The iconic 9x19mm Uzi submachine gun has been intermittently seen in Ukraine since the early months of the conflict. The earliest images of the Uzi in theatre, which we could find, date to the beginning of May 2022. The origins of the Uzis are currently unclear with a number of possibilities including Israeli IMI-made guns, Croatian EROs, surplus German Bundeswehr MP2A1s or perhaps most likely Belgian manufactured Uzis made under license by FN Herstal.
One of the earliest images of an Uzi in Ukraine appeared at the start of May 2022, with a Ukrainian combatant posing with an Uzi and a drone at what appears to be a range. 11 July, saw a group photo of International Legion members shared featuring one combatant holding an Uzi. Several days later on the 17 July a photo was shared of an international volunteer with an Uzi in the back of a vehicle. A month later a Ukrainian soldier was photographed holding a pair of Uzis.
A Ukrainian officer with the 93rd Mechanized Brigade holds a pair of Uzis (via social media)
On the 21 February 2023, a member of the Stugnabat unit, with the International Legion, shared a photo of a combatant with an Uzi. A Ukrainian infantry officer shared a video featuring himself firing two Uzis at one on 14 March. Subsequent photos shared online, seemingly taken at the same time, featuring the officer and the Uzis revealed he is with the 93rd Separate Mechanised Brigade. In early April another Ukrainian combatant shared a clip of himself on TikTok test firing an Uzi at an ad hoc range.
Research by OSINT researcher Ukraine Weapons Warfare has confirmed that at least three of the Uzis seen in Ukraine in early 2023 are of Belgian manufacture. Ukraine Weapons Warfare spoke to two Ukrainian combatants (those who had posted videos with Uzis) who confirmed that their guns had FN Herstal markings. FN Herstal acquired the license to manufacture the Uzi in 1958 with production of Belgian-made guns continuing into the early 1970s. As a result large numbers of Uzis purchased by European countries were made by FN, not IMI.
— đșđŠ Ukraine Weapons Warfare (@WeaponsWarfare) April 13, 2023
The Uzis haven’t appeared in any combat imagery and largely appear to be being used as personal defence weapons. They’re most often seen in photos from the range, away from the front line. Due to the iconic weapon’s notoriety they also appear to hold a novelty value for Ukrainian combatants.
Until we can get clear photos of markings or corroboration from users we can’t be certain if all of the Uzis in theatre were originally manufactured by FN Herstal. Similarly, it remains unclear which country or countries may have provided Uzis to Ukraine but we at least know that several of them were manufactured in Belgium.
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Bibliography:
The UZI Submachine Gun, C. McNab (2011)
The UZI Submachine Gun Examined, D. Gaboury (2017)
Recently, while looking though British Army Cold War training films, I stumbled upon something I never expected to see: a clip of an MCEM-2 firing! I was searching through British Cold War training films and watching a 1953 film titled âVillage Clearingâ at first it seemed pretty standard fair albeit showing an impressive set-piece of tanks attacking a village. And then about 8 minutes in I spotted something unusual, the prototype MCEM-2, in the hands of one of the village’s defenders.
The 1953 training film shows a company size attack by the Royal Welch Fusiliers on an enemy strongpoint but then shows a section/squad assault on a building. The opposing force or OPFORCE are wearing airborne HSAT helmets and are armed with American weapons including M1 Garands, some first pattern M1918 BARs and a lone MCEM-2! This was likely done to differentiate the British troops from the OPFORCE – either they wanted a generic look or didnât have any soviet weapons or kit available as is seen in later training films. My guess would be that the prototype may have come from the British Armyâs Small Arms School Corps Collection which has historically maintained a working collection of foreign, historic and prototype weapons for familiarisation and training purposes.
