The SIG Model 1920 submachine gun

The SIG Model 1920 submachine gun was a licensed copy of the modified Bergmann / Schmeisser MP.18/I submachine gun. It was produced in Switzerland by famous arms-making factory SIG in Neuhausen, between 1920 and 1927. SIG Model 1920 differed from its German-made prototype by having magazine of greater capacity, and different calibers (7.65 Parabellum and 7.63 Mauser). Each SIG model 1920 submachine gun was marked "Brevet Bergmann" (Bergmann patent) on the top of the magazine housing. The version of the SIG M1920 in 7.65 Luger caliber was sold to Finland. Versions in the 7.63 Mauser caliber were sold to Japan and China.

 SIG Model 1920 "Brevet Bergmann" submachine gun.

In 1930 SIG introduced an improved version of this design, which differed in the placement of the magazine (on the right side), and also had a detachable forward vertical grip below the stock. This was made to avoid users gripping the long magazine with left hand, which could result in feeding problems.

SIG Model 1930 submachine gun.

The SIG Model 1920 "Brevet Bergmann" submachine gun is a blowback operated, full automatic only weapon that fires from open bolt. Tubular receiver is attached to the front of the wooden stock, and could be pivoted barrel down for maintenance and disassembly. Magazine is inserted from the left (right on Model 1930) side. The manual safety consisted of the L-shaped cut, made at the rear of the cocking handle slot. This cut was used to lock the bolt in its rearward position by putting the cocking handle into the cut. Barrel was enclosed into the tubular jacket, perforated for better cooling. SIG submachine guns, purchased by Japan, were also fitted with bayonet mount. The rifle-type stock was made from wood. The rear sight was of tangent type, adjustable from 100 to 1000 meters range.

Caliber	7.65x22 Luger / Parabellum, 7.63x25 Mauser
Weight	4.1 kg empty
Length	840 mm
Barrel length	210 mm
Rate of fire	600 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity	50 rounds

 

Experimental Aircrafts of WW2 by Bell Aircraft

The experimental XFM-1 Airacuda by Bell Aircraft

In the same way that the XFM-1 Airacuda was a "different" sort of aircraft, the Bell company itself was "different sort" of aircraft maker. Know more for its unique elements in the P-39 Airacobra piston-engine fighter of World War 2 to the Bell helicopter designs afterwards, the company made a splash onto the aircraft engineering stage with the introduction of their ambitious bomber hunter known as the XFM-1 "Airacuda". The aircraft would mark the company's introduction onto the world stage and - despite the design being a general failure - prove to the world that Bell was revolutionary company putting dreams into practice.

The XFM-1 Airacuda was the Bell Aircraft firms first foray into aircraft design, proving it was a different sort of aircraft maker.

Externally, the XFM-1 featured a cutting-edge approach to design when compared to its contemporaries of the late 1930's. If Bell wanted attention with its first attempt, it definitely got it when unveiling the Airacuda. The aircraft was designed as a type of bomber interceptor or - perhaps more precisely - a bomber destroyer. The system would field a variety of heavy caliber weaponry, be able to carry bombs aloft and accommodate a crew of 5. The design was expected to provide considerable speed, range and firepower to fulfill its bomber-destroying purposes.

Being a generally all-new design altogether - nothing in the skies at the time remotely attempted to accomplish what the Airacuda set out to do - the Airacuda became a victim of its own ambition.

Power was derived from a pair of Allison V-1710-41 liquid-cooled supercharged V12 engines delivering a lofty 1,150 horsepower each. Despite the adequate output for these engines, the system was designed as a "pusher" type meaning that the propellers were mounted to the rear of each nacelle and thus "pushed" the plane through the air instead of pushing it like traditional piston engines operated. Pusher type engines have been attempted a whole World War before but the performance was drastically lower than its puller counterparts. Pusher-type engine systems also had a nasty habit of overheating consistently, shortening their operational life and opening the system up to mechanical failures. Initially, Larry Bell envisioned his aircraft to fly 300 miles per hour at about 20,000 feet with turbosupercharged Allison engines. This was drastically cut when the Air Corps ordered a scaled-down Allison to be used instead with the reason being that the turbosupercharger proved quite volatile and explosive in the YFM-1 when tested. This effectively destroyed any performance the Airacuda could achieve, bring the ceiling down to a paltry 12,000 feet and a top speed barely reaching 270 miles per hour.

All systems were eventually scrapped with only 1 prototype and 12 production models ever existing.

Design-wise, the Airacuda played every bit the part of revolutionary design. Beyond the crewed nacelles, at least three Airacuda's produced were operating the soon-to-be Bell trademark of tricycle landing gears (though these systems experienced their share of mechanical issues in the development). Wings were rounded at the edges and ran through each nacelle into the wing roots connecting the wing systems onto the forward portion of the fuselage. The nose section had a glazed canopy and the fuselage was streamlined, ending aft with a traditional T-style setup. In all, the Airacuda was most assuredly a different sort of aircraft.

The idea of providing the aircraft with rear-mounted propellers, however, lay in the ability for the forward portion of each nacelle to mount devastating weaponry. In this case, the Airacuda was built around the ability to field a powerful 37mm cannon in each nacelle position, manned by a crewmember. Effectively, the crewmembers assigned to each nacelle were cut off from interaction from their fuselage comrades. Additional weaponry consisted of 2 x 12.7mm heavy caliber air-cooled machine guns and 2 x 7.62mm general purpose machine guns. Armament-wise, the Airacuda had the firepower to contend with any bomber - current or future. The problem with this thinking was in the underperforming engines. Basically, the Airacuda lacked the speed and maneuverability to contend with other enemy fighters. This made the Airacuda a liability unto itself. The system would never have been able to be sent on its own to tackle enemy bombers. Should the need arise to combat the swift new breed of enemy fighters, the Airacuda was nothing more than a sitting duck to enemy fire. Additionally, the slow performing Airacuda could barely keep pace - if at all - with the crop of bombers in service with America. This no doubt sealed the fate of the Airacuda in terms of it becoming a long-term fixture in American military planning.

As formidable as the 37mm cannon armament sounded in theory, in practice it proved to be another matter altogether. It was found that a considerable amount of smoke filled the nacelle crew members position when the armament was fired. Additionally, these poor fellows were also at the mercy of the rest of the crew if (and when) it was time to evacuate the aircraft in an emergency as the propeller blades were seated directly behind each nacelle. A procedure was devised to have the pilot feather out each prop and small controlled explosives were provided to jettison the systems as well. The aircraft also proved dangerous to operate on a single engine - something the later (and more "traditional") designs seemed to overcome. The aircraft proved a handful to fly, though not terrible to the core. Pilots reported much work to keep the aircraft pleased and flying properly but landing was less of a chore and quite stable. The electrical internal components were highly complex and dangerous to the extent that a single outage would knock out more than one vital system.

