Uzi – The Armourers Bench

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 Mpi61 b.png — 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.

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 mpi2.png — 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.

Steyr MPi81.Movie_Snapshot.jpg — 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.

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Specifications (from Steyr brochure):

Overall Length: Deployed – 26.6in (67.5cm) / Collapsed – 18.3in (46.5cm)
Barrel Length: 10.2in (26cm)
Weight (empty): 6.28lbs (2.85kg)
Action: Blowback
Capacity: 25 or 32-round box magazines
Calibre: 9×19mm
Rate of Fire: ~750 rpm

Bibliography:

Steyr MPi 69 Manual (source)

Steyr MPi 81 Manual (source)

This week Vic brings us both a video and blog on the Micro UZI

The Micro UZI was an oddball in the UZI family, it was derived from the UZI Pistol which was itself born of an idea to get another IMI product introduced into the US civilian marketplace after the success of the full size UZI carbine by the then importer Action Arms. To get around, or at least comply with the strict US BATF regulations as to what a pistol constituted, a miniaturised variation of the full size UZI was proposed. It had to have the ‘look’ of an UZI but be manageable to handle and shoot with one hand. This required more work than had been involved in the development of the Mini UZI.

The pistol had to have a closed bolt and only fire semi-auto, no buttstock could be fitted on the pistol as this would contravene BATF regulations. The bolt was based on the Mini UZI bolt and the striker but redesigned to be more compact to fit the much shorter receiver. A blocking catch similar to the then recently released model ‘B’ UZI Carbine, was fitted to the bolt. This was a safety device that prevented the gun firing ‘out of battery’. The receiver was the same height and width as all the other UZI family but considerably shorter. To reduce weight the receiver stampings were of 1.5mm material and not 2mm as per the full size & Mini UZI.

The UZI pistol was introduced onto the civilian market around 1984. It eventually was sold in the following calibres: 9mm, 9x21mm (Italian market), .41 AE, and .45 ACP.

Argentine Special Forces. — A joint service special forces team member from Argentina, with a Micro Uzi, posts security during a multinational amphibious beach assault training exercise in Ancon, Peru, July, 2010. (source)

In 1985 IMI realised that the UZI Pistol could be modified to be a compact and effective SMG. To convert it to full-auto fire the lower lip of the bolt which was milled off during manufacture of the semi-auto pistol was left in place. The selector block on the trigger assembly was removed and a folding stock, which was smaller than the Mini UZIs was fitted. The open ‘U’ notch rear sight from the pistol was replaced by a traditional ‘peep’ sight, and finally the barrel from the pistol was lengthened to 5.25″ and compensator notches milled into it to reduce muzzle flip and help control the gun whilst firing. The Micro UZI had a phenomenally high rate of fire at 1,800 rounds per minute, hence most guns were fired in semi-auto only (note that the example I filmed has the selector ‘blocked’ to prevent full-auto selection)!

It is also interesting to note that the Micro UZI was the first gun in the UZI family that started off as a semi-automatic gun and became a full-auto one!

If you enjoyed the video and this article please consider supporting our work here.

Specifications:

Overall Length: 46cm / 18 inches
Length (with stock folded): 25cm / 9.8 inches
Weight: 1.5kg/ 3.3 lbs
Action: blowback
Calibre: 9x19mm & various (see text)
Cyclic Rate: 1500-1800 rounds
Feed: 20, 25 or 32-round box magazines