The ZK-383 submachine gun was developed during late 1930s by Czechoslovak arms designers brothers Koucky, who at the time worked at the Zbrojovka Brno arms factory. Produced since 1938, this submachine gun was exported to certain smaller European countries, as well as to Latin America (most notably the Venezuela and Bolivia). Production of the ZK-383 continued at Brno during German occupation, with most wartime guns being supplied to German Waffen-SS troops and occupation police forces. The ZK-383 was also briefly produced after the war, before being replaced in production with more modern and compact weapons such as Cz. Vz.48 / Sa 23. One of most notable European users of ZK-383 was the Bulgarian army, which used these guns until about 1966. The ZK-383 is an interesting weapon because it was initially developed more like a squad support weapon rather than an individual weapon – it was heavy, solidly made, and capable of some serious firepower (considering the pistol ammunition used, of cause). It was also fitted with ‘long range’ rifle type sights and integral folding bipod. there also were two later versions of the ZK-383 – the ‘Police’ ZK-383P which had no bipod, and post-war ZK-383H which also had no bipod and had folding forward magazine housing below the receiver (rather than fixed housing on the left side). Total production of all three versions of ZK-383 is estimated as no less than 20,000 guns. Read the rest of this entry »

The STEN name came out of names of the designers (R. V. Shepard and H. J. Turpin) and from the factory where they worked (Enfield arsenal). It was one of the most crude and ugly and simply, but effective submachine guns of the WW2. Almost 4 millions of STEN guns of different versions were made between 1941 and 1945. STEN guns were made not only in Royal Small Arms factory in Enfield; other makers included famous British gunmaking company of the time BSA Ltd, as well as Royal Ordnance Arsenal in Fazakerly, England, and Long Branch Arsenal in Canada.

The first STEN, STEN Mk.I (full official name was 9mm STEN Machine Carbine, Mark 1), was developed in mid-1941. It was blowback operated, automatic weapon that fired from the open bolt. Trigger unit permitted for sigle shots and full automatic fire, controlled by the cross-bolt type button, located in front and above trigger. The tubular receiver and the barrel shroud were made from rolled steel. The gun was fed from left side mounted box magazines. The stock was of skeleton type, made from steel. Sights were fixed, pre-adjusted for 100 yards distance, peep hole rear and blade front. The Mk.1 featured spoon-like muzzle compensator. Some guns featured small folding forward grip. Total production of Mark 1 and slightly modified Mark 1* STEN machine guns was about 100 000. Read the rest of this entry »

The S.A.F. SMG was developed and is manufactured by Chilean company FAMAE. The S.A.F. design is based on SIG 540 assault rifle, designed in Swiss and manufactured in Chile by FAMAE under license from SIG.

The S.A.F. SMG is in service with Chilean Armed Forces and Police.

Technically, the S.A.F. is a recoil operated select fire gun, firing from closed bolt. The triger/hammer group and floating firing pin design is similar to SIG 540, but the bolt is of new design. The receiver is similar in design to SIG 540, and is of folding type (upper and lower receivers are assembled by two steel pins, much like the M16 receiver does). The S.A.F. has ambidextrous safety/fire selector switch with four settings – safe, single shot, 3 round bursts and full auto. S.A.F. SMGs are manufactured with side-folding or fixed polymer buttstocks. Silenced version, with folding buttstock and integral silencer is available for special forces use. S.A.F. has post front sight, ajustable wor elevation, and aperture rear sight, ajustable for windage. S.A.F. uses 20 or 30 rounds magazines made from transluscent polymer. Magazines had special studs and slots that allowed two or more magazines to be clipped together for quicker magazine change. Read the rest of this entry »

The story of this weapon start in around 1919, when German arms-making company Rheinmetall produced a prototype submachine gun designated MP.19. This weapon was developed by Lous Stange to same specifications as Schmeisser’s MP.18/I, but MP.19 came too late to see any action during WW1. After the end of WW1, Germany was severely limited in design and production of small arms by treaty of Versailles. When Hitler came into power, German military-oriented companies began to move the R&D outside of Germany to avoid treaty limitations. In 1929, Rheinmetall purchased the small Swiss-based company Wafenfabrik Solothurn, which was used to finalize some Rheinmetall small arms which were developed under secrecy in Germany. One of those weapons was an improved version of MP.19 submachine gun, which was announced by Waffenfabrik Solothurn under company index “S1-100″. This was an excellent weapon, reliable, controllable and accurate, but Solothurn company lacked production capabilities. To make guns on industrial scale, Solothurn teamed with famous Austrian gun-making company Waffenfabrik Steyr, and formed trade company Steyr-Solothurn Waffen AG in Zurich, Switzerland. This company sold weapons designed by Rheinmetall and Solothurn and made by Steyr, and S1-100 submachine gun was among first products of this international conglomerated. In the 1930 Austrian police adopts the S1-100 as Steyr MP.30, chambered for standard Austrian 9×23 Steyr pistol cartridge. It was also exported to Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay and El Salvador; it also was sold in limited numbers to China, in 7,63×25 Mauser caliber. Read the rest of this entry »

The “Shipka” SMG was developed by Bulgarian company ARSENAL for police and military use, and currently is offered for export. It appeared on the market circa 1996. According to some sources, it is used by Bulgarian police and security forces.

“Shipka” (named after historical place in Bulgaria) is a straightforward design, using simple blowback operation and firing from open bolt. The lower receiver along with pistol grip and triggerguard is made from polymer, the upper receiver is made from steel. Simple buttstock is made from steel wire and folds to the left side of gun. Read the rest of this entry »

The FN P90 submachine gun (SMG) was developed in the late 1980s as a personal defense weapon for the troops whose primary activities does not include small arms, such as vehicle and tank crew members, artillery crews etc. Standard pistols and submachine guns chambered for pistol rounds were proved ineffective against enemy soldiers, wearing body armor; Therefore FN designers first developed a new round with enhanced penetration, initially known as SS90. To achieve necessary high penetration while keeping recoil impulse low, FN used a small-bore approach, creating a round that looked much like the scaled down 5,56NATO round. It must be noted that similar concepts were tried in other countries, most notably in USA, several decades before FN; for example, US Army tested M1 carbines chambered for .221 Johnson Spitfire round back in late 1950s; later on, Colt produced its .22 SCAMP and 5,6×30 MARS ammunition for special SCAMP machine pistol and MARS “mini assault rifle” (a scaled-down M16 rifle) respectively. Read the rest of this entry »

Caliber: 9×19mm Luger/Para
Weight: 4.22 kg unloaded
Length: 813 mm
Barrel length: 247 mm
Rate of fire: 700 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity: 32 rounds
Effective range: 100-200 meters

Evelyn Owen, an Australian, developed his first automatic weapon, chambered for .22LR cartridge, by 1939, and offered it to Australian army. This weapon was a strange-looking revolver-type contraption with fixed “cylinder” instead of magazine, and thumb-operated trigger. Read the rest of this entry »