Submachine gun: yesterday, today, tomorrow. For every taste!
So, we saw that the samples of the third generation machine guns began to be developed at the end of the Second World War, and somewhere at the beginning of the 60's they were put into service. True, the old approaches still made themselves felt. The military believed that they needed (if they still needed them at all!) A single sample of a submachine gun. Yes, it was so in 30, but already the war showed that two different submachine guns for the same cartridge can coexist in the same army - PPSH-41 and PPS-43. But even in the German army, the Sturmgever-44 did not completely replace MR-40. Almost all the submachine guns of the post-war years of release, including the famous Uzi, were “united”, so to speak. However, new technical solutions (rolling shutter, placing the store in the handle and folding stock) unleashed the hands of designers, and they created a lot of truly remarkable samples, which, one can say so, simply glorified this third generation of submachine guns. A lot was written about Uzi, but there were other, almost equally interesting technically, samples of this weapons.
And to create new designs started everywhere. So at the beginning of 60's, they were not just a lot, but a lot. For every taste and price. Although the choice of cartridges, as before, was small. Basically, all new PPs were created under the 9-mm “Parabellum” cartridge. And it’s understandable: they don’t seek good from good, as they say.
"Madsen" M45. An example of the original, but not too successful design. The fact is that he did not have the usual cocking handle. Her role in the M45 submachine gun was playing ... a fluted barrel casing, similar to a pistol. Beneath it was a return spring wrapped around the trunk. It is clear that the movement of massive parts, including the bolt and barrel cover, could not but affect the rate of fire. But the cocking of such a “huge automatic pistol” could not but cause certain difficulties, and besides, the spring overheated from the heated barrel!
Already in 1945, the Danish "Madsen" М45 appeared, then it was replaced by the М46, М50 and М53 models. Moreover, the 1950 model of the year was quite similar to our PPP, except that it did not have a casing on the barrel. But she didn’t have a straight but horn shop. The 1950 model of the year was so good that it was tested in England for adoption, but the Sterling still liked the military more.
“Madsen” M50 - mm 9x19
The French immediately after the war announced a competition for a new software, it was required that the new weapon was completely French! No sooner said than done! Thus was born the MAT 49, about which everyone said that he was "done wrong, but well stitched." There are no innovations, except perhaps the reclining handle, which played the role of a receiver for the store. That is, it was held not by the store, but by this handle, so the loosening and misalignment of the stores were excluded. The PP itself was entirely metallic. Not an ounce of plastic or wood. Heavy: weight with a store 4,17 kg. But yours! And very durable. And all the "gaps are closed," even the window of the store, when it is folded, closes a special bar. So it can be sprinkled with sand and earth. Inside, nothing will fall. It is not surprising that in the former French colonies it is still used!
MAT 49
Since 1943, the new PP began to develop ... Argentina. A number of designs were created there, the result of which was the FMK-3 (1974) (article on the July 23 BO 2018) and which had a magazine in the handle and a “ram gate”, and a folding front handle was provided .
FMK-3
In the same year, 1945 offered its own submachine gun “Karl Gustav” m / 45 to Sweden. And everything in it was traditional, except for one - the newly developed store for 36 cartridges (50-charging shop from Suomi was used first) with a double row of cartridges. The Swedes made it extremely reliable. So reliable that the CIA delivered them even to its special forces in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. They were sold to Denmark, Ireland and Egypt (!), Where their licensed production was established. It is in service today, and the Swedes are not going to replace it with anything else. The limit of perfection, in their opinion, has been reached.
Submachine gun m / 45
We talked a bit about “Uzi” in the past material. Here you can only add what weapons historian Chris Shant writes about him: “The Gala was greatly impressed by the Czech CZ 23 submachine gun, which used a bolt that attacked the barrel ...” He then wrote: “This pushed Gala to create more long gate, two-thirds of which are hollow cylinder ". Since the shutter length should be 10-12 cm and the return stroke 15 cm, it turns out that with the traditional scheme the length of the receiver will be no less than 27 cm. The German MZ-40 had, for example, the total length 68 cm and the trunk 25 length, see Y Uzi, the total length of 47 cm, and the length of the trunk - 26!
All this is so, the only question is, where did he get the data that everything was exactly the way he described it? Standing behind and watched? In general, even if everything was exactly like this, there is nothing wrong with that. Just a smart designer should “steal” all the best from everyone more, and without inventing a bicycle, rationally combine all this in his design. However, in books on stories fiction weapons like "he thought he was impressed, he copied ..." should be smaller, and there should be more accurate document-based facts. Rather, they should dominate. For example, there is an archive of the Russian Military History Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Communication Troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. There are all the documents on the development and adoption of the rifle Captain Mosin. Based on them, there was a whole cycle of articles on HE, but there are still people who, with perseverance, worthy of better use, continue to write about the “barrel of Nagant”, and many other absurdities. We see the same thing with regard to the Kalashnikov automaton, although all the “dots above i” in its history are set a long time ago. But this is so ... had a word.
