can discharge spontaneously when dropped onto a hard surface – even when uncocked – as the collision can jolt the bolt backward far enough that on returning it will pick up a round from the magazine, chamber it and fire it; the risk is intrinsic to hand-held open-bolt guns unless safety features are included in the design. Another shortcoming of the open-bolt principle is that there

5782-453: The Uzi (after its designer Uziel Gal ). The Uzi was one of the first weapons to use a telescoping bolt design with the magazine housed in the pistol grip for a shorter weapon. The Uzi has become the most popular submachine gun in the world, with over 10 million units sold, more than any other submachine gun. In 1959, Beretta introduced the Model 12 . This 9mm Parabellum submachine gun was

5900-538: The Wehrmacht , with whole infantry battalions being armed with little else. Even in the hands of conscripts with minimal training, the volume of fire produced by massed submachine guns could be overwhelming. Britain entered the war with no domestic submachine gun design but instead imported the expensive US M1928 Thompson. After evaluating their battlefield experience in the Battle of France and losing many weapons in

6018-547: The bolt has helical grooves cut into the surface to remove dirt and fouling from the inside of the receiver to increase reliability. There are two concentric recoil springs which cycle the bolt, as opposed to the single spring arrangement used by many other SMG designs. This double-spring arrangement is intended to give improved reliability when firing 9mm ammunition types other than the British '2Z' standard, which typically have different propellant charges and bullet weights. The Sterling's double-stack, double-feed box magazine

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6136-520: The sear after each shot; and in automatic open-bolt fire, it's caught and held in this manner whenever the trigger is released. In contrast to this, in closed-bolt guns, the trigger and sear do not affect the movement of the bolt directly. Generally, an open-bolt firing cycle is used for fully automatic weapons and not for semi-automatic weapons (except some semi-automatic conversions of automatic designs). Firearms using advanced primer ignition blowback inherently fire from open bolt only. Compared to

6254-573: The 1,723,623 magazines contracted for, Mettoy was to produce 227,262, Rolls Razor was to produce 309,800, and the remaining 1.2 million were produced by Fazakerley and Woolwich. A Chilean variant was made by FAMAE as the PAF submachine gun but was different externally as it had a shorter receiver lacking the barrel shroud. Canada also manufactured a variant under licence, called the Submachine Gun 9 mm C1 made by Canadian Arsenals Limited . It

6372-619: The 1960s, Heckler & Koch developed the 9mm Parabellum MP5 submachine gun. The MP5 is based on the G3 rifle and uses the same closed-bolt roller-delayed blowback operation system. This makes the MP5 more accurate than open-bolt SMGs, such as the Uzi. The MP5 is one of the most widely used submachine guns in the world, having been adopted by over 40 nations and numerous military, law enforcement, and security organizations. In 1969, Steyr introduced

6490-504: The 1980s and 1990s, and by the early 21st century, submachine guns have largely been replaced by assault rifles , which have a longer effective range , have increased stopping power , and can better penetrate the helmets and body armor used by modern soldiers. However, they are still used by security forces , police tactical units , paramilitary and bodyguards for close-quarters combat because they are "a pistol-caliber weapon that's easy to control, and less likely to overpenetrate

6608-548: The 1980s, personal defense weapons (PDWs) were created in response to a NATO request for a replacement for 9×19mm Parabellum submachine guns. PDWs are compact automatic weapons that are sufficiently light to be issued to non-combat arms or support troops, particularly those in vehicles, while being capable of greater range and terminal ballistics than a handgun. As a result of these characteristics, most PDWs can be used as close quarters battle weapons for special forces and counter-terrorist groups. Introduced in 1991,

6726-647: The 7.62×25mm Tokarev, albeit slightly less powerful). During the Winter War , the badly outnumbered Finnish used the Suomi KP/-31 in large numbers against the Russians with devastating effect. Finnish ski troops became known for appearing out of the woods on one side of a road, raking Soviet columns with SMG fire and disappearing back into the woods on the other side. During the Continuation War ,