The MCEM-2 or Machine Carbine, Experimental Model No.2 was developed by a Polish engineer, Jerzy Podsedkowski. Work on the design began in 1944 but it was not seriously tested until after the end of the war. We can see from this brief clip that Podsedkowskiâs design was small, compact and innovative. It fed from an 18 round magazine which like the later Uzi, Sa.23 and RAK Pm.63 was inserted into the pistol grip. While this kept the weapon compact and theoretically holster-able the MCEM-2âs high rate of fire, around 1,000 rounds per minute, meant that it was expended extremely rapidly.Â
The MCEM-2 disassembled (via Firearms.96.lt)
The MCEM-2 (Machine Carbine Experimental Model No.2) was a small, compact, innovative design. The weapon had a holster stock and a wrap-around breech block which was inclosed in a tube metal receiver. We can see the bolt in this photograph. In 1946 Podsedkowski, assisted by another Polish engineer, Aleksander Ichnatowicz, improved the MCEM-2, seeking to slow its rate of fire with a heavier bolt. The MCEM-2 was tested at the Royal Navyâs Gunnery School at HMS Excellent in August 1946. Excellentâs Commandant Michael Le Fanu, later an admiral and First Sea Lord, noted in his report that it was a âwell engineered weapon, handy to carry about and suitable for use by seamenâ but did note that âthe high rate of fire makes the weapon uncontrollable in automatic and dangerous in the hand of semi-skilled users.â
Despite improvements the new MCEM-6 was eventually rejected with a Harold Turpin design favoured before it too was rejected. Hopefully, weâll be able to take a look at some of these designs upclose in future articles/videos.Â
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A couple of weeks ago we looked at some photographs showing an interesting modification seen on a STEN MkII held by Deputy Prime Minister Clement Attlee. The STEN Attlee posed with had a front grip added, something the MkII didnât typically come with.
A few people very kindly sent me some other contemporary photos showing other ad hoc STEN front grips so I thought a follow up video was needed. I also found a group of photographs taken in June 1943 at the Combined Training Centre at Kabrit, in Egypt. The photos show groups of Commandos and the Royal Navyâs Naval Beach Parties armed with Stens with a pretty standardised style of front grip.
Commandos on parade with STEN MkIIs equipped with ad-hoc front grip, at Kabrit in June 1943 (IWM A17755)
In these photos we can see the men training with the STENs and the front grips are quite clear. Itâs especially interesting in that it isnât just the Commandos who have the front grips but also men of the Naval Shore Parties. Itâs also relatively rare to see STENs in North Africa. You might have seen some of these photos, taken by Royal Navy photographer Lieutenant L.C. Priest, in our video looking at the unusual fighting knives the Commandos are equipped with.
The plethora of photos from Kabrit show a fairly standardised design for the grip. A metal ring, seemingly tightened by a wingnut on the left side and a generous wooden grip that was long enough to fit all four fingers on. The grip appears to have some finger grooves and a fairly standard shape. A photo (see above) of Naval Commandos on parade shows the men with the STENs tucked under their arms, holding the front grips. This is identical to how the STEN MkI with its front grip was paraded with. The photo also gives us a good look at the uniformity of the grips.
RAF Regiment Corporal cleans his STEN MkII, equipped with a makeshift front grip (IWM CM4296)
While the photos from the Combined Training Centre at Kabrit represent the largest number STEN front grips seen in one place and several units there are a few other photos which are really interesting. First up is this photograph of a Corporal from the RAF Regiment taken in Libya sometime in 1943. The Regiment had been formed just a year earlier. The corporal is sat cleaning his STEN MkII with the butt removed but the bolt still in the weapon. On the barrel nut of his weapon he has a wooden front grip. Again seemingly attached to a metal band around the barrel nut. The wooden grip appears to have some rudimentary finger grooves. Sadly, I couldnât find any other photos of this Corporal and his STEN. But the design of his front grip is very similar to those seen in the Kabrit training photos and could well be of the same origin.
Finally, we have a photograph from a completely different theatre – Burma. The caption for this photograph reads: âMen of the 2nd York and Lancaster Regiment searching the ruins of a railway station for Japanese snipers, during the advance of 14th Army to Rangoon along the railway corridor, 13 April 1945.â This soldierâs STEN MkII has a grip just in front of the trigger mechanism cover and behind the magazine housing and ejection port. Itâs actually in a position close to that of the original STEN MkIâs integral folding pistol grip.