Despite these major shortcomings - and at least two being lost to accidents - the Airacuda nevertheless fielded one entire operational squadron though only operating in 1938 through 1940 and were eventually removed from service in 1942 - used as nothing more than ground crew trainers. Beyond several photo opportunities across the country to drum up support, the Airacuda never fulfilled its purpose of bomber-interceptor and destroyer and never would see combat action in the Second World War.

In many ways a major setback, the Airacuda brought some well-deserved attention to the Bell Aircraft company. The firm would go on to design and produce the more well-known Airacobra and KingCobra - two designs that would serve the Soviets very well in their war with Germany. In the end, the Airacuda would become nothing more than trivia lore in the realm of US military aviation.

Specifications for the Bell XFM-1 Airacuda
Dimensions:
Length: 44.85ft (13.67m)
Width: 69.85ft (21.29m)
Height: 13.58ft (4.14m)

Performance:
Maximum Speed: 277mph (446kmh; 241kts)
Maximum Range: 2,600miles (4,184km)
Rate-of-Climb: 0ft/min (0m/min)
Service Ceiling: 30,512ft (9,300m; 5.8miles)

Armament Suite:
2 x 12.7mm machine guns
2 x 7.62mm machine guns
1 x 37mm cannon in left engine nacelle
1 x 37mm cannon in right engine nacelle

OPTIONAL:
2 x 300lb conventional drop bombs
Structure:
Accommodation: 5
Hardpoints: 2
Empty Weight:13,375lbs (6,067kg)
Maximum Take-Off Weight:17,333lbs (7,862kg)

Powerplant:
Engine(s): 2 x Allison V-1710-41 liquid-cooled supercharged V12 "pusher" engines delivering 1,150hp each.

The experimental X-1 rocket-propelled aircraft by Bell Aircraft

The Bell X-1 became quite possibly the most important American research aircraft of the 20th Century.

Specifically designed to be airdropped from a B-29 Superfortress, the X-1 would then power up its rocket-propelled thruster and hit speeds in excess of Mach 1. By the end of its production run, vast amounts of aeronautical data would be compiled, leading up to the modern age of turbojet and turbofan-powered flight.

The Bell X-1 was an advanced technology demonstrator that became the  first aircraft in the history of aviation to break the speed of sound.

The X-1 had its origins in a 1945 agreement between the United States Army Air Force and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics to develop a technological demonstrator to research kinetic heating of airframes at supersonic flight speeds. Though turbojet technology was already advancing all over the world, the decision was made to try the design with a liquid fuel rocket system which would be switched on upon being dropped in flight by a mother ship (in this case a Boeing B-29).

The Bell X-1 design was fundamental to the core, featuring a single rudder atop a tail assembly that held straight surfaces.

The main wing assemblies were also designed straight but engineered to be as thin as operationally possible and limit drag. The cockpit was forged straight into the fuselage design with the fuselage appearing quite enlarged to house the required amount of fuel for the rocket booster. A powered tricycle landing gear system was implemented and stowed into the fuselage when in flight.

With three X-1's produced and delivered, the first free-fall flight  occurred in 1946 with the first powered flight achieved in 1947.

The powered 1947 flight saw Captain Charles "Chuck" Yeager at the controls as he broke the sound barrier, hitting speeds of Mach 1 at over 40,000 feet. Later tests would see a leap into speeds of Mach 2.4 and an impressive altitude flight of 90,000 feet by 1954.

The trans-sonic research aircraft was one of the first true groundbreaking research aircraft of the Cold War.

Though several X-1's were lost for various reasons, the X-1 series as a whole served up priceless data for researchers that would bring about new engineering marvels in terms of military and civilian aviation.

Specifications for the Bell X-1

Dimensions:
Length: 31.00ft (9.45m)
Width: 28.02ft (8.54m)
Height: 0.00ft (0.00m)

Performance:
Maximum Speed: 967mph (1,556kmh; 840kts)
Rate-of-Climb: 0ft/min (0m/min)
Service Ceiling: 80,000ft (24,384m; 15.2miles)

Armament Suite:
None. Internal provision housing flight data and test equipment.
Structure:
Accommodation: 1
Hardpoints: 0
Empty Weight:8,100lbs (3,674kg)
Maximum Take-Off Weight:13,400lbs (6,078kg)

Powerplant:
Engine(s): 1 x Reaction Motors E6000-C4 (Thiokol XLR-11) four barrel liquid fuel rocket generating 6,000lbs of standard thrust.

The experimental X-5 Swing-Wing aircraft by Bell Aircraft

Bell engineers studied the captured German Messerschmitt Me P.1011 fighter after World War 2 to achieve the impressive X-5 design.

Its roots originated in the German Messerschmitt Me P.1101 of which the X-5 borrowed heavily from in terms of overall design. The jet-powered P.1101 was captured by American ground forces as Germany began giving up ground in the latter years of World War 2. Though the P.1101 was only 80% complete at the time of the American arrival, it made use of basic wing sweep principles to trial a variety of wing postures during its development. However, the infant German system relied on changes to the wing sweep while the aircraft was still on the ground. Only two X-5 prototypes were ever produced with the second being lost to accident. The X-5 program was being considered for an American/NATO low-cost tactical fighter initiative.

The X-5 was an experimental single-seat, single-engine, jet-powered fighter design prototype produced by the Bell Aircraft company and became the first aircraft to make use of in-flight variable geometry wings.

The X-5 program went on to prove the viability inherent in such technology in accordance to increasing maximum speeds, decreasing landing speeds and assisting in a better rate-of-climb - all from one wing system. The X-5 proved helpful to the Americans in the collecting of data at these varying wing sweeps at both subsonic and transonic speeds. Such technology would become the trademarks of upcoming Cold War-era combat aircraft like the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark and the Rockwell B-1 Bomber. Additionally, the British Panavia Tornado and the Soviet MiG-23/27 would also make use of the "swing-wing" approach.

In the X-5, the pilot was given full control of over the sweep of his aircraft's wings while in-flight. As such, he could adapt the sweep to the action at hand, be it take-off, landing or cruise - and supply more or less drag to the airframe as needed.