6844-405: The Austro-Hungarian first fielded the M.12/P16 machine pistol. This was the first machine pistol to be adopted by any military, being issued to Tyrolean units fighting in the alps In 1916, Heinrich Senn of Bern designed a modification of the Swiss Luger pistol to fire in single shots or in full-automatic. Around the same time Georg Luger demonstrated a similar Luger machine pistol which inspired

6962-458: The British military. Production ceased in 1988 with the closing of Sterling Armaments by British Aerospace / Royal Ordnance . Fazakerley no longer makes full weapons, but still manufactures spare parts for certified end users. Sterling produced its own magazines, with those intended for British military use being marked "L1A1". L1A2 magazines were variously manufactured by Fazakerley, Royal Laboratories Woolwich , Rolls Razor , and Mettoy ; out of

7080-409: The Finnish Sissi patrols often equipped every soldier with KP/-31s. The Suomi fired 9mm Parabellum ammunition from a 71-round drum magazine (although often loaded with 74 rounds). "This SMG showed the world the importance of the submachine gun in modern warfare", prompting the development, adoption and mass production of submachine guns by most of the world's armies. The Suomi was used in combat until

7198-442: The German Sturmgewehr ). In the years following the war, this new format began to replace the submachine gun in military use to a large extent. Based on the StG44, the Soviet Union created the AK-47 , which is to date the world's most produced firearm , with over 100 million made. After World War II, "new submachine gun designs appeared almost every week to replace the admittedly rough and ready designs which had appeared during

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7316-422: The German Army to develop submachine guns. Colonel Bethel-Abiel Revelli had already conceived the principles of the submachine gun in September 1915, when he wrote that his gun could be converted to a single-barreled version that "may be mounted in the manner of a rifle so that it may be fired from the shoulder" . The FIAT Mod. 1915 would be later modified into the OVP 1918 automatic carbine. The OVP 1918 had

7434-464: The Germans introduced the 9mm Parabellum MP38 which was first used during the invasion of Poland of September that year. The MP38 production was still just starting and only a few thousand were in service at the time. It proved to be far more practical and effective in close-quarters combat than the standard-issue German Karabiner 98k bolt-action rifle . From this experience, the simplified and modernized MP40 (commonly and erroneously referred to as

7552-568: The Italians were among the first to develop submachine guns during World War I, they were slow to produce them under Mussolini ; the 9mm Parabellum Beretta Model 38 (MAB 38) was not available in large numbers until 1943. The MAB 38 was made in a series of improved and simplified models all sharing the same basic layout. The MAB 38 has two triggers, the front for semi-auto and rear for full-auto. Most models use standard wooden stocks , although some models were fitted with an MP40-style under-folding stock and are commonly mistaken for it. The MAB 38 series

7670-442: The Jedi and S&T Sterling L2A1 airsoft guns which have been used from Rogue One onwards. The Sterling submachine gun is constructed entirely of steel and plastic and has a shoulder stock that folds underneath the weapon. There is an adjustable rear sight, which can be flipped between 100 and 200 yard settings. Although of conventional blowback design firing from an open bolt , there are some unusual features: for example,

7788-456: The Korean War. The Thompson had seen much use by the U.S. and South Korean militaries, even though the Thompson had been replaced as standard-issue by the M3/M3A1. With huge numbers of guns available in army ordnance arsenals, the Thompson remained classed as "limited standard" or "substitute standard" long after the standardization of the M3/M3A1. Many Thompsons were distributed to the US-backed Nationalist Chinese armed forces as military aid before

7906-433: The MP 18 was the MP 34 that was manufactured by the Germans through the Swiss front company Solothurn. The MP 34 was manufactured from the very best materials available and finished to the highest possible standard. Consequently, its production costs were extremely high. It was adopted by the Austrian police and army in the 1930s, and they were taken over by the Germans after German annexation of Austria in 1938. The MP35

