The Uzi (officially cased as UZI) is a family of Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns and machine pistols first designed by Major Uziel "Uzi" Gal in the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the State of Israel. It is one of the first weapons to incorporate a telescoping bolt design, which allows the magazine to be housed in the pistol grip for a shorter weapon.
The Uzi prototype was finished in 1950. It was first introduced to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) special forces in 1954, and the weapon was placed into general issue two years later. The IDF supplied Uzis to rear-echelon troops, officers, artillery troops and tank crews, as well as a frontline weapon by elite light infantry assault forces.
The Uzi has been exported to over 90 countries.[16] Over its service lifetime, it has been manufactured by Israel Military Industries, FN Herstal, and other manufacturers. From the 1960s through to the 1980s, more Uzi submachine guns were sold to more military, law enforcement and security markets than any other submachine gun ever made.[17]
Design
The Uzi uses an open-bolt, blowback-operated design, quite similar to the Jaroslav Holeček-designed Czech ZK 476 (prototype only)[18] and the production Sa 23, Sa 24, Sa 25, and Sa 26 series of submachine guns introduced in 1948. The open bolt design exposes the barrel's breech end, improving cooling after periods of continuous fire. However, it means that since the bolt is held to the rear when cocked, the receiver is more susceptible to contamination from sand and dirt. It uses a telescoping bolt design, in which the bolt wraps around the breech end of the barrel.[19] This allows the barrel to be moved far back into the receiver and the magazine to be housed in the pistol grip, allowing for a heavier, slower-firing bolt in a shorter, better-balanced weapon.[17]
The weapon is constructed primarily from stamped sheet metal, making it less expensive per unit to manufacture than an equivalent design machined from forgings. With relatively few moving parts, the Uzi is easy to strip for maintenance or repair. The magazine is housed within the pistol grip, allowing for intuitive and easy reloading in dark or difficult conditions, under the principle of "hand finds hand". The pistol grip is fitted with a grip safety, making it difficult to fire accidentally. However, the protruding vertical magazine makes the gun awkward to fire when prone.[19] The Uzi features a bayonet lug.[20]
Operation
The non-reciprocating charging handle on the top of the receiver cover is used to retract the bolt. Variants have a ratchet safety mechanism which will catch the bolt and lock its movement if it is retracted past the magazine, but not far enough to engage the sear. When the handle is fully retracted to the rear, the bolt will cock (catch) on the sear mechanism and the handle and cover are released to spring fully forward under power of a small spring. The cover will remain forward during firing since it does not reciprocate with the bolt. The military and police versions will fire immediately upon chambering a cartridge as the Uzi is an open bolt weapon.
There are two external safety mechanisms on the Uzi. The first is the three-position selector lever located at the top of the grip and behind the trigger group. The rear position is "S", or "safe" (S = Sicher or Secure on the MP2), which locks the sear and prevents movement of the bolt.
The second external safety mechanism is the grip safety, which is located at the rear of the grip. It is meant to help prevent accidental discharge if the weapon is dropped or the user loses a firm grip on the weapon during firing.
The trigger mechanism is a conventional firearm trigger, but functions only to control the release mechanism for either the bolt (submachine gun) or firing pin holding mechanism (semi-auto) since the Uzi does not incorporate an internal cocking or hammer mechanism. While the open-bolt system is mechanically simpler than a closed-bolt design (e.g. Heckler & Koch MP5), it creates a noticeable delay between when the trigger is pulled and when the gun fires.
The magazine release button or lever is located on the lower portion of the pistol grip and is intended to be manipulated by the non-firing hand. The paddle-like button lies flush with the pistol grip in order to help prevent accidental release of the magazine during rigorous or careless handling.
History and operational use
The Uzi submachine gun was designed by Captain (later Major) Uziel Gal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The weapon was submitted to the Israeli Army for evaluation and won out over more conventional designs due to its simplicity and economy of manufacture. Gal did not want the weapon to be named after him, but his request was ignored. The Uzi was officially adopted in 1951. First introduced to IDF special forces in 1954, the weapon was placed into general issue two years later. The first Uzis were equipped with a short, fixed wooden buttstock, and this is the version that initially saw combat during the 1956 Suez Campaign. Later models would be equipped with a folding metal stock.[21]
The Uzi was used as a personal defense weapon by rear-echelon troops, officers, artillery troops and tankers, as well as a frontline weapon by elite light infantry assault forces. The Uzi's compact size and firepower proved instrumental in clearing Syrian bunkers and Jordanian defensive positions during the 1967 Six-Day War. Though the weapon was phased out of frontline IDF service in the 1980s, some Uzis and Uzi variants were still used by a few IDF units until December 2003, when the IDF announced that it was retiring the Uzi from all IDF forces.[26] It was subsequently replaced by the fully automatic Micro Tavor.
In general, the Uzi was a reliable weapon in military service.
Worldwide sales
Total sales of the weapon to date (end of 2001) has netted IMI over 2 billion US dollars, with over 90 countries using the weapons either for their armed forces or in law enforcement.[17]
- The Royal Netherlands Army first issued the Uzi in 1956. It was the first country other than Israel to use it as a service weapon. Their models are distinct in that they have a wooden stock (made to their specifications) that is more angular, an angled butt and a curved comb, and is 2 inches longer than the IDF model. The wooden stock versions were mainly used by the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Marine Corps. The Army and Airforce received the metal foldable stock versions as replacement. No bayonets were issued.