The Messerschmitt Me P.1101 itself was born out of the "Emergency Fighter Competition" instilled by the German Air Ministry (RLM) in the middle of 1944. The program essentially halted all production on bombers and instead focused on high-performance defensive-minded fighters to help defend Germany against the relentless Allied bombing campaigns wreaking havoc on her war-making infrastructure - Germany was now more or less embroiled in a defensive war and this along two major fronts. A new specification came down for the development of 2nd generation of German jet-powered fighters and Messerschmitt jumped on board within days. After two initial Messerschmitt designs were penciled, a finalized third design proposal was selected for development. The P.1101 was to have a deep fuselage to make room for the engine, applicable ductwork, the cockpit pressurization equipment, cannon armament and internal fuel. The fuselage would feature a nose-mounted intake to aspirate the Heinkel-Hirth He S 011 turbojet engine to be installed and wings were to be shoulder mounted assemblies with noticeable sweep - in fact, the wings were lifted from the revolutionary Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter-bomber. The single-seat cockpit would be fitted well ahead in the fuselage under a three-piece bubble canopy and a retractable tricycle undercarriage was utilized - the main landing gear legs coming from a Messerschmitt BF 109K fighter. The tail section was to be of a conventional type with a single vertical tail fin and applicable horizontal planes all made of wood. The tail assembly was fitted onto a tapered boom formed atop the engine exhaust port. Plans were made for cockpit armoring, carriage of four wire-guided missiles and a recessed centerline fuselage position for a single bomb.

Robert Woods and Bell Aircraft unveiled their similar X-5 in the early 1950s.

To help speed development of the P.1101 along, it was decided to construct the P.1101 V1 prototype alongside the wind tunnel and other data collection still ongoing. The P.1101 V1 design was also given wings that would adjust their sweep preflight and could test wing sweep at 35- and 45-degree angles. The wings were eventually set to test sweep at positions of 35-, 40- and 45-degrees. First flight was slated for sometime in June 1945 if all went as planned. All development and construction was to take place at the largely unknown Messerschmitt facility at Oberammergau nestled in the Bavarian mountains of Southern Germany. The Allies had no knowledge of the facility and therefore the area was relatively free of Allied air strikes.

The major difference in the Bell mount was in the use of in-flight variable geometry wings, this made possible by a collection of electric motors within a system as designed by Bell engineers.

However, the Americans were making tremendous headway into the region at the time. For fear of the P.1101 data falling into enemy hands, Messerschmitt employees moved the information into microfilm form and hid them in four locations at neighboring villages. The Allies moved into the area on April 29th, 1945 with the Americans taking Oberammergau - actually being somewhat surprised that the Messerschmitt facility even existed. The Me P.1101 V1 prototype was found tucked away in a tunnel and quickly secured by the Americans. It was only later that Messerschmitt employees revealed the missing data and their locations. However, by this time, the French Army had moved in and found the hidden P.1101 data, subsequently shipping them back to French authorities. A joint American-German effort led by Robert Woods of Bell Aircraft and Woldermar Voight of Messerschmitt to secure the microfilm and finish the P.1101 fell on deaf ears - the French, it would seem, maintained little interest in assisting their former conquerors.

The wing arrangement allowed the X-5 the capability to adjust wing sweep between three pre-set positions of 20-, 40- and 60-degree angles as needed, making her a more complex form of the German type.

As such, the P.1101 made its way stateside. Along the journey, she encountered a myriad of abuses at the hands of the teams charged with transporting her. Not only had exposure to the elements taken their toll on the P.1011 airframe, she was essentially man-handled by the founding GIs eager for picture-taking opportunities. All was compounded when the P.1101 airframe prototype fell off of her transporting railcar - sustaining enough damage that ensured the V1 prototype would never be able to fly. Nevertheless, Bell Aircraft proceeded to break down the P.1101 to the seams and fitted the V1 with mock cannon armament along her fuselage sides and an American Allison J35 turbojet engine. The P.1101 V1 still served in valuable static ground tests before she was given over to the scrapman's torch sometime in the 1950s - ending the legacy of the German aircraft.

The X-5 was fitted with a single Allison J35-A-17 turbojet engine of 4,900lbs thrust.

The first prototype (50-1838) was completed on February 15th, 1951 and first flown on June 20th, 1951. A second prototype (50-1839) followed into the air on December 10th, 1951. Both airframes accounted for some 200 total flights with the first prototype netting 133 flights alone. All three wing sweep positions were trialed on the first prototype's ninth flight with success.

Maximum speed was listed between 690 and 716 miles per hour with a cruise speed of about 600 miles per hour.

A reported service ceiling of 50,700 feet (hence the pressurized cockpit) was given as was a listed range between 500 and 750 miles. She maintained an empty weight of 6,336lbs and a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 9,980lbs when fully-fueled. No armament was ever installed. Her variable wing sweep gave her a 32 foot, 9 inch span when extended and a 22 foot, 8 inch span when swept.

The cause was believed to be the positioning of the tail section wihtin the design and compounded by the position of the vertical tail fin itself. As the wing sweep changed, essentially the entire aerodynamic qualities of the aircraft changed with it. The resulting action could lead the aircraft into an irrecoverable spin - this eventually occurring on October 14th, 1953 - the second prototype was lost to such a spin while running its wing sweep at 60-degrees, killing Air Force test pilot Captain Ray Popson in the process. As such, the program was shelved and ultimately cancelled by the USAF killing any chances of the X-5 becoming the low-cost tactical fighter the Americans envisioned. Testing did, however, continue on with the first prototype into 1955 to which the aircraft served out the rest of her term as a chase plane until early 1958 - her variable wing sweep proving helpful in keeping pace with various other aircraft under development.

In practice, it was soon found that the X-5 inherited some particularly vicious stall-spin instability characteristics - perhaps the price of basing such a project on the incomplete German program.

The remaining Bell X-5 was handed over to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, in March of 1958 where it resides even today as part of the Research & Development Gallery at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Some of the flight data garnered from the X-5 program directly served in the development of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark "swing-wing" combat production aircraft, though the Bell's particular internal wing sweep mechanism was completely revamped for these two advanced aircraft designs.

It is of note that the Saab 29 "Tunnan" shares striking similarities to both the Messerschmitt Me P.1101 and the Bell X-5. 

Specifications for the Bell X-5

Dimensions:
Length: 33.14ft (10.1m)
Width: 33.46ft (10.20m)
Height: 11.81ft (3.60m)

Performance:
Maximum Speed: 715mph (1,150kmh; 621kts)
Maximum Range: 750miles (1,207km)
Rate-of-Climb: 0ft/min (0m/min)
Service Ceiling: 49,869ft (15,200m; 9.4miles)

Armament Suite:
None.
Structure:
Accommodation: 1
Hardpoints: 0
Empty Weight:6,349lbs (2,880kg)
Maximum Take-Off Weight:10,000lbs (4,536kg)

Powerplant:
Engine(s): 1 x Allison J35-A-17 turbojet engine developing 4,900lbs of thrust.

Carl Gustaf M/45 submachine gun

This submachine gun had been developed by Swedish state-owned Carl Gustaf Arms company in 1945. It is long out of production but still in service with Swedish Army, and was manufactured under license in Indonesia and Egypt (under the name of "Port Said"). Carl Gustaf M/45 submachine gun is a simple and well-designed weapon, made in a typical Swedish manner -that is, very durable and reliable.