Soldier of the 2nd York and Lancaster Regiment with a STEN MkII outfitted with a homemade front grip, Burma 1945 (IWM SE3804)
At the end of the day the adaptation is a good idea, a front grip provides a means of pulling the weapon into the shoulder and a more natural place to grasp other than the barrel nut, the trigger mechanism housing or the magazine â which was discouraged. It is interesting to note that Iâve yet to see any examples of a MkIII being fitted with a front grip like these.
This is certainly something Iâm going to do more research into to see if thereâs any documentary reference to the use of front grips like these. With the introduction of the MkV, with its front grip, it seems that the idea was sound enough. If you know of any other examples let me know in the comments!
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It’s essential for soldiers to know how to use and maintain their weapons properly. We’ve been collecting training manuals, pamphlets and handbooks (as part of the TAB reference collection) to give us a wider understanding of how troops were trained and how they used their weapons.
In this video we take a look at the British Army’s 1942 small arms training pamphlet for the ‘Thompson Machine carbine’.
Diagram showing firing the hip (Matthew Moss)
The pamphlet, issued in July 1944, is written for instructors to train troops how to handle, maintain and use the Thompson. The pamphlet was eventually superseded by one covering both the STEN and Thompson.
Diagram showing the Thompson Machine Carbine disassembled (Matthew Moss)
The pamphlet is just 12 pages long but includes some interesting insights and an appendix looking at the ‘spotlight projector’ training instrument.
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While the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has prevented some archival research I had planned which would have informed much of the STEN series, our good friend Richard at the Vickers Machine Gun Collection and Research Association, has come to our aid and weâre able to cover some of the loading accessories developed for the Stenâs magazines.
As we know the Sten uses a 32-round double stack, single feed magazine which can trace its origins back through the Lanchester Machine Carbine to the Haenel MP28,IIâs magazine designed by Hugo Schmeisser [patented in 1931].
Sten Magazine, inert 9x19mm rounds and MkII and MkIV magazine fillers
The nature of the single feed makes the magazine difficult to load by hand with the last few rounds very hard to insert. So a series of four marks of âmagazine fillersâ were developed. These are described in the British Armyâs official List of Changes in February 1943.
The MkI is described as consisting of âa lever mounted on a short case which conforms to the shape of the magazine. It is hand operated, the loading lever being given a rocking motion during filling. The MKI slipped over the top of a magazine with a rivetted spring tab which indexed into a notch in the front of the Sten mag.
A cutaway showing the MkII filler
The MkII is very similar but simplified by having the spring catch mounted on the rear instead of the side and engaged a âsmall rectangular slot on the magazineâ. The rear of the spring is turned up slightly to allow the user to remove its from the magazine.
The MkIII, which is possibly the rarest of the fillers, is described as:
“hand operated but of different design from the MkI and MkII. It consists essentially of a spring loaded vertical plunger which is attached externally to a case, the latter to assemble on the magazine. There is no retaining catch. It comprises the following parts:
Case. Is a rectangular shaped steel pressing with a tube of rectangular section welded thereto. The latter, which houses the plunger and spring, has a hole trilled at the lower end to accommodate a pin which restricts the amount of movement of the plunger and acts as a stop for the compressing spring.
Plunger, loading. Is made of two laminated steel strips welded together the top part of which is set to form a handle. The body of the plunger is slotted to accommodate the compression spring. The top part is splayed to form a suitable contact with the cartridge.”
List of Changes, Feb. 1943
Sten accessories including a sling and a MkII magazine filler
The other more common filler is the MkIV. Which is a much simpler design with a loading lever mounted on top of a clip which is attached to the rear of the magazine body and retained by a spring similar to that of the MkII.
Rich has very kindly demonstrated the use of the two most common fillers â the MkII and the simpler MkIV. It takes Rich just under 2 minutes to load that magazine, but he was doing his best to show various angles and unlike a British soldier during the war he hasnât regularly loaded magazines with one of these fillers either. Despite that the clip gives a good idea of how fast you could load a mag once youâre in the groove.