Returning to the “our” topic of post-war machine pistols, it should be noted that compactness was one of the important requirements for them. This trend was caught by Yaroslav Holechek and Uziel Gal. And it was also understood by the Italian designer Domenico Salz, who in the year 1959 offered his submachine gun "Beretta" RM-12. There were fewer new products in it than in CZ 23 and Uzi, but more than in m / 45.
PM-12. Left view.
In it, the bolt is on the trunk at ¾ of its length. Although the barrel box has a cylindrical shape, there are wavy depressions on its inner surface - mud traps due to which PM12 dirt and sand are not terrible. The reloading handle is on the left. It is larger than that of other samples and advanced far forward, to the very front sight. The submachine gun, like the Thompson 1928, has two pistol grip arms, so there is no need to hold a weapon for the magazine. Butt folding, which is also very convenient. Convenient and safety in the handle below the trigger guard. When the handle is wrapped around with a hand, it is squeezed and only then can it be fired. True, the Italian army and police bought this submachine gun only in limited quantities and only for their special forces. But on the other hand, the commercial success of the new Beretta exceeded all expectations: it was sold to the countries of the Middle East, to Africa and Southeast Asia. In Brazil and Indonesia, its licensed release from right-selling in local markets was mastered, and the Belgian company FN and Brazilian Taurus began to produce the PM12S modification.
PM-12. Right side view with butt folded to the side.
It should be noted that after the war, many foreign companies were so inspired by the success of the Soviet PPS-43 that they began to copy it in the most shameless way. For example, the Finns released M / 44 - a submachine gun, which was a copy of the Soviet PPS adapted for the 9 × 19 mm cartridge, and started its production at the Tikkakoski enterprise. By the way, in Poland their production was also organized from 1944 to 1955 for the year under the name “PPS wz.1943 / 1952”. That's just instead of a metal folding butt it was equipped with wooden, attached to the receiver tightly.
Submachine gun m / 44
After the war, its creator, Willy Daus, moved to Spain, and with the support of German designers from Mauser, who also ended up there after the war, began the production of the same submachine gun called Dux M53 in Oviedo’s arsenal. In 1953, the DUX M53 submachine gun was adopted by the border guards of the Federal Republic of Germany, and this weapon was delivered to the country from Spain. Its weight was 2,8 kg, length 0,83 m, rate of fire 600 rds / min. He fired 9-mm cartridges from a 36-charging magazine. The store was therefore straightforward, and that’s where the differences ended. The difference between the Finnish and Spanish samples was also in the number of holes in the barrel casing: the Spaniards had 7, the Finns had 6. The most "modern" model was the "Dux" М59, again received the "horn" shop. It was possible to fire fire from them only in lines. It was planned to put it into service with the Bundeswehr, but it was not possible to achieve this, so it was released in small quantities.
To be continued ...
And to create new designs started everywhere. So at the beginning of 60's, they were not just a lot, but a lot. For every taste and price. Although the choice of cartridges, as before, was small. Basically, all new PPs were created under the 9-mm “Parabellum” cartridge. And it’s understandable: they don’t seek good from good, as they say.
Danish "Madsen"
"Madsen" M45. An example of the original, but not too successful design. The fact is that he did not have the usual cocking handle. Her role in the M45 submachine gun was playing ... a fluted barrel casing, similar to a pistol. Beneath it was a return spring wrapped around the trunk. It is clear that the movement of massive parts, including the bolt and barrel cover, could not but affect the rate of fire. But the cocking of such a “huge automatic pistol” could not but cause certain difficulties, and besides, the spring overheated from the heated barrel!
Already in 1945, the Danish "Madsen" М45 appeared, then it was replaced by the М46, М50 and М53 models. Moreover, the 1950 model of the year was quite similar to our PPP, except that it did not have a casing on the barrel. But she didn’t have a straight but horn shop. The 1950 model of the year was so good that it was tested in England for adoption, but the Sterling still liked the military more.
“Madsen” M50 - mm 9x19
"It is badly made, but firmly sewn" - French MAT 49
The French immediately after the war announced a competition for a new software, it was required that the new weapon was completely French! No sooner said than done! Thus was born the MAT 49, about which everyone said that he was "done wrong, but well stitched." There are no innovations, except perhaps the reclining handle, which played the role of a receiver for the store. That is, it was held not by the store, but by this handle, so the loosening and misalignment of the stores were excluded. The PP itself was entirely metallic. Not an ounce of plastic or wood. Heavy: weight with a store 4,17 kg. But yours! And very durable. And all the "gaps are closed," even the window of the store, when it is folded, closes a special bar. So it can be sprinkled with sand and earth. Inside, nothing will fall. It is not surprising that in the former French colonies it is still used!
MAT 49
FMK-3. Argentina
Since 1943, the new PP began to develop ... Argentina. A number of designs were created there, the result of which was the FMK-3 (1974) (article on the July 23 BO 2018) and which had a magazine in the handle and a “ram gate”, and a folding front handle was provided .