Original Carl Gustaf Kpist M/45 submachine gun with detachable magazine housing.

Carl Gustaf Kpist M/45 submachine gun (Kpist stands for Kulsprutepistol-submachine gun in Swedish) is a relatively simple, blowback operated, full automatic onlyf irearm that fires from open bolt. The receiver is made from steel tube, the separate barrel jacket is also made from perforated steel tube.Original M/45 submachine guns had removable magazine housings of two types - one for Finnish Suomi-type 50-round four-column magazines, and another - for proprietary 36-round two columns magazines. Later, the Suomi magazines were dropped from service, and the M/45B variant appeared with fixed magazine housings. The manual safety is made in the form of a hook-shaped cut made at the rear of the cocking handle slot; it is used to engage cocking handle when bolt is in retracted position. The sights consist of front blade and flip-type rear sight, marked for 100 and 200 meters.Shoulder stock is made from thin steel tubing and folds forward and to the right.

 Carl Gustaf Kpist M / 45B submachine gun with fixed magazine housing.

Carl Gustaf M/45B submachine gun fitted with typical Swedish accessory - a catcher bag for spent cases.

Caliber: 9x19mm Luger/Parabellum/NATO
Weight: 3.43 kg empty
Length (stock closed/open): 552 / 806 mm
Barrel length: 203 mm
Rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity: 36 or 50 rounds
Effective range: 200 meters

The Lmg-Pist 41 submachine gun by Rudolf Furrer

The Lmg-Pist 41 (Leichtes Maschinengewehr Pistole - light machine gun- pistol) submachine gun was developed by Rudolf Furrer at Swiss state-owned Waffenfabrik Bern (W+F) arms factory. It was produced for army trials and hastily adopted in 1941 over four other contestants, with the main reasons for adoption being, most probably, the similarity of the design to the already adopted and proven 7.5mm Lmg 25 light machine gun of the same designer and the importance and influence of the designer Col. Furrer, who at the time was superintendent of the W+F factory. The Lmg-Pist 41 submachine gun was so complicated and expensive to make that only few were made before 1944, when it was somewhat improved and designated Lmg-Pist 41/44. despite improvements, itwas still one of the most complicated and expensive submachine guns of its time,and less than 10,000 Lmg-Pist 41/44 submachine guns were made in total at W+F before production was terminated in favor of less complicated and more affordable MP 43/44 submachine gun, a license-built version of the Finnish SuomiM31 submachine gun made in Switzerland by Hispano-Suiza. Remaining Lmg-Pist41/44 submachine guns served with Swiss army until late ninety sixties or even longer.

Very early model of the Furrer recoil-operated submachine gun made at W+F, dated back to early post-WW1 period, caliber 7.65x22 Luger.

The Lmg-Pist 41/44 submachine gun uses short-recoil operated action with locked bolt. It fires from an open bolt (the barrel also is held back when gun is cocked, and it is released only when the trigger is pressed). Barrel locking is achieved by using a modified Maxim-type toggle-lock.Unlocking (breaking of the toggle) is controlled by an additional third link, which connects the rear end of the toggle with the frame. Upon recoil, the toggle opens to the left, therefore receiver has a large window in its left wall, which is also used as the ejection window.

 W+F MP 41/44 Furrer submachine gun, right side.

The specific aspect of the Furrer system, as compared to other short-recoil operated guns (toggle-locked and others), is that the bolt and barrel are mechanically linked for the entire cycle of the action,not just through its “locked” part. This means that the entire movement of the bolt is controlled by the recoiling movement of the barrel,although the bolt recoil velocity is necessarily much higher than recoil velocity of the barrel. This linkage results in constant and accurate timing between all moving parts; another benefit is the greater reliability of the system, as the entire mass of the recoiling barrel is used to move the bolt through the whole operating cycle. The drawback is the very close tolerances necessary in the linkage system to achieve proper timing, which increases the cost of the weapon, and considering the relatively low power of the 9x19 ammunition used in this gun (compared to original Lmg 25 machine gun that fired full-power7.5x55cartridges) it appears to be a gross engineering over-kill for a submachine gun.The feed was from box magazines, inserted horizontally from the right, wooden stock was fitted with pistol grip and folding forward vertical grip.

  W+F MP 41/44 Furrer submachine gun, left side.

 Diagram explaining Furrer's toggle link short recoil operated action.

Caliber	9x19mm Luger / Parabellum
Weight	5.2 kg unloaded
Length (stock closed/open)	760 mm
Barrel length	270 mm
Rate of fire	900 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity	40 rounds
Effective range	200 meters

 

The Rexim Favor submachine by the Swiss company Rexim S.A.

The Rexim Favor submachine gun was developed in the early 1950s by the Swiss company Rexim S.A. Some sources claim that in fact this weapon was designed in France, but its plans were stolen from French MAT factory and carried over to Switzerland. Production of this weapon was contracted to the Spanish company La Coruna, although all sales were handled by the Swiss company. About 5 thousands of these submachine guns were manufactured between 1955 and 1957, but due to the lack of sales Rexim company went bankrupt. During 1960s, at least some of these submachine guns ended up in Turkey, being used by Turkish army. Overall, this weapon was overly complicated, and despite being offered in many versions, it found no takers except the already mentioned Turkish military.

Rexim Favor submachine gun in one of the original configurations, with skeletonized butt and spike-type bayonet (in stored position).

The Rexim Favor submachine gun is a simple blowback weapon that fires from closed bolt. It has a separate annular striker which is operated by separate spring of large diameter, that is located around the bolt return spring. Gun fires in single shots or full automatic, thanks to the fire mode selector located above the front of the trigger guard on the right side of the gun. One noticeable feature of the Rexim Favor submachine gun is that its barrel can be easily removed by unscrewing the barrel nut and pulling the barrel forward. Several barrel lenghts were offered with this machine gun, with or without ventilated barrel shroud and muzzle compensator. Feed was from detachable double-stack box magazines with single feed position. Standard sights were adjustable for range from 50 to 500 meters. Guns were offered with skeletonized, side-folding metallic buttstocks or with solid wooden buttstocks. Another unusual feature of the Rexim Favor guns was the integral spike bayonet, which was carried below the barrel and pointing to the rear when not required, and re-installed pointing forward when the hand-to-hand combat was imminent.

Extensively reworked Rexim Favor submachine gun with fixed butt and switch-blade type bayonet, as used by Turkish army in late 1960s.

