Submachine gun: yesterday, today, tomorrow. In the previous article, we talked about the fundamental possibility of creating new submachine guns for a completely unusual cartridge, and the bullet in this cartridge was completely unusual. But so far, such exoticism is hardly worth counting on. Therefore, the creators of new submachine guns today go in two ways: the first is a new design that makes it easier to use the weapon, and the second is the original internal filling. There is a third, the most commonplace, but also has a right to exist.
Way one - original design
And it so happened that at the end of 1988, the French company GIAT decided to take part in the creation of a PDW submachine gun, in which the newly appeared cartridges 5, 7x25 mm, its own development, were to be used. These cartridges were analogous to the Belgian small-caliber cartridges 5, 7x28 mm, which were used in the P90.
The engineers who were to develop it, proceeded from the fact that they would have to shoot from it at a distance of no more than 50-100 meters, but body armor should pierce its bullets. And this was achieved: at a distance of 100 m, the bullet of this cartridge pierced a steel sheet with a thickness of 3.5 mm. They decided to place the store in the pistol grip in order to reduce the weight of the weapon to the limit. It was believed that without cartridges, it should not be heavier than 1500 grams.
The design was the simplest: a free shutter. But the design of the new sample turned out to be clearly unusual. Firstly, it was completely flat, which made it easy to hide this PP. Secondly, its dimensions were small: the length was only 300 mm, and the width was only 30. And that "highlight" of its design were two handles at once. One in the front and one in the back! This was done for the convenience of holding and quickly aiming the weapon at the target when it suddenly appeared, and so that it would be convenient to shoot from it “from the hip” and “on the move”. On two handles there were two triggers at once: one for automatic firing, the other for firing single shots.
The PP was named GIAT ADR, but it remained a prototype. He looked very strange. A second sample was made, no longer so amazing, with only one trigger and a fire translator.
The magazine for 20 rounds, as in the first sample, was in the rear pistol grip. The firing range is up to 100 meters without changing the sight. The rate of fire ranged from 300 to 1000 rounds per minute. Since he was shot in seconds, a round multi-cartridge store was envisaged. A slot for a spare magazine was provided in the front handle, which was convenient. The only inconvenience was that the sleeves were extracted upwards right in front of the shooter's face.
As a result, this PP was never adopted, but … it served as a certain step forward.
Way two - design changes
The two handles helped to better hold the weapon, but did not compensate for the recoil and toss of the barrel in any way. Meanwhile, the requirements for the accuracy of shooting from submachine guns have steadily increased, which has led to the emergence of such an unusual weapon as the "Vector" - submachine gun, of the "Transformational Defense Industries" company. It used a system with a semi-free bolt of the original design, which directs the entire bolt group after a shot at a large angle downward. This system was named Kriss Super V.
The designers of this PP were required to ensure high accuracy when firing bursts of powerful.45 ACP cartridges. In addition, it was necessary to reduce the size of the submachine gun and its weight. It was decided to use the patents of the French designer Renault Kerba, who invented the original bolt, which rolls back at an angle, and create a new sample based on it. The first sample appeared in 2005 and immediately attracted the attention of specialists. It was noted that the use of the KRISS Super V system when firing a burst made the barrel toss very small, which guaranteed the accuracy of automatic fire from such a large-caliber PP. It turned out that "Vector" is therefore much better than the German 11, 43-mm UMP45.
The main thing here, of course, is the Renault Kerbra shutter. He came up with a bolt, on which there is a counterweight at the back, and when he moves back after a shot, this counterweight goes down almost vertically, for which there is a special socket behind the neck of the store. That is, its rollback is carried out in such a way that it is slowed down by the friction force, while the counterweight itself moves downward and compresses the return spring. The control handle is located higher than the handles of other PCBs. In particular, the trigger is located on the axis of the barrel, and the top of the butt plate is also located on the axis of the barrel. If so, then the point of support on the shoulder and the vector of the recoil momentum are aligned. All these tricks make it possible to have a fairly smooth and controlled recoil, as well as to almost completely eliminate the barrel toss, which would only aggravate the high rate of fire. At the same time, the very design of this submachine gun is very unusual, and as many people say - “hurts their eyes”.
Speaking about the prospects of this type of shutter, we can say that gunsmiths are not yet eager to copy the "Vector", despite all its advantages. However, we can offer another shutter, its practical counterpart, but more familiar in appearance. The shutter is small, lightweight, has a small gear wheel in the upper part. Above the gate there is a massive metal block with a toothed groove inside, so that the wheel is recessed inside this block and protected from contamination. The recoil spring is located above the barrel at the front. When fired, the bolt goes back, and the block goes forward, the center of gravity changes and the barrel is thrown up not so actively. However, this is nothing more than an assumption, but how it will look in metal and whether "it" will work this way … specialists should think about this.
The "combat" variant of the "Vector" SMG is intended for the military, various law enforcement agencies and law enforcement agencies. It has a short barrel length of 140 mm, while the civilian version of the "Vector" CRB / SO, has a barrel length of 406 mm (this is required by American legislation), and a muffler simulator is put on top of it for aesthetics. He cannot shoot in bursts. But where the law allows it, it is quite possible to buy the "Vector" in the civilian version of SBR / SO, which has a short barrel. All variants of the "Vector" have Picatinny rails, both above the receiver and under the barrel, so that collimator and various optical sights can be attached to it, as well as a tactical flashlight, a laser designator and an additional front grip. Stores are of two types: short, 17 rounds, the same as in the Glock 21 pistol, and long, 30 rounds.
The third way is easier and cheaper
The third way is also associated with design, as well as with the gradual improvement of technological methods and the emergence of new materials. Its essence lies in the creation of submachine guns, completely banal in design, of a completely ordinary design, but … extremely simple and cheap, designed for the most undemanding buyer. One of them was the Intratex TEC-DC9 (or simply TEC-9), developed by George Kellgren in Sweden, again in the 1980s, and which, by analogy with the Scorpion, is considered a self-loading pistol.
The TEC-9 has become especially popular with the underworld as it can be easily converted for automatic fire. In addition, having used it, it is not a pity to throw it away, which cannot be said about expensive PP samples. It was TEC-9 that Dylan Klebold used in the 1999 Columbine School Massacre in Colorado.
This submachine gun has a traditional free breechblock, and the fire from it is fired from a closed bolt, which has a positive effect on accuracy, and the trigger on it is of the striker type. The bolt in the form of a cylinder moves in a tube-shaped receiver, which is integral with the barrel casing with perforation applied to it. The bolt handle is on the left, and is a fuse: with its help, the bolt and striker are blocked. Parts such as the pistol grip, which is integrated with the trigger guard and the neck of the magazine, are made of plastic. The sights are very simple, and are simply welded to the receiver.
Box stores of three types: for 10, 20 or 32 rounds. Both long and very impractical, albeit "cool"-looking magazines were produced, containing 50 rounds. However, the production of the AB-10 model with a 50-round magazine was discontinued in 2001. The caliber, in fact, is standard for Western European PPs - 9-mm, cartridges - the most common 9 × 19-mm "Parabellum". The length is only slightly longer than that of the ADR: 317 versus 300 mm.