8024-583: The Schmeisser) was developed and made in large numbers; about a million were made during World War II . The MP40 was lighter than the MP38. It also used more stamped parts, making it faster and cheaper to produce. The MP38 and MP40 were the first SMGs to use plastic furniture and a practical folding stock, which became standard for all future SMG designs. The Germans used a large number of captured Soviet PPSh-41 submachine guns, some were converted to fire 9mm Parabellum while others were used unmodified (the German 7.63×25mm Mauser cartridge had identical dimensions to

8142-427: The Winter War against Finland. The PPSh's 71-round drum magazine is a copy of the Suomi's. Later in the war they developed the even more readily mass-produced PPS submachine gun - all firing the same small-caliber but high-powered Tokarev cartridges. The USSR went on to make over 6 million PPSh-41s and 2 million PPS-43s by the end of World War II. Thus, the Soviet Union could field huge numbers of submachine guns against

8260-484: The accuracy of the U.S. M1 Garand and M1 carbine , it provided more firepower at short distances and was well-suited to the close-range firefights that typically occurred in that conflict, especially at night. United Nations Command forces in defensive outposts or on patrol often had trouble returning a sufficient volume of fire when attacked by companies of infantry armed with the PPSh. As infantry Captain (later General) Hal Moore stated: "on full automatic it sprayed

8378-433: The bolt to the closed position), as soon as the bolt closes it will fire if a loaded magazine was left in the gun. This may be true with weapons utilizing a striker , but not with a weapon using a fixed firing pin , which relies on the momentum of the bolt to impart the energy to ignite the primer . This is a common feature in basic submachine guns like the Sten gun or M3 "Grease Gun" , and even some machine guns . With

8496-417: The breech block's centre line, the top round remains in line with the breech and so can be reached by the Sterling's more robust feed horns. The Sterling gun and its magazine were purportedly designed this way in order to prevent a situation where, instead of buying the actual Sterling gun, prospective users might only buy its magazines and then use these with their pre-existing Sten guns. The Sterling employs

8614-629: The current day, such as the H&K MP5 series , have almost universally moved to closed-bolt designs for their practical advantages. Examples of mixed mode firearms (capable of operating from either an open bolt or closed bolt) include: Under United States federal law, fully automatic firearms are restricted under the National Firearms Act and other laws. In 1982, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ruled that certain semi-automatic open-bolt firearms manufactured after

8732-410: The curved Sterling design, there were no interoperability problems. After the war, with large numbers of Sten guns in the inventory, there was little interest in replacing them with a superior design. However, in 1947, a competitive trial between the Patchett, an Enfield design, a new BSA design and an experimental Australian design was held, with the Sten for comparison. The trial was inconclusive but

8850-402: The danger of loading spitzer bullets into a weapon with a tube magazine . A related issue is that the safety of an open-bolt weapon must be designed to lock the bolt in the rearward position. Often safeties only block the movement of the trigger, so, as explained above, if the weapon is dropped or if the sear becomes worn, the bolt can slam home, firing the weapon (although this issue is true to

8968-593: The date of the rulings are to be treated as fully automatic because they were "designed to shoot" automatically. The aforementioned weapons are the KG-9 pistol, SM-10 pistol, SM-11A pistol, SAC Carbine, and the YAC Sten MK II. Around the time of these rulings, the manufacture of new open-bolt semi-automatic firearms became uncommon in the United States. The open bolt semi-automatic versions of certain guns are often as costly as their fully automatic counterparts. This

9086-566: The early 2010s, compact assault rifles and personal defense weapons had replaced submachine guns in most roles. Factors such as the increasing use of body armor and logistical concerns have combined to limit the appeal of submachine guns. However, SMGs are still used by police (especially SWAT teams) for dealing with heavily armed suspects and by military special forces units for close-quarters combat, due to their reduced size, recoil and muzzle blast, and capability for sound suppression. Submachine gun designs adopted during this period include