Caliber	9x19mm Luger / Parabellum
Weight	3.8 kg empty
Length (stock closed/open)	610 / 870 mm
Barrel length	340 mm
Rate of fire	600 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity	32 rounds

 

Karl-Gerät (040/041): self-propelled siege mortar

"Karl-Gerät" (040/041) (German literally "Karl-device"), also known as, Thor and Mörser Karl, was a World War II German self-propelled siege mortar (Mörser) designed and built by Rheinmetall. It was the largest self-propelled weapon to see service. Its heaviest munition was a 60 cm diameter, 2,170 Kg shell, and its range for its lightest shell (1,250 Kg) was just over 10 km. Each gun had to be accompanied by a crane, a heavy transport trailer, and several modified tanks to carry shells.

60 cm Karl-Gerät "Ziu" firing in Warsaw, August 1944.

Seven guns were built, but only six saw combat between 1941 and 1945. It was used in attacking the Soviet fortresses of Brest-Litovsk and Sevastopol, bombarded Polish resistance fighters in Warsaw and participated in the Battle of the Bulge and the attacks against the Remagen Bridgehead. Only two exist today, the others were scrapped after the war.

A dud shell fired during the Warsaw Uprising.

In March 1936 Rheinmetall made a proposal for a super-heavy howitzer to attack the Maginot Line. Their initial concept was for a weapon that would be transported by several tracked vehicles and assembled on site, but the lengthy preparation time drove them to change it to a self-propelled weapon in January 1937. Extensive driving trials took place in 1938 and 1939 using the first Neubaufahrzeug tank prototype and a scale model to investigate the extremely high ground pressure and steering of such an enormous vehicle. Firing trials took place in June 1939. The full-scale driving trials were held at Unterlüss in May 1940. General Karl Becker of the Artillery was involved in the development, from whom the huge weapon gained its nickname.

A section of three 54 cm Karl-Geräte in the field. The Munitionsschlepper is shown on the right.

In total, seven Karl-Geräte howitzers were manufactured. The first six had the nicknames "Adam", "Eva", "Thor", "Odin", "Loki", and "Ziu"; the seventh, the research and test weapon (Versuchs-Gerät), had no name. Delivery of the six production vehicles took place from November 1940 to August 1941.

Karl-Gerät at the Kubinka Tank Museum, Russia.

In February 1941, discussions commenced concerning increasing the range of the weapon, and in May 1942, 54 cm barrels (Gerät 041) were ordered for the six vehicles. At a conference with Hitler in March 1943 it was stated that the first 54 cm Gerät 041 would be delivered by June 1943, and the third, by mid-August. Only three of the 54 cm barrels were actually completed and they could be mounted on Nr. I, IV, and V, although any vehicle could be converted to use the smaller weapon.

Twenty-two Panzer IV Ausf. D, E and F chassis were modified with a superstructure capable of carrying four shells that replaced the turret and outfitted with a crane as Munitionsschlepper ammunition transporters/loaders. Two or three of these Munitionsschlepper were assigned to each weapon.

Variants

* Gerät 040: original model, armed with a short 60 centimetres (24 in) caliber barrel;
* Gerät 041: later model, armed with a long (L/11.55) 54 centimetres (21 in) caliber barrel.

The 124 ton vehicle was propelled by a Daimler-Benz MB 503 A 12-cylinder liquid-cooled gasoline engine or a MB 507 C 12 cylinder liquid-cooled diesel engine, but this was mainly used for aiming (the mount had only 4 degrees of traverse on each side) as the engines provided a top speed of only 6.2 miles per hour (10 km/h). For longer distances the Karl-Gerät was disassembled using a special 35 t (34 LT; 39 ST) mobile crane into seven loads. The chassis was loaded onto a six-axle Culemeyer-Strassenroller lowboy trailer. The other parts of the gun were lighter and used four-axle trailers. If the trailer with the chassis on board had to cross a bridge that couldn't carry their combined weight the chassis had to be off-loaded and driven across under its own power. The weapon was moved long distances via rail on a variant of a Schnabel car; the whole chassis was hung between two huge pedestal-mounted swiveling arms fixed to five-axle bogies. When it reached its destination, the weapon was detached from its supporting arms, driven to its intended firing location, then the chassis was lowered to the ground to distribute the recoil forces more evenly in preparation for firing. The Karl-Gerät proved to have no problems moving over normal soil, but under no circumstances was it allowed to make turns on soft soil lest it throw a track. The chassis had to be backed into position to fire, which expedited movement to a new position, but the firing position had to be precisely leveled and the approach route prepared ahead of time to fill in soft spots and any ditches, etc. It could only be loaded at zero elevation, so it had to be re-aimed between every shot.

A Karl-Gerät ready for road transport aboard its Culemeyer trailer.

On 3 January 1941 Heavy Battery (schwere Batterie) 833 was created at the Bergen training ground and ordered to be combat ready by 15 February 1941. On 2 April 1941 it was expanded into Heavy Artillery Battalion (schwere Artillerie Bataillon) 833. The original Batterie 833 was redesignated as the first battery of the new battalion and a new second battery was formed, each battery having two howitzers, with orders to be combat ready by 1 May 1941 in preparation for Operation Barbarossa. Initially a single battery was to be deployed against the Soviet fortress at Brest-Litovsk, but that was changed by 14 May 1941 when the other battery was to ordered to attack the Soviet border fortifications near Lviv. The first battery was assigned to IV Army Corps of 17th Army of Army Group South near Lviv while the second battery was ordered to support the attack by the 4th Army of Army Group Center against the Brest Fortress. The batteries were issued 60 and 36 rounds respectively.

Little is known of First Battery's operations except that IV Army Corps reported on 23 June that the battery was no longer needed and was no longer operational due to technical deficiencies. Second Battery's weapons had some assembly problems, issues with the electrical firing mechanism and non-standard ammunition, not surprising for the Karl-Gerät's combat debut, but managed to fire 31 of their 36 rounds by 24 June. It was ordered home that day by Army Group Center where the battalion was ordered to reform with eight 21 cm Mörser 18 howitzers on 6 August 1941.

In preparation for the attack on Sevastopol scheduled for the early summer Heavy Artillery Battalion 833 was ordered to form a Karl-Batterie with three weapons on 18 February 1942, two of which were "Thor" and "Odin". Camouflaged firing positions 15 metres (49 ft) long, 10 metres (33 ft) wide and 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep had to be dug for each howitzer to minimize Soviet counter-fire before they could move into position. On 20 May 1942 11th Army reported all three Karl-Geräte were at the front with a total of 72 heavy and 50 light concrete-piercing shells. LIV Army Corps reported that 19 heavy shells were fired between 2 and 6 June, 54 on 7 June and all 50 light shells between 8 and 13 June. More shells (29 heavy and 50 light) shipped to the battery before the end of the month. All 50 light shells were fired on 30 June and 25 heavy shells the following day. Many of these shells were fired at the two 305 millimetres (12.0 in) twin-gun armored turrets of the Maxim Gorkii coast defense battery, although shells fired at the turrets had little effect other than to jam one of the turrets and possibly knock out electrical power to the turrets, both of which were repaired without too much trouble. They did rather more damage to the concrete structure supporting the turrets as well as the command center located some 600 meters away (called the Bastion by the Germans). On 19 July 1942 the battery was ordered to ship their weapons to Hillersleben for refurbishment. One dud was recovered by the Soviets and flown to Moscow for evaluation.