With the MkIV filler Rich was able to load the mag in about 1 minute 15 seconds, the stability of resting the base of the mag on the table helped with the MkIVâs simpler design.
Manual diagram showing both the MkII and MkVI
Also, as a follow on to our previous episode looking at the Sterling Submachine Gunâs magazine Rich has also demonstrated the loading of a Sterling mag to its 34 round capacity. No magazine filler needed with George Patchettâs double-stack, double feed magazine.
Massive thanks to Richard for taking the time to film the clips used in the video. please do go and check out Richard’s channel and www.vickersmg.org.uk.
In May 1946, George Patchett patented a new curved magazine which would become one of the Sterlingâs most recognisable features. It addressed some of the serious shortcomings of the STENâs magazine.
George Patchettâs machine carbine, Which later that came to be known as the Sterling, had been initially designed to use the standard STEN magazine. This makes complete sense as not only was the STENâs magazine readily available but it stood to reason that the British Army would prefer to retain the large number of magazines it already had in stores.
A Sterling L2A3 with a disassembled Sterling commercial-pattern magazine (Matthew Moss)
The STENâs magazine is, however, the gunâs weakest link. Its a double-stack, single feed 32-round magazine was difficult to load and could feed unreliably when not looked after. The Patchett prototype performed well during initial testing in 1943, but later sand, mud and arctic testing of the Patchett against various other submachine guns highlighted the limitations of the STEN magazine â regardless of the weapon using it.
Patchett’s Original Toolroom prototype (Matthew Moss)
At some point in 1945, Patchett developed a series of new magazines, a 20-round âPatrolâ magazine, a 40-round âStandardâ magazine and a 60-round âAssaultâ magazine. By late 1946, these had been superseded by a 35-round magazine designed to fit into the basic pouch of the British Armyâs 1944 Pattern web equipment.
Patchett addressed the STEN magazineâs shortcomings by designing his magazine with a curve which allowed the slightly tapered 9Ă19mm rounds to feed more reliably. He also replaced the traditional magazine follower with a pair of rollers which minimised friction and allowed dust, grit and dirt to be rolled out of the way improving reliability. Patchettâs magazine was designed so it could be economically stamped from sheet metal and folded and spot welded into shape. It was also simple to disassemble for cleaning and requires no tools for disassembly.
George Patchettâs US patent for his roller magazine follower (US Patent Office)
By 1951 the magazine had been largely perfected but a trials report suggested that the magazineâs feed lips needed to be reinforced. Despite this the Sterling was said to be “better than all other weapons tested.” Following further development and testing the L2A1 Sterling submachine gun was eventually adopted in the summer of 1954. We will cover the development, adoption and service of the Sterling at a later date.
In 1952, Patchett added a pair of strengthening ribs to the inside of the magazine which also further reduced friction on the rollers. He also replaced the oval follower spring with a more efficient circular one with the ribs acting to hold it in place. The final production magazines held 34 rounds and were substantially easier to load than the earlier STENâs.
Patchettâs US patent for his circular magazine spring held in position by the stamped magazine body (US Patent Office)
The L2A1/MkII, introduced in 1954, was the first Patchett to incorporate an angled magazine housing which improved feeding reliability from the Patchettâs patented curved, double stack, double feed magazine. The Sterlingâs magazine housing was angled forward slightly at 82-degrees.
The magazines used by the British military differed from Patchettâs design. The British government, perhaps unwilling to purchase the rights to manufacture Patchettâs design, developed the âMagazine, L1A2â. Nearly two million of these were built at Mettoy, Rolls Razor, ROF Fazakerley and the Woolwich Royal Laboratories. The L1A2 magazine was slightly simpler to manufacture but retained Patchettâs roller follower while the magazineâs body was made from two, rather than four, pieces of stamped steel and electrically welded together. The government-designed magazine is 5cm (2 inches) longer than Sterlingâs magazines.
disassembled Sterling commercial-pattern magazine (Matthew Moss)Rear edge of the magazine, with Sterling factory markings (Matthew Moss)
The example magazine seen above and in the accompanying video is Sterling-made and is marked with the company name and patent numbers. We can see the folded sheet metal construction and the overlaps at the rear of the magazine body.