9204-749: The end of the Lapland war , was widely exported and remained in service to the late 1970s. Inspired by captured examples of the Soviet PPS submachine gun , a gun that was cheaper and quicker to manufacture than the Suomi, the Finns introduced the KP m/44 submachine gun in 1944. In 1940, the Soviets introduced the 7.62×25mm PPD-40 and later the more easily manufactured PPSh-41 in response to their experience during

9322-672: The fall of Chiang Kai-shek's government to Mao Zedong's communist forces at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. (Thompsons had already been widely used throughout China since the 1920s, at a time when several Chinese warlords and their military factions running various parts of the fragmented country made purchases of the weapon and then subsequently produced many local copies.) US troops were surprised to encounter communist Chinese troops armed with Thompsons (among other captured US-made Nationalist Chinese and American firearms), especially during unexpected night assaults, which became

9440-731: The final year of the war. However, these were not enough to prevent Germany's collapse in November 1918. After World War I, the MP 18 evolved into the MP28/II SMG, which incorporated a simple 32-round box magazine , selective fire , and other minor improvements. Though the MP18 had a rather short service life, it was influential in the design of later submachine guns, such as the Lanchester , Sten and PPD-40 . The .45 ACP Thompson submachine gun had been in development at approximately

9558-419: The firing chamber becomes so hot that rounds spontaneously fire without trigger input. Open-bolt designs typically remain much cooler in operation than closed-bolt types due to the airflow allowed into the chamber, action and barrel during pauses between bursts; moreover, unlike in the case of the closed-bolt format, the initial round in a burst is not introduced into the chamber until the moment before firing, and

9676-416: The gun was even more inadequate: by the war's end, Japan had only manufactured about 7,500 of the Type 100, whereas Germany, America, and other countries in the war had produced well over a million of their own SMG designs. The German military concluded that most firefights took place at ranges of no more than ~300 yd (270 m). They therefore sought to develop a new class of weapon that would combine

9794-512: The high volume of fire of the submachine gun with an intermediate cartridge that enabled the shooter to place accurate shots at medium ranges (beyond that of the 100–200 yd (91–183 m) range of the typical submachine gun). After a false start with the FG 42 , this led to the development of the Sturmgewehr 44 select-fire assault rifle (assault rifle or storm rifle is a translation of

9912-404: The inside of an infantry fighting vehicle . The FN P90 is currently in service with military and police forces in over 40 nations. Open bolt A firearm is said to fire from an open bolt or open breech if, when ready to fire, the bolt and working parts are held to the rear of the receiver, with no round in the chamber. When the trigger is actuated, the bolt travels forward, feeds

10030-484: The magazine's ability to fit into the ammunition pouch of the then-new 1944 Pattern Web Equipment led the magazine to be shortened to its final capacity of thirty-four rounds; when introducing the Mk 7 Pistol variant in 1983, Sterling produced magazines with capacities of ten and fifteen rounds for that weapon, as well as introducing "twin-stacked" versions of these and the original thirty-four round magazine. The Sterling magazine

10148-435: The movement of the heavy bolt mass within the gun negatively affects aim and accuracy in two ways: While the latency is unavoidable with the open-bolt design, more sophisticated delayed-blowback open-bolt designs do allow for use of a lighter bolt, thus reducing the gap in performance between open and closed bolt types. However, these designs are uncommon due to economics and complexity. Lastly, unless an ejection port cover

10266-479: The new requirement, George William Patchett , the chief designer at the Sterling Armaments Company of Dagenham , submitted a sample weapon of new design in early 1944. The first Patchett prototype gun was similar to the Sten insofar as its cocking handle (and the slot it moved back and forth in) was placed in line with the ejection port though it was redesigned soon afterwards and moved up to