28 August, building hit by 2-ton mortar shell from a Karl-Gerät.

On 7 July 1942 Heavy Artillery Battalion 833 was ordered to form another battery with one or two Karl-Geräte. This was done by 15 August as schwere Batterie 628 (Karl) with two weapons, although sufficient personnel to man three guns was to be furnished by Heavy Artillery Battalion 833. On 22 July the Army High Command (Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH)) issued an order to send the battery to Army Group North to support its planned offensive, Operation George (Unternehmen Georg), against Leningrad. The order for Georg, dated 22 August, specified Battery 628 with three guns, presumably with two operational guns and one in reserve was to participate. Army Group North reported the battery's arrival on 1 and 2 September 1942, but the Soviets preempted Georg with heavy attacks against the German forces besieging Leningrad so the Karl-Geräte didn't get into action.

On 18 October OKH ordered the 11th Army to transfer the battery as soon as possible to Leipzig, but the 11th Army asked to retain it to use in a new version of Georg to begin later that month. Georg was again postponed in late October, and later canceled. A new attack, code-named Feuerzauber (Fire Magic), was planned in which the battery was to participate, but it too was canceled after the Soviet encirclement of the German forces attacking Stalingrad. OKH finally recalled the battery on 4 December 1942 when it was clear that it had no mission.

OKH issued orders to create a Heavy Artillery Battalion (Karl) on 4 May 1943 using the vehicles and equipment of Heavy Artillery Battery 628. This became the first battery of the new battalion while the other battery was raised from scratch on 15 May as was the battalion headquarters. Each battery had two Karl-Geräte plus a fifth in reserve. 18th Army of Army Group North had plans to use one Karl-Gerät against the Oranienbaum Bridgehead west of Leningrad during the summer of 1943, but the battalion was ordered to return the Karl-Geräte to Leipzig on 8 August. Just like the 833rd the battalion was ordered to reform with eight 21 cm Mörser 18 howitzers on 29 August 1943 with effect by 10 September. A Unit for Karl-Geräte (Kommando für Karl-Geräte) was formed on that same date as caretakers for the weapons. This was redesignated Unit for Special-Equipment of Heavy Artillery Battalion (motorized) (Kommando für Sonder-Gerät des schwere Artillerie-Abteilung (mot.)) 628 on 2 June 1944.

On 13 August 1944 a battery was ordered to be created immediately with one 54 cm Karl-Gerät and sent to the 9th Army to help it suppress the Warsaw Uprising. The next day the Kommando für Sonder-Geräte formed the Army Artillery Battery (Static) 638 Heeres-Artillerie Batterie (bodenständige) with 60 cm Karl-Gerät Nr. VI "Ziu" since no 54 cm weapon was available and a firing table hadn't yet been computed. It arrived at the Warsaw West train station at 0700 on 17 August 1944, although the ammunition train didn't arrive until the following morning.

On 24 August OKH noted that it had been very successful in combat and ordered another Karl-Gerät sent to Warsaw. A second battery, numbered 428, was formed 2 days later by the Kommando für Sonder-Geräte, but it didn't arrive at the Warsaw West train station until 1257 on 7 September 1944. A third Karl-Gerät 040 was shipped to Warsaw on 10 September and incorporated into Battery 428. "Ziu" needed repairs and was shipped on 22 September back to Jüterbog. At some point a fourth Karl-Gerät was shipped to Warsaw as it was reported as operational on 25 September.

A meeting was held on 29 September by the OKH General der Artillerie to discuss the overall status of the Karl-Gerät, its supporting equipment and ammunition:

1. Karl-Geräte

Gerät Nr. I: Set up for both 040 and 041. Currently equipped with 040 with Battery 428.

Gerät Nr. II: Only set up as 040. Currently being overhauled in Jüterbog. Motor installation will be completed in about 14 days.

Gerät Nr. III: About 14 days ago the gun tube blew apart while test firing. Only about 50% is reusable. Hitler has decided that this Gerät is to be restored to full operating condition. However, the schedule for restoring it isn't known.

Gerät Nr. IV: Set up for both 040 and 041. Currently equipped as 040 with Battery 428.

Gerät Nr. V: Set up for both 040 and 041. Equipped as a 040, it will be sent to Battery 638 in Budapest.

Gerät Nr. VI: Only set up as 040. Came back from employment in Warsaw. Repairs will be completed in about 20 days.

Gerät Nr. VII: Versuchs-Gerät 041 Currently with the Waffenamt for test firing and obtaining firing table data. It is not currently operational because important components (engine) are being overhauled and won't be operational before April 1945.

2. Guns

Six 54 centimetres (21 in) 041 guns have been ordered. Three have been completed and are stored in Jüterbog. A decision on the other three is requested because delivery will take at least 14 months.

3. 35 ton Crane Karl-Geräte can only be employed when each battery has a 35 ton crane. Two are in service, one is in Jüterbog without its trailer, which was destroyed by fire.

4. Culemeyer-Strassenroller Each battery needs one complete set of these heavy transport trailers. The two sets in service are set up for 040. Three 16-wheel trailers set up for 040 are available. Another 24-wheel trailer must be acquired to employ any additional Mörser Karl.

5. Munitionsschlepper 13 total, of which 6 are with Batteries 428 and 638, 2 with the Weapon Department (Waffenamt) for 040, 2 converted to 041 and 2 available.

6. Ammunition a. Munition 040: 264 shells are immediately available, of which 150 are planned to be allotted to Battery 638. Another 96 will be completed in the next few days. 241 round are in Unterluss to change their high explosive filler. About 10 completed daily. Part of the cartridges must be reworked. Powder testing will occur on 5 October so that the rest of the ammunition can be refilled.

b. Munition 041: 50 concrete-piercing shells have been delivered to Hillersleben to be shot for firing table data in early October. 25 shells will still be delivered by the end of September, another 25 by the end of October, from then on 50 per month are planned. 50 high-explosive shells (Sprenggranaten) are to be completed for firing table data in November. In early 1945 a total of 60 HE and concrete-piercing shells are to be produced monthly.