Patchettâs patented-roller follower and circular amazing spring (Matthew Moss)
When Canada adopted the C1, a modified version of the Sterling, they dispensed with Patchettâs roller system and designed their own magazine which held 30, rather than 34 rounds, but could be used in all Sterling-pattern guns.
On the front of the magazine is an over-insertion stop built into the edge of the magazine body, at the rear is another magazine stop with a flat spring which limits rattle and helps properly align the magazine in the breech for optimal feeding.
The M50 is one of the quintessential early Cold War submachine guns. Cheap, simple and utilitarian. It evolved from the earlier M46 and was developed by Dansk Industri Syndikat in Denmark. The M50 has a simple blowback action, is chambered in 9Ă19mm and feeds from 32-round double stack single feed magazines.
The weapon’s has a clam-shell like receiver that hinges at the rear and allows the barrel, bolt and recoil spring to be removed. The M50’s folding stock has a leather cover and while the length of pull is a little short it provides a decent cheek weld.
Madsen M50 (Matthew Moss)
The M50 has a relatively slow rate of fire of around 500 rounds per minute which makes it very easy to make single shots while in full-auto. The sights are extremely simple with a single rear peep sight.
It has manual safety switch on the left side of the receiver which locks the sear in place and a spring-loaded grip safety just behind the magazine well. The amount of pressure needed to disengage it is minimal and a firm firing grip of the magazine is all that is needed.Â
Right side of the Madsen M50 with stock folded (Matthew Moss)
The Madsen went through a number of changes with various models having different magazine release types, selectors and manual safety positions. The M53 introduced in 1953, fed from a curved magazine and had an improved magazine release. Some models had an additional fire-selector and the safety moved back above the trigger. Some models retained the forward grip safety while others moved it to behind the pistol grip. Some patterns of M53 also had a barrel shroud for mounting a bayonet as well as added wooden panels on the pistol grip.
Left side of the Madsen M50 with stock deployed and magazine removed, not the improved magazine release (Matthew Moss)
Weâll have a more in-depth look at the Madsen M50 in the future looking at the various models in some more detail.
Special thanks to my friend Chuck at Gunlab for letting me take a look at his M50.
The Sten is one of Britainâs iconic Second World War Small arms. Two men are principally responsible for its development Colonel Reginal Vernon Shepherd and Mr. Harold John Turpin a pair of small arms and engineering experts with considerable experience.
Turpin was born in Kent in 1893, served his apprenticeship as a draughtsman in Erith and in 1922, he joined the drawing office at the Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield â Britainâs principal state small arms centre.
British Army manual illustration
Reginald Shepherd was born in 1892, received an Bachelor of Science Degree from Leeds University in 1912. In October 1914, he joined the West Yorkshire Regiment as a second lieutenant, serving in Gallipoli and Egypt. After the war, with his engineering background, he assigned as 2nd Assistant Superintendent at the Design Department at RSAF Enfield in December 1922, and promoted to captain.
The two men found themselves joining Enfield at around the same time. In November 1933, Shepherd, now a major, was appointed Inspector of Small-Arms (Class 2) at Enfield and assisted in getting the Bren light machine gun into service. He remained at Enfield until 1936, when he retired from the army and spent a short spell at BSA before being recalled. In late 1939, Major Shepherd returned to active service and once again took up the position of Inspector of Armaments, this time at the Ministry of Supply Design Department at Woolwich Arsenal.
Inside RSAF Enfield (Royal Armouries)
By the outbreak of the Second World War Turpin had become the senior draughtsman at Enfield and when the development of the Lanchester Machine Carbine began he was paired with Major Shepherd to draw up technical drawings for the gunâs production.
The two men decided that a simpler, cheaper submachine gun could be produced and in December 1940 set about designing it, with Turpin in the lead. During the Winter of 1940-41 the first prototypes were built. Development of the first Sten â the T40, was completed on 8th January 1941, taking just 36 days.