10384-471: The occupying Germans, who used them for themselves and also put them into the hands of the Vichy French . The Owen Gun is a 9mm Parabellum Australian submachine gun designed by Evelyn Owen in 1939. The Owen is a simple, highly reliable, open bolt, blowback SMG. It was designed to be fired either from the shoulder or the hip. It is easily recognisable, owing to its unconventional appearance, including

10502-709: The production of the Star Wars films as props for the E-11 blaster rifle used by Imperial Stormtroopers. More drastically altered Sterlings were used as DH-17 blaster pistols in the hands of Rebel Alliance soldiers, though this weapon was mostly depicted via resin replicas that were cast from a "hero" prop and only a few live-firing Sterlings were modified compared to those used as E-11s. The E-11 itself would later come to be depicted by non-firing Sterling replicas, namely Model Gun Corporation replicas, which were used in Return of

10620-400: The propeller blades difficult and often requiring extensive modification (but not impossible). Furthermore, with unlocked simple blowback action designs, calibers over 9×19mm Parabellum become increasingly less practical because of the need for correspondingly heavier bolts as the chamber pressure increases. In simple blowback open-bolt designs, even in such relatively low-power calibers,

10738-481: The rear spine compared to the 9.6" of Sterling-produced magazines. Production Sterlings retain the earlier Patchett gun's compatibility with Sten and Lanchester magazines; while the Lanchester gun is theoretically capable of using Sterling magazines, the same cannot be said for the Sten gun since a Sterling magazine intrudes 3 ⁄ 32 inch further into the bolt way than a Sten magazine and so attempting to fire

10856-485: The right-hand side of the weapon, approximately two inches from the muzzle, serves to prevent the supporting hand from moving too far forward and over the muzzle. A total of over 400,000 Sterlings was manufactured between 1953 and 1988. Sterling built them at their factory in Dagenham for the British armed forces and for overseas sales, while Liverpool's Royal Ordnance Factory Fazakerley constructed them exclusively for

10974-761: The same magazines as the Model 38 series. Submachine guns again proved to be an important weapon system in the Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953). The Korean People's Army (KPA) and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) fighting in Korea received massive numbers of the PPSh-41, in addition to the North Korean Type 49 and the Chinese Type 50, which were both licensed copies of the PPSh-41 with small mechanical revisions. While lacking

11092-596: The same time as the Bergmann and the Beretta. However, the war ended before prototypes could be shipped to Europe. Although it had missed its chance to be the first purpose-designed submachine gun to enter service, it became the basis for later weapons, and was much more successful than the submachine guns produced during World War I. The Thompson entered production as the M1921. It was available to civilians, but, because of

11210-573: The simplified M1 . The Thompson was still expensive and slow to produce. Therefore, the U.S. developed the M3 submachine gun or "Grease Gun" in 1942, followed by the improved M3A1 in 1944. While the M3 was no more effective than the Tommy Gun, it was made primarily of stamped parts and welded together and could be produced much faster and at a fraction of the cost of a Thompson; its much lower rate of fire made it

11328-408: The situation. For handheld weapons, typically a lower rate of fire is desirable, as this will conserve ammunition and help keep the level of recoil more manageable. For vehicle-mounted weapons or fixed emplacements, however, a higher rate of fire is often desirable. In these situations, ammunition and recoil are less of a concern and the higher rate of fire will increase the likelihood of a round hitting

11446-715: The submachine gun was gradually accepted by many military organizations, especially as World War II loomed, with many countries developing their own designs. The U.S. Marine Corps adopted the Thompson during this period, they used them during the Banana Wars in Central America and it was also used by the China Marines . During the 1924 uprising the Soviets supplied four Thompsons to Estonian Communist militants; those were used against Estonian soldiers in