- The German Bundeswehr (especially its tank crews) used the Uzi since 1959 under the designation MP2.[28][29] It replaced the MP1 (Beretta M1938/49) and Thompson M1 in service. The MP2 was fitted with the IDF-style wooden stock and the later MP2A1 was fitted with the metal folding stock. It can be recognized by its distinctive three-position "DES" selector switch: "D" for "Dauerfeuer" ("continuous-fire", or "automatic"), "E" for "Einzelfeuer" ("single-fire", or "semi-automatic"), and "S" for "Sicher" ("secure", or "safe"). It was replaced with the
Military variants
The standard Uzi has a 10 in barrel. It has a rate of automatic fire of 600 rounds per minute (rpm) when chambered in 9mm Parabellum; the .45 ACP model's rate of fire is slower at 500 rpm.[21]
The Mini Uzi is a smaller version of the regular Uzi, first introduced in 1980. The Mini Uzi is 600 mm long or 360 mm long with the stock folded. Its barrel length is 197 mm, its muzzle velocity is 375 m/s and its effective range is 100 m. It has a greater automatic rate of fire of 950 rounds per minute due to the shorter bolt. Its weight is approximately 2.7 kg.[21]
The Micro Uzi is an even further scaled down version of the Uzi, introduced in 1986. The Micro Uzi is 486 mm long, reduced to 282 mm with the stock folded, and its barrel length is 117 mm. It has a closed bolt compared to its original counterpart.[34] Its muzzle velocity is 350 m/s and its cyclic rate of fire is 1,200 rpm. It weighs slightly over 1.5 kg.[21]
The Uzi Pro, an improved variant of the Micro Uzi, was launched in 2010 by
Civilian variants
Uzi carbine
The Uzi carbine is similar in appearance to the Uzi submachine gun. The Uzi carbine is fitted with a 400 mm barrel, to meet the minimum rifle barrel length requirement for civilian sales in the United States. A small number of Uzi carbines were produced with the standard length barrel for special markets. It fires from a closed-bolt position in semi-automatic mode only and uses a floating firing pin as opposed to a fixed firing pin.[27] The FS-style selector switch has two positions (the automatic setting was blocked): "F" for "fire" (semi-auto) and "S" for "safe". Uzi carbines are available in .22 LR, 9mm, .41 AE, and .45 ACP calibers.
The Uzi carbine has two main variants, the Model A (imported from 1980 to 1983) and the Model B (imported from 1983 until 1989). The Type A was the same as the fully automatic Uzi, while the Type B had a firing pin safety and improved sights and sling swivels. These two variants were imported and distributed by Action Arms.[27]
The American firm Group Industries made limited numbers of a copy of the Uzi "B" model semiauto carbine for sale in the US along with copies of the Uzi submachine gun for the U.S. collectors' market. After registering several hundred submachine guns transferable to the general public through a special government-regulated process, production was halted due to financial troubles at the company.
Copies
Ero and Mini-Ero
The Ero submachine gun was produced by Končar Arma Grupa d.o.o. in Zagreb, Croatia from 1992 until 1996. Between 15,000 and 20,000 were produced. It was adopted by Armed Forces of Croatia in 1993 during the Croatian War of Independence.[41] The Ero submachine gun is not a literal copy of the Israeli Uzi submachine gun. It is made of higher quality materials, and on earlier examples the barrel is thicker than on the original, and the receiver cover is slightly wider.[42] They were made entirely from steel stampings, causing it to weigh more (3.73 kg).[43] Main difference between Ero and Uzi was in the rate of burst fire, which was 600 rounds/min for the Uzi and 650 rounds/min for the Ero).[44]
Users
Gallery
In popular culture
In over 200 action films from Hollywood film studies, as well as other major studies worldwide, action heroes and antiheroes are shown frantically firing from Uzi held in one hand, or even from two Uzis held in two hands. A webpage on the subject of the Uzi manufacturer, Israel Weapon Industries contains a list of notable films of this type, starting with the 1976 Raid on Entebbe. IWI says that Arnold Schwarzenegger fired more rounds from Uzi than all other action heroes, these including James Bond, Charles Bronson, Jackie Chan, Keanu Reeves, Chuck Norris, Michael Douglas, John Travolta, Vincent Cassel, and Ed Harris.[94] The creator of Uzi, Uziel Gal was a consultant Terminator 2, where he gave lessons to Linda Hamilton, who played Sarah Connor, the main female protagonist.[95] Charlie Gao of The National Interest suggests that the surge of the popculture popularity of Uzi was because it was the first widespread machine gun of modern design after the bulky ones originating in World War II era.[96]
See also
- List of equipment of the Israel Defense Forces
External links
References
- Kiprah Tempur Pasukan Belanda Angkasa Edisi Koleksi No. 82: Kisah Heroik Pertempuran Laut Trikora, Kompas Gramedia Group, February 2013^
- "Today a New Stage Begins" Che Guevara in Bolivia^
- Scott Fitzsimmons. Mercenaries in Asymmetric Conflicts Cambridge University Press, November 2012^