14 pilot models were ordered but only two were completed by engineers at the Philco Radio Works in Middlesex: T-40/1 and T-40/2. The gun was initially designated the âT-40â or Turpin, 1940. By the end of January 1941, it had become known as the âST Machine Carbineâ. The âCarbine, Machine, STEN, MkIâ was approved for issue on 7th March, 1941, with 100,000 guns ordered.
How did the gun become known as the âSTENâ and what did Sten stand for?
We know that the âSâ stands for Shepherd and the âTâ for Turpin, but what about the âENâ â it is generally accepted to represent âEnfieldâ. Why? Because RSAF Enfield is synonymous with British military firearms. Additionally the Bren light machine gunâs name is a portmanteau of âBRâ from Brno, the location of the Czech factory the zb.26/30 originated from, and âENâ for Enfield, the British factory that anglicised the design for British manufacture and service.
Enfield, however, wasnât where the Sten was designed. Turpin and Shepherd claimed that most of the work on the design had been done out of hours. Additionally, during the winter of 1940, the Armament Design Department was relocated, from Enfield to a former Drill Hall in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire to escape the bombing of London.
While the Sten may not have been designed at Enfield, the first prototype was partially assembled there with work also done at Turpinâs own home workshop. A further 46 pre-production pilot models were later ordered from RSAF Enfield, in February 1941.
Intriguingly, early accounts suggest that âENâ may have stood for âEnglandâ â not âEnfieldâ. In October 1942, the fifth instalment of âKnow Your Weaponsâ, a semi-official series of weapons manuals printed by the publisher Nicholson & Watson, explains that âENâ did in fact stand for âEnglandâ.
In June 1943, Turpin penned a semi-anonymous article for âThe Model Engineerâ, about the design and development of the gun, which repeated this claim. An October 1943, article in the US Popular Mechanics magazine, entitled âMachine Guns from Backyardâ, includes a supposed quote from the inventors explaining that the âE and N stood for England.â
‘The Sten Carbine’, Model Engineer, Turpin, June 1943
A more official account came in June 1949, at a hearing of the Board of the Royal Commission Awards to Inventors (a board set up to reward inventors who had done important war work). One of the board members Lord Justice Sir Lionel Cohen asked Shepherd: “Why was it called the Sten?” The colonel replied: “It was called the Sten by the then Director General of Artillery. The âSâ was from my name, the âTâ from Mr. Turpin, who was my draughtsman and who did a very large amount of the design, and the âENâ was for England. That is the origin of the name, for which I accept no responsibility.â This suggests that the âENâ standing for âEnglandâ may have originated from the upper echelons.
Sadly, there was no officially published explanation of the name as official manuals rarely go into superfluous detail. In 1948, however, Ian Hay published R.O.F. The story of the Royal Ordnance Factories, 1939-1948 in which he stated the âENâ was a reference to the Enfield factory. Similarly, another early published account, D.M. Wardâs 1946 The Other Battle, a history of BSA, also suggested it represented the factory name.
In truth it is difficult to know exactly what the âENâ stood for. It may be that both Enfield and England were discussed and used by various individuals and offices. There may have been an element of propaganda to including âEnglandâ in a weaponâs name which led senior officers to push this in the press and direct the gunâs inventors to suggest this was the case too. Of course the authors of those earlier books may have mistakenly believed âENâ stood for Enfield, as it does in Bren. Personally, Iâm inclined to follow the primary sources attributed to the two men responsible for the design, and believe it initially stood for England.
The Other Battle, D.M. Ward, (1946)
Shepherd was awarded an OBE in January 1942, and became the Assistant Chief Engineer Armament Design (A/CEAD), he was promoted to Lt. Colonel in August 1943. He retired from active duty at the age of 55, in January 1947, and was removed from the reserve list. He was granted the honourary rank of colonel. He died in April 1950, aged 58. Turpin retired from RSAF Enfield in 1953, and died in April 1967, aged 74.