11564-534: The target". There are some inconsistencies in the classification of submachine guns. British Commonwealth sources often refer to SMGs as "machine carbines". Other sources refer to SMGs as "machine pistols" because they fire pistol-caliber ammunition, for example, the MP-40 and MP5 , where "MP" stands for Maschinenpistole ("submachine gun" in German, but cognate with the English term "machine pistol"). However,

11682-401: The target, particularly when employed against fast-moving targets such as aircraft. Many movies and video games portray open-bolt weapons as needing to be cycled after reloading. This is not generally true, however, as open-bolt weapons send the bolt carrier back into a cocked position via the excess gas after the last round is fired. The exception to this is if the weapon is fully automatic and

11800-511: The term " machine pistol " is also used to describe a handgun -style firearm capable of fully automatic or burst fire , such as the Stechkin , Beretta 93R , Glock 18 , and the H&K VP70 . Furthermore, personal defense weapons such as the FN P90 and H&K MP7 are often called submachine guns. In 1895, Hiram Maxim produced the 'miniature Maxim' which was a pistol-calibre Maxim machinegun weighing 27 lb (12.2 kg) that

11918-430: The trigger is held down after the last round was fired (and the gun does not have a "last round bolt hold open" mechanism) at which point the bolt will fly forward once more and stay there. In this case, the bolt merely needs to be retracted to the rearward position and does not return forward as is sometimes portrayed. Another feature of open-bolt designs is that the magazine simply needs to be removed to completely unload

12036-454: The user simply flips the cover down, opening the ejection port and unblocking the bolt. An open-bolt weapon will typically have a higher rate of automatic fire than a comparable closed-bolt weapon as the bolt simply needs to return forwards in order for the weapon to fire again, while a closed-bolt design has the additional step of the hammer striking the firing pin. Having a higher fire rate can be both an advantage and disadvantage depending on

12154-435: The war. Some (the better ones) survived, most rarely got past the glossy brochure stage." Most of these survivors were cheaper, easier, and faster to make than their predecessors. As such, they were widely distributed. In 1945, Sweden introduced the 9 mm Parabellum Carl Gustaf m/45 with a design borrowing from and improving on many design elements of earlier submachine-gun designs. It has a tubular stamped steel receiver with

12272-510: The weapon's high price, initially saw poor sales. The Thompson (with one Type XX 20 round "stick" magazine) had been priced at $ 200 in 1921 (roughly equivalent to $ 3,416 in 2023). The Thompson was used in combat that same year: West Virginia state police bought 37 guns and used them during the Battle of Blair Mountain . Some of the first batches of Thompsons were bought by agents of the Irish Republican Army . They purchased

12390-414: The weapon. A closed bolt requires the second step of cycling the action to remove the last round in the chamber (unless the weapon features an automatic hold-open device). It is essential to remove a loaded magazine before performing maintenance, or trying to cycle or close the bolt (as is often done to keep the weapon clean when not in use). If one were to close the bolt (say by pulling the trigger and riding

12508-541: Was another interwar German submachine gun, designed by the Bergmann brothers. It was exported to Sweden and Ethiopia and also saw extensive use in the Spanish Civil War . About 40,000 of the type were manufactured until 1944, with many going into the hands of the Waffen SS . The Erma EMP was yet another submachine gun from this period, based on a design by Heinrich Vollmer , about 10,000 were manufactured. It

12626-431: Was designed in 1946 by George Patchett. While the original Patchett gun was intended to take Sten or Lanchester magazines, these magazines' lackluster reliability led Patchett to initially redesign the Sten magazine with a roller platform to reduce friction , and then to construct a new double-feed magazine that implemented the earlier roller platform, a stamped metal construction, and a curved magazine body, allowing

12744-476: Was designed to be a more cost effective, lighter weight, and less complex design alternative to the MP5. The UMP has a side-folding stock and is available with four different trigger group configurations. It was also designed to use a wide range of Picatinny rail mounted accessories In 2004, Izhmash introduced the Vityaz-SN a 9mm Parabellum, closed bolt straight blowback operated submachine gun. It