Three days later Battery 638 was ordered to transfer to Budapest and was loaded without any Karl-Gerät. Nr. V was rerouted to Budapest to equip the battery. Battery 428 followed on 10–11 October 1944. Both batteries were ordered back to Warsaw on 19 October, although they didn't arrive until 28 October. On 6 November Battery 638 transferred one Karl-Gerät 040 to 428 and returned to Jüterbog on 10 November to rearm with a Geräte 041. Battery 428 didn't remain near Warsaw much longer and departed for Jüterbog itself on 15 November.

Battery 428 exchanged its guns for Nr. II and VI (both with Geräte 040) and departed for the West on 14 December 1944 to participate in Operation Watch on the Rhine (Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein), which would be known by Americans as the Battle of the Bulge, but didn't reach the front until 29 December. Battery 628 followed on 20 December after equipping with Nr. IV, the first 54 cm Gerät 041 to be committed to battle.

Little is known of their activities during the battle, but Gerät Nr. II was damaged enroute by a bomb and was back in Jüterbog on 6 January 1945. It was repaired using parts from Karl Nr. I by 3 February. Gerät Nr. IV was damaged by a number of penetrating hits and arrived in Jüterbog on 31 January. Gerät Nr. VI was still at the front on 19 January. In the meantime Nr. V was modified to use the 54 cm howitzer and had its engine rebuilt.

Battery 628 was initially ordered to the Vistula Front on 7 March, but this was countermanded on 11 March and the battery was sent west to the Remagen area. The German High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) war diary reported that 14 rounds were fired at the Remagen Bridgehead on 20 March 1945. Battery 428 was also ordered west on 11 March, but served in the 1st Army sector.

A status report dated 22 March showed Geräte Nr. I and IV were still at Jüterbog, with Nr. I configured as a 040 and Nr. IV to be completed as a 041. Geräte Nr. II and V had left for the front on 11 and 10 March respectively. Gerät Nr. VI was returning to Jüterbog with engine damage. Gerät Nr. III had been virtually destroyed and only the gun breech was salvageable. Gerät Nr. VII needed parts and wasn't going to be made operational anytime soon.

Battery 628 was ordered disbanded on 11 April and its personnel incorporated into Battery 428, although it's unlikely that either unit actually saw action except in local defense.

In 1945, Nr. II ("Eva") as well as Nr. V ("Loki") were captured by US forces in the period 21 March to 11 April 1945. Nr. VII, the test weapon, was captured by the US Army in Hillersleben and shipped to Aberdeen Proving Grounds but later scrapped. Nr. VI ("Ziu") was captured by the Red Army, probably when they overran Jüterbog on 20 April 1945. This is on display at Kubinka, although marked as Nr. I ("Adam"). Nr. IV ("Odin") was also captured by the Red Army. The fates of guns Nr. I ("Adam") and Nr. III ("Thor") are not known. It is probable both were captured by the Red Army as their last known location was in Jüterbog, less than a month earlier.

Swiss made MK series submachineguns by SIG

The MKMS submachine gun was developed by Schweizerishe Industrie-Gesellshaft (SIG) company in Neuhausen during early thirties, and first introduced in 1933. It was a military-type weapon in which designers sought to increase infantry firepower by using long barrels (about 2 times longer than in most contemporary submachine guns) and large capacity magazines. To achieve this goal designers had to use a delayed blowback action which kept the cartridge within the chamber long enough for bullet to leave long barrel. To make weapon more comfortable during transportation and non-combat movement, yet ready for action, designers also used for a first time a folding magazine housing, so the long magazine could be stored horizontally within the rifle-type stock below the barrel, and then brought into action simply py pressing the release button, which dropped magazine to vertical position. The resulting weapon was quite long, and thus SIG also produced a short-barreled police version, known as MKPS. Both MKMS and MKPS submachine guns were somewhat complicated and made to extremely high standards, so the price was high and sales were low. Thus, in 1935 SIG designers simplified both weapons by using simple blowback action with one-piece bolt. These guns were designated MKMO and MKPO respectively, but despite simplification, sales were still low so production was brought to an end in late thirties, with some 1,200 submachine guns of all four versions made in total. Few of those submachine guns were sold to certain Swiss police departments, as well as to Finland and Vatican state (used by Swiss guards in 9x19 caliber).

SIG MKMO submachinegun with magazine folded forward.

The SIG MKMS submachine gun used indigenous delayed blowback action with two-part bolt, designed by Gottard End. In this system, the bolt body was allowed to recoil for a very short distance after discharge, after which it was arrested by striking the rear edge of the ejection port in receiver. The rear part of the bolt was allowed to recoil freely under the inertia, providing necessary delay for bolt opening. After certain distance of recoil, the rear part of the bolt strike the bolt body, unlocking it from the receiver by tipping down its rear end through inclined surfaces machined to both parts. Once unlocked, the two-part bolt group is free to recoil and cycle the action. Upon closure of the bolt, the rear part of the bolt forces the front part to tip its rear end up and make it ready for locking after next discharge. Firing was from the open bolt, with fire mode (single shots or full automatic) being selected by the pull of the trigger (short pull for single shots, long pull for automatic fire). MKMO and MKPO submachine guns featured simple blowback action and also fired from open bolt Manual safety was located on the left side of receiver. Feed was from box magazines, which were inserted into folding magazine housing that has integral dust covers to protect the inner workings when magazine is folded forward for march. Stock of the gun is made from wood and represents the rifle or carbine, sights are adjustable and rather optimistically marked from 100 to 1000 meters.

 SIG MKMS submachine gun.

Patent diagram for delayed blowback action of SIG MKMS and MKPS submachine guns.

SIG MKPO submachinegun with magazine folded forward.

 SIG MKPS submachine gun.

	SIG MKMS	SIG MKPS
Caliber	7.65x22Luger, 7.63x25Mauser, 9x19 Luger, 9x25 Mauser
Weight, empty	3.9 kg	3.6 kg
Length (stock closed/open)	1025 mm	820 mm
Barrel length	500 mm	300 mm
Rate offire	800-850 rounds per minute	900rounds per minute
Magazinecapacity	40 rounds	30 rounds
Effective range	300meters	200 meters

 

The Krupp K5 heavy railway gun

The Krupp K5 was a heavy railway gun used by Germany throughout World War II.

K5 railway gun in France circa. 1945.

The Krupp K5 series were consistent in mounting a 21.5 m long gun barrel in a fixed mounting with only vertical elevation of the weapon. This gondola was then mounted on a pair of 12-wheel bogies designed to be operated on commercial and military rails built to German standards. This mounting did not permit any degree of horizontal traverse, but instead the carriage had to be aligned on the rails first, with only minimal fine levelling capable once halted. Hence the gun could only fire at targets tangential to an existing railway track.

