This is one of the finest 9mm SMG there is.

UZI Submachine Gun


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Israeli Military
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Uzi is a SMG (small machine gun) chambered for either the 9 X 19 (9mm Parabellum) or .45 ACP round. Uzis are widely available for civilian purchase in a semi-auto version. Several different countries have licensed the Uzi design from IMI in Israel. These countries include China (Norinco), Belgium (FN), U.S.A. (Group Industries), Cuba, and France. The Israeli IMI and Belgian FN Uzis are widely thought be of better quality and construction than the other variants. There are three different variants of the Uzi available. These are the carbine, the mini-carbine, and the pistol. The Uzi carbine is the largest and heaviest (8.6 pounds) of the Uzi design, and it utilizes a 16" barrel with an under-folding stock. Overall length with stock rectracted 24.4 inches. The Uzi mini-carbine is a little lighter in weight (7.4 pounds), and it utilizes a 19" barrel with a side-folding stock. The Uzi mini-carb ine is a more compact design than the full sized Uzi carbine. Overall length with stock rectracted 26.1 inches. The Uzi pistol is much lighter (4 pounds)and smaller than the other two variants, and it has a 4 1/2" barrel with no stock. Overall length 9.45 inches. The Uzi pistol has long been a favorite sidearm of Israeli organizations such as the Mossad (Israeli Intelligence), as well as U.S. organizations such as the C.I.A. and F.B.I. The larger Uzi carbines have seen many years of service in the Israeli military as well. The U.S. legal civilian versions of the Uzi are the carbine types, and they have a non-folding wooden shoulder stock attached. All civilian versions are semi-automatic. There are various magazines available for these weapons, ranging from 20, 25, 30, and 32 round mags for the 9mm to 10 and 16 round magazines for the .45 ACP version of the gun. Although several countries have manufactured magazines for the Uzi, the IMI manufactured magazines are widely thought to be the best. The Uzi is a robust and well constructed weapon. It has no real utility in the "sporting" or hunting arena, however it is a fun and reasonably accurate firearm to target shoot and "plink" with. The Uzi is a decent home defense weapon as well. The Uzi carbines are accurate enough to be used as "varmint guns" at short distances, however the 9mm or .45 ACP pistol round is a bit underpowered for this type of usage. The bottom line is that the Uzi was designed to put alot of lead into a small area very quickly in full-auto mode. UZI SMG IN FACTORY BOX The Uzi, without doubt the most widely distributed submachine gun in the Western world, has finally arrived in quantity in the United States. Available in unique semiauto and full auto (for police departments and Class-3 dealers only), it is being imported by Action Arms, Ltd. (Dept. SOF, 4567 Bermuda St., Philadelphia, PA 19124). An officer in the Israeli army, Uziel Gal, developed the Uzi in the early 1950s. It is produced in Israel by Israeli Military Industries and under license at the FN plant in Herstal, Belgium. As the bolt design clearly demonstrates, the Uzi's origins are the Czech models 23 and ZK476 family of submachine guns. The Uzi's most distinctive characteristic is its wrap-around bolt design. The primary advantage of this feature is compactness, while still utilizing a relatively long 10.2-inch barrel in the full-auto weapon and a 16.1-inch barrel in the semiauto carbine. At the moment of ignition, the recessed bolt surrounds more than three inches of the barrel. Thus by placing more weight over the chamber - where the explosion occurs - upward climb during recoil is reduced. The bolt is also partially responsible for the Uzi's natural pointing traits. Finally, it is an added safety factor in the event of a blown case - important in view of the dubious quality of some surplus 9mm ammo now so prevalent. The Uzi's magazine well is located in the grip assembly - a desirable feature as it leaves the point of balance directly above the grip, provides a firm support for the magazine and aids in rapid magazine changes, using the well-known principle of "hand finds hand." The Uzi magazine, a direct adaptation from Beretta submachine guns, is of the two-position-feed type. Minimum bolt energy is required to strip rounds from this type of magazine; single-position-feed magazines, such as those encountered in the MP 40, Sten, M3A1 (grease gun) and MAC 10, are harder to load without a tool and malfunction more frequently. All Uzi magazines have viewing holes in the sides so the contents can be seen at a glance. The Uzi comes equipped with a 25-round magazine. The Israeli army once tried a 40-round magazine - however, as in the case of its 40-round Beretta cousin, constant feeding problems accompanied the large-capacity magazine and it was withdrawn from service and manufacture. Action Arms says a 32-round magazine will eventually be provided. A special clip is available to join two magazines together in an "L" configuration. This is useful because, when both magazines are loaded, the one not in use lies under the barrel and helps reduce muzzle climb. Then, when the first magazine has been expended, the second lies back under the butt. The Uzi has two safety systems, independent of each other. The first is controlled by the fire selector, located on the left side of the receiver above the grip assembly. When it is placed in the rearward position, marked "S," the piece is locked. The second is a grip safety at the rear of the grip assembly. In my opinion, grip safeties on submachine guns are less useful, and potentially more disconcerting, in combat than magazine-disconnect or safeties on semiauto pistols. Back in the late '50s, when issued Danish Madsen M50 submachine guns, I remember clearly that my first alteration was taping the grip safety to the rear of the magazine well. Under stress, it is easy for one's sweating hand to slide off the rear of the grip assembly and, momentarily at least, leave the firer with a locked piece. In any event, this problem is simple enough to remedy with a short strip of electrical tape. The full-auto version has a third safety in the form of a ratchet on the bolt-retracting slide, which locks the bolt if the retracting knob is accidentally released from an incomplete cocking motion. The Uzis were being imported by Action Arms they had a baked-enamel finish. Although painted firearms have never appealed to Americans - presumably because chipped finishes that occur through use are unsightly to collectors - the British and Belgians concluded long ago that such finishes are far more durable and corrosion-resistant, especially in tropical climates, than either bluing or Parkerizing. Earlier specimens, brought in for police departments and the U.S. Secret Service (which chopped several inches off the barrels in an effort to facilitate concealment in attache cases), were Parkerized. The Action Arms weapons appear to be Parkerized under the enamel-like finish. Although using Stampings and high-impact plastics extensively - as do most modern military small arms - the Uzi exhibits quality in design and manufacture. As an example, long, narrow ridges stamped into the sides of the receiver act effectively as dirt traps, ensuring reliable operation under the most extreme conditions of debris and sand. Accessories abound, and some are quite useful, such as the previously mentioned "L" clip. Well-designed two- and three-magazine pouches are available, featuring sturdy Velcro flaps. The magazine loader appears to have been designed for use with a stripper clip of Israeli issue, as it is not compatible with the strippers found on commonly available Czech surplus ammo. Not as easy to use as the Sten, MP 40 or MAC magazine loaders, it is, nevertheless, better than nothing. The bayonet cannot be used on the semiauto carbine, as its 16.1-inch barrel would extend almost the full length of the blade.But then, bayonets on submachine guns are not very useful. The front-sight adjusting tool, although complex in design, is effective. A wooden stock can be supplied for either version and, though certainly sacrificing compactness, there can be little argument that it is generally easier to score effective hits with wooden-stocked submachine guns. Other than the obvious - such as barrel length and the full-auto mode - in what ways do the two Uzis differ? In an effort to comply with provisions of the 1968 Gun Control Act, Israel Military Industries has sufficiently altered the design of the semiauto carbine to discourage attempts to convert it to full auto or interchange parts with the submachine gun. While both are of blowback operation, the semiauto carbine fires from the closed bolt using a floating firing pin, in contrast to the submachine gun which utilizes a fixed firing pin firing from the closed bolt. . The barrels (of differing outside diameters and configuration), bolts and trigger-housing assemblies of the two Uzis cannot be interchanged. Of course, any semiauto firearm, including pistols, can be altered to fire full auto. However, attempts to do so with this weapon are not only illegal, but potentially dangerous. Blowback submachine guns with fixed firing pins operate on the principle of advanced primer ignition. This simply means that the primer is actually detonated before the cartridge is fully seated in the chamber and while it is still moving forward. The cartridge's force of equal and opposite reaction (one of Newton's laws) is thus dissipated in not only overcoming the inertia of the stopped bolt and driving it rearward, but in stopping its forward movement as well. This concept permits designers to use a much lighter bolt. Weapons using advanced primer ignition commonly contain slightly tapered chambers. Attempts to use a barrel of this type with the floating firing pin of the semiauto Uzi could be disastrous. How do the two Uzis stack up against each other in an actual firing test? Armed with both models and a large supply of the no-longer-quite-so-cheap surplus Yugoslav, Finnish and Czech ammo, a group of auto-weapons enthusiasts subjected them both to several days of intensive testing. The results are interesting and informative. As expected, the semiauto carbine consistently scored more hits, but in slightly longer time frames. The operator of the semiauto averaged 19 hits out of the 25-round magazine in 20 seconds. Using two- and three-round bursts, the submachine gun yielded an average of 15 hits out of 25 rounds in only 16 seconds. Both excellent results. Given the limitations imposed by overall weight considerations, the pistol calibers most commonly used and the necessity for reasonable controllability in the full-auto mode, cyclic rates between 450 rpm to 650 rpm are considered ideal by modern submachine-gun designers. More than eight persons - again using both weapons - fired repeatedly, and consistently scored hits on man-size targets out to 90 yards, firing from both the shoulder and hip assault positions. Without exception, all commented on the natural sense of balance and pointing characteristics of both Uzis, which border on the phenomenal. Several thousand rounds were fired with no malfunctions. That the Uzi is a garbage eater was attested to by the external condition of the Czech ammo, which bordered on disgusting.

Ok after all is said and done the Uzi is a excellent firearm its accurate, well built and very reliable not like some other 9mm carbines out there.



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