Beyond a pair of discretionary payments, ÂŁ1,500 to Shepherd and a small payment of ÂŁ200 to Turpin, neither man was officially rewarded as they were deemed to have essentially done what they were paid for, designing small arms. Scant reward and recognition for a weapon which became one of the key wartime small arms of the British and Commonwealth forces.
Our thanks also to Jonathan Ferguson, of the Royal Armouries, for sharing his thoughts on the ‘Enfield’ vs ‘England’ debate.
Bibliography
The Sten Machine Carbine, P. Laidler, (2000) R.O.F. – The Story of the Royal Ordnance Factories, 1939-1948, I. Hay, (1949) The Other Battle, D.M. Ward, (1946) The Sterling Submachine Gun, M.J. Moss, (2018) The Sten Gun, L. Thompson, (2012)
‘Sten & Bren Guns’, Know Your Weapon #5, (Oct. 1942)
‘The Sten Carbine’, Model Engineer, 3 Jun. 1943, H.J. Turpin Board of the Royal Commission Awards to Inventors – 1946-49
‘Machine Guns From Backyard’, Popular Mechanics, Oct. 1943
Developed in the late 1960s and introduced in 1969/70 the MPi 69 was Steyr’s entry into an already crowded European submachine gun market. Heavily influenced by the Israeli Uzi it had a bolt which telescoped over the barrel and fed from a box magazine that was inserted through a magazine well-come-pistol grip.
The MPi 69 weighed 6.5lbs (2.93kg) unloaded and had a polymer lower receiver into which a stamped metal upper inserted. Unlike the Uzi it had a collapsing, rather than folding stock, similar to the M3 submachine gun’s, and was cocked not by a handle but by pulling the sling (which was acted on the bolt) to the rear.
Steyr MPi 69 (Rock Island Auction Company)
The MPi 69 remained in production into the early 1980s when it was replaced by the improved MPi 81. Moving away from the slick-cocking ‘gimmick’ the MPi 81 had a conventional, non-reciprocating, charging handle on the left side of the receiver. The MPi’s polymer lower allows it to be a pound lighter despite being slightly longer as a result it also balances better than the standard Uzi carbine.
Steyr MPi 69 diagram (Steyr Manual)
The MPi submachine guns fed from 25 or 32 round box magazines and both guns had a heel-type magazine release paddle in the base of the pistol grip. They also shared their magazines with the AUG 9x19mm submachine gun conversion. Check out our earlier video on the Steyr AUG conversion here.
Steyr MPi 81 (Rock Island Auction Company)
The MPi submachine guns fire from an open bolt and had a 10in barrel and has a push through safety with settings for safe, semi and full auto and unlike the Uzi it does not have a grip safety – simplifying manufacture.
The MPi also has a progressive trigger which when set to full-auto will allow the user to fire semi when pulled to the first stage and full when pulled fully to the rear. While the MPi 69 had a cyclic rate of around 500 per minute, the MPi 81 increased this rate to ~750rpm.
Steyr MPi 69 disassembly diagram (Steyr Manual)
The MPi can be field stripped by simply rotating the receiver end cap up 90-degrees and pulling the bolt out the rear. The gun can be further stripped but the moulded polymer lower receiver can be difficult to remove from the upper. Like the Uzi the barrel nut is unscrewed to remove the barrel.
The MPi 81 fully disassembled (Vic Tuff)
It is unclear just how many MPi submachine guns were produced but they didn’t see any significant contracts beyond a few small sales to police forces and militaries.
The MPi 81 remained in production into the early 1990s when it was replaced by the smaller and more compact Steyr TMP in 1992. In turn the TMP design was sold to B&T a decade later.
Our thanks to the collection that let us take a look at this MPi 81 and to our friend Miles Vining for sharing some of his shooting footage of the MPi 81 with us, check out his video here and more of his work at www.silahreport.com.
Here’s a short video looking at how the unusual Hotchkiss Universel deploys from its compact, folded position. The whole process takes just seconds. Impressive engineering but within a couple of years the Universel would be surpassed by far more compact, ergonomic and serviceable designs like the Uzi and PM-63.
The Armourers Bench 