To track targets needing greater traverse either a curved length of railway was used with the gun shunted backwards or forwards to aim; a cross-track was laid with the front bogie turned perpendicular to the rest of the gun and moved up and down the cross-track to train the weapon; or for 360 degree traverse, the so-called "Vögele Turntable" could be constructed, consisting of a raised rail section (the "firing bed") carrying the gun, running on a circular track with a central jack to raise the gun during traverse and to take some of the enormous weight.

United States Army Ordnance Museum.

The main barrel of the K5 is 283 mm in calibre (caliber), and is rifled with twelve 7 mm grooves. These were originally 10 mm deep, but were shallowed to rectify cracking problems.

The K5 was the result of a crash program launched in the 1930s to develop a force of railway guns to support the Wehrmacht by 1939. K5 development began in 1934 with first testing following in 1936 at the Firing Test Range Rügenwalde-Bad (German: Schießplatz Rügenwalde-Bad) in Farther Pomerania at the South coast of the Baltic Sea. Initial tests were done with a 150 mm barrel under the designation K5M.

Battery Todt Museum, Audinghen, France.

Production led to eight guns being in service for the Invasion of France, although problems were encountered with barrel splitting and rectified with changes to the rifling. The guns were then reliable until the end of the war, under the designation K5 Tiefzug 7 mm. Three of them were installed on the English Channel coast to target British shipping in the Channel, and proved successful at this task.

Towards the end of the war, development was done to allow the K5 to fire rocket-assisted projectiles to increase range. Successful implementation was done for firing these from the K5Vz.

A final experiment was to bore out two of the weapons to 310 mm (12.2") smoothbore to allow firing of the Peenemünder Pfeilgeschosse arrow shells. The two modified weapons were designated K5 Glatt.

Several other proposals were made to modify or create new models of the K5 which never saw production. In particular, there were a number of plans for a model which could leave the railway by use of specially modified Tiger II tank chassis which would support the mounting box in much the same manner as the railway weapon's two bogies. This project was ended by the defeat of Germany.

A K5(E) is preserved at the United States Army Ordnance Museum in Maryland. It is composed of parts from two guns that shelled Anzio beachhead during World War II. They were named Robert and Leopold by the Germans, but are better known by their Allied nicknames - Anzio Annie and Anzio Express.

The guns were discovered on a railroad siding in the town of Civitavecchia, on 7 June 1944, shortly after the allies occupied Rome. Robert had been partially destroyed by the gun crew before they surrendered and Leopold was also damaged but not as badly. Both guns were shipped to the U.S. Aberdeen Proving Ground, (Aberdeen, Maryland) where they underwent tests. One complete K5 was made from the two damaged ones, and Leopold remains on display to this day.

A second surviving gun can be seen at the Battery Todt museum, near Audinghen in northern France.

Type Railway Gun Place of origin Nazi Germany Service history Used by Wehrmacht Wars World War II Production history Manufacturer Krupp Number built 25 Specifications Weight 218 t Length 30 m (98 ft) travel mode 32 m (105 ft) firing mode Barrel length 76.1 calibres; 21.539 m (70.66 ft) Shell 255 kg (562 lbs) Caliber 283 mm (11.14 in) Elevation +50° Traverse 1° Rate of fire 15 rounds per hour Muzzle velocity 1,120 m/s (3,675 ft/s) Maximum range 50 km (31 mi)

The Swiss made Brugger Thomet MP9 submachine gun

The Brugger Thomet MP9 submachine gun started its life in 1992 as the Steyr TMP. The famous Steyr-Mannlicher company developed it in Austria, but Austrian export licensing laws, lack of a sales and resulted in the decision of Steyr to drop the TMP from the product line in 2001. Then, another well-known company, Brugger Thomet AG of Switzerland, bought all the drawings, patents and rights for the TMP design, and set its team to fully develop the promising design which resulted in over nineteen engineering changes in the product. At the present time the MP9 (which stands for 'Machine Pistol 9 millimeter') is produced and marketed by the B+T. According to available information, B+T MP9 is already in use by some police units in Switzerland.

 The B+T MP 9 submachine gun, with shoulder stock folded.

MP9 is an interesting weapon,offering interim solution between true 'machine pistols' such as Beretta93R or Glock 18, and full-size submachine guns, like the Beretta 12S or H&KMP5. While the former weapons are very compact, they full-auto fire capability is severely limited by high recoil, short barrels and high rates of fire; on the other hand, full-size submachine guns often are too big, especially for close protection teams, police working in plain clothes and entry team when engaged in room-to-room searches and other such operations in confined spaces. Therefore, the MP9 falls directly in between, being in the same niche as Ingram MAC-10, H&K MP5K or IMI Mini-UZI. MP9 offers lower, and thus more controllable rate of fire (900 rounds/minute as opposed to 1100-1200 rounds/minute in automatic pistols like M93R or G18), MP9 also features bigger magazine capacities, integral front grip and shoulder stock, and,according to the last trends in tactical solutions, an integral Picatinny type rail which can accept a wide variety of sights and other accessories. Compared to full-size submachine guns, MP9 trades effective range for more compact size and lighter weight, and ability to be fired single-handed when the operator has his secondhand occupied such when holding a ballistic shield.

 The B+T MP 9 submachine gun (drawing), with shoulder stock folded.

The MP 9 is a short recoil operated, locked breech, selective fired weapon. The MP 9 features a rotating barrel locking, and the bolt is telescoped around the barrel for about half of its length. The entire bolt/barrel group is enclosed in lightweight polymer housing, which protects the mechanisms from elements and rough handling. The MP 9 is hammer fired, and MP 9 fires from closed bolt for greater accuracy. Trigger unit features a drop safety, as well as ambidextrous safety / fire selector in the form of the cross-bolt push-button, located in the grip behind the trigger. The cocking handle is located at the top rear of the receiver/housing, and does not reciprocate when gun is fired. The bolt stays open after the last shot from magazine is fired, facilitating for faster reloading. The muzzle end of the barrel is protected by muzzle cap, which is shaped to accept proprietary silencer, also manufactured by B+T. Side-folding buttstock is made from polymer,and easily goes out of way when not required. Standard sights are of ghost ring(diopter with large aperture) type, and are fully adjustable, with ability to mount red-dot or night sights onto integral Picatinny/MIL-STD rail. Since the receiver/housing of MP 9 is made from polymer, it could be available indifferent colors (such as basic black, military green or desert tan).

 The B+T MP 9 submachine gun (drawing), with shoulder stock opened.

The B+T MP 9 submachine gun, with red dot sight, tactical light, B+T silencer(suppressor) and spare magazines.

Caliber: 9x19mm Luger/Para
Weight: 1.4 kg less magazine
Length (stock closed/open): 523 / 303 mm
Barrel length: 130 mm
Rate of fire: 900 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity: 15, 20, 25 or 30 rounds
Effective range: 50 - 100 meters