12862-580: Was developed during World War I (1914–1918) as a close quarter offensive weapon, mainly for trench raiding . At its peak during World War II (1939–1945), millions of submachine guns were made for assault troops and auxiliaries whose doctrines emphasized close-quarter suppressive fire . New submachine gun designs appeared frequently during the Cold War , especially among special forces , covert operation commandos and mechanized infantrymen . Submachine gun usage for frontline combat decreased in

12980-598: Was exported to Spain, Mexico, China and Yugoslavia, but also used domestically by the SS, as well as being produced under license in Francoist Spain . Changes in design accelerated during the war, with one major trend being the abandonment of complex and finely made pre-war designs like the Thompson submachine gun to weapons designed for cheap mass production and easy replacement like the M3 Grease Gun . While

13098-592: Was extremely robust and proved very popular with both Axis and Allied troops (who used captured MAB 38s). It is considered the most successful and effective Italian small arm of World War II. During the later years of the war, the TZ-45 submachine gun was manufactured in small numbers in the Italian Social Republic . A cheaper alternative to the MAB 38, it also sported an unusual grip safety . In 1939,

13216-443: Was fired after the bolt had already stopped, as in simple blowback , since the energy of the expanding gases would then only have to overcome the bolt's static inertia (plus spring resistance) to push it backwards again and cycle the weapon; whereas in this arrangement some of this energy is used up in counteracting the bolt's forwards momentum as well; and thus the bolt does not have to be so massive. The lighter bolt makes not only for

13334-466: Was followed by further development and more trials. Eventually, the Patchett design won and the decision was made in 1951 for the British Army to adopt it. It started to replace the Sten in 1953 as the "Sub-Machine Gun L2A1". Its last non- suppressed variation was the L2A3 but the model changes were minimal throughout its development life. Sterling submachine guns with minor cosmetic alterations were used in

13452-492: Was most problematic in the use of forward-firing open-bolt machine guns and autocannons in ( tractor configuration single-engine) fighters during the piston engine era. Given the highly dynamic nature of aerial combat, the aforementioned intrinsic firing delay of open-bolt guns is particularly undesirable. The inertia and latency inherent to the open bolt design negatively affects predictability and control and makes fitting open-bolt designs with synchronization gear to fire through

13570-532: Was much cheaper and faster to make. Over 4 million Sten guns were made during World War II. The Sten was so cheap and easy to produce that towards the end of the war as their economic base approached crisis, Germany started manufacturing their own copy, the MP 3008 . After the war, the British replaced the Sten with the Sterling submachine gun . The United States and its allies used the Thompson submachine gun, especially

13688-645: Was officially known as the Patchett Machine Carbine Mk 1. For example, a Patchett submachine gun (serial numbered 078 and now held by the Imperial War Museum ), was carried in action by Colonel Robert W.P. Dawson while he was Commanding Officer of No. 4 Commando , during the attack on Walcheren as part of Operation Infatuate in November 1944. Because the Patchett/Sterling can use straight Sten magazines as well as

13806-551: Was produced and issued in British Army service, but was rarely employed except for ceremonial duties. Both bayonets were derived from the version issued with the Rifle No. 5 Mk I "jungle carbine" , the main difference being a smaller ring on the SLR bayonet to fit the rifle's muzzle. When mounted, the Sterling bayonet was offset to the left of the weapon's vertical line, which gave a more natural balance when used for bayonet-fighting. For

13924-399: Was sold in small quantities to various countries and tested by the US military but not adopted. In 1896, a select-fire pistol was patented by the British inventor Hugh Gabbett-Fairfax. In April 1914, Abiel Bethel Revelli, an Italian military officer patented a twin-barreled, magazine-fed automatic gun in a pistol caliber, lighter than a machine gun and shorter than a rifle. A common myth

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