FMK-3
"Carl Gustaf" M / 45. Sweden
In the same year, 1945 offered its own submachine gun “Karl Gustav” m / 45 to Sweden. And everything in it was traditional, except for one - the newly developed store for 36 cartridges (50-charging shop from Suomi was used first) with a double row of cartridges. The Swedes made it extremely reliable. So reliable that the CIA delivered them even to its special forces in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. They were sold to Denmark, Ireland and Egypt (!), Where their licensed production was established. It is in service today, and the Swedes are not going to replace it with anything else. The limit of perfection, in their opinion, has been reached.
Submachine gun m / 45
About the Israeli "Uzi" and the Czech CZ 23
We talked a bit about “Uzi” in the past material. Here you can only add what weapons historian Chris Shant writes about him: “The Gala was greatly impressed by the Czech CZ 23 submachine gun, which used a bolt that attacked the barrel ...” He then wrote: “This pushed Gala to create more long gate, two-thirds of which are hollow cylinder ". Since the shutter length should be 10-12 cm and the return stroke 15 cm, it turns out that with the traditional scheme the length of the receiver will be no less than 27 cm. The German MZ-40 had, for example, the total length 68 cm and the trunk 25 length, see Y Uzi, the total length of 47 cm, and the length of the trunk - 26!
All this is so, the only question is, where did he get the data that everything was exactly the way he described it? Standing behind and watched? In general, even if everything was exactly like this, there is nothing wrong with that. Just a smart designer should “steal” all the best from everyone more, and without inventing a bicycle, rationally combine all this in his design. However, in books on stories fiction weapons like "he thought he was impressed, he copied ..." should be smaller, and there should be more accurate document-based facts. Rather, they should dominate. For example, there is an archive of the Russian Military History Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Communication Troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. There are all the documents on the development and adoption of the rifle Captain Mosin. Based on them, there was a whole cycle of articles on HE, but there are still people who, with perseverance, worthy of better use, continue to write about the “barrel of Nagant”, and many other absurdities. We see the same thing with regard to the Kalashnikov automaton, although all the “dots above i” in its history are set a long time ago. But this is so ... had a word.
Returning to the “our” topic of post-war machine pistols, it should be noted that compactness was one of the important requirements for them. This trend was caught by Yaroslav Holechek and Uziel Gal. And it was also understood by the Italian designer Domenico Salz, who in the year 1959 offered his submachine gun "Beretta" RM-12. There were fewer new products in it than in CZ 23 and Uzi, but more than in m / 45.
PM-12 "Beretta". Italy
PM-12. Left view.
In it, the bolt is on the trunk at ¾ of its length. Although the barrel box has a cylindrical shape, there are wavy depressions on its inner surface - mud traps due to which PM12 dirt and sand are not terrible. The reloading handle is on the left. It is larger than that of other samples and advanced far forward, to the very front sight. The submachine gun, like the Thompson 1928, has two pistol grip arms, so there is no need to hold a weapon for the magazine. Butt folding, which is also very convenient. Convenient and safety in the handle below the trigger guard. When the handle is wrapped around with a hand, it is squeezed and only then can it be fired. True, the Italian army and police bought this submachine gun only in limited quantities and only for their special forces. But on the other hand, the commercial success of the new Beretta exceeded all expectations: it was sold to the countries of the Middle East, to Africa and Southeast Asia. In Brazil and Indonesia, its licensed release from right-selling in local markets was mastered, and the Belgian company FN and Brazilian Taurus began to produce the PM12S modification.
PM-12. Right side view with butt folded to the side.
Copies of the Soviet PPS-43
It should be noted that after the war, many foreign companies were so inspired by the success of the Soviet PPS-43 that they began to copy it in the most shameless way. For example, the Finns released M / 44 - a submachine gun, which was a copy of the Soviet PPS adapted for the 9 × 19 mm cartridge, and started its production at the Tikkakoski enterprise. By the way, in Poland their production was also organized from 1944 to 1955 for the year under the name “PPS wz.1943 / 1952”. That's just instead of a metal folding butt it was equipped with wooden, attached to the receiver tightly.
Submachine gun m / 44
After the war, its creator, Willy Daus, moved to Spain, and with the support of German designers from Mauser, who also ended up there after the war, began the production of the same submachine gun called Dux M53 in Oviedo’s arsenal. In 1953, the DUX M53 submachine gun was adopted by the border guards of the Federal Republic of Germany, and this weapon was delivered to the country from Spain. Its weight was 2,8 kg, length 0,83 m, rate of fire 600 rds / min. He fired 9-mm cartridges from a 36-charging magazine. The store was therefore straightforward, and that’s where the differences ended. The difference between the Finnish and Spanish samples was also in the number of holes in the barrel casing: the Spaniards had 7, the Finns had 6. The most "modern" model was the "Dux" М59, again received the "horn" shop. It was possible to fire fire from them only in lines. It was planned to put it into service with the Bundeswehr, but it was not possible to achieve this, so it was released in small quantities.
To be continued ...
Information