In the past few years, there have been few new handguns that can be called really interesting. However, even among them, you can find something that is really worthy of attention. On November 23, at the Milipol exhibition in Paris, the Italian company Beretta Defense Technologies demonstrated a new submachine gun, which should be a further development and possibly a replacement for the famous Beretta M12 submachine gun and its derivatives. The new weapon received the designation PMX and is already being tested in a small batch by the Italian police.
The history of the rebirth of M12 in PMX
Representatives of the Beretta company say that the new submachine gun is a further development of one of the most famous PP - the Beretta Model 12, which, with some modifications, has been in service with the Italian army and police since 1961. However, if you look more closely, it becomes clear that the designers did not modernize, but actually created a new weapon. Let's try to line up all the common variants of this submachine gun in one row to figure out what remains of the old weapon in the new weapon.
The Model 12 designation in itself implies that there were predecessors and they really were. In 1956, the then not so well-known designer Domenico Salza took over as chief designer of the Italian arms company Beretta, replacing the retired, outstanding gunsmith Tulio Marengoni. Even before his appointment, Domenico Salza worked on his own project of a submachine gun, which would be not only reliable but also cheap to manufacture.
By the time he received the position of chief designer, Saltsa had experience in 6 versions of his weapon, which was still far from ideal. Realizing that development was progressing slowly and being bound by a contract, the new chief designer showed management the fruits of his work.
The new submachine gun, or rather its design, was recognized as promising and the work began to boil. It took the designers more than 3 years to get the desired result, but their work was justified immediately after completion.
In 1959, the Italian army was in dire need of a light and fast-firing submachine gun at a reasonable cost. This is exactly what the new Beretta submachine gun was. After the elimination of certain design features of the weapon, to bring it under the rather stringent requirements of the army, the submachine gun was adopted in 1961.
Considering the M12 submachine gun, one cannot fail to notice that Domenico Salza and the Italian designers very successfully adopted the experience of their foreign colleagues, which was abundant during the Second World War. However, there were also new solutions in the submachine gun, which, together with more advanced production, gave a positive result.
The main feature of the new submachine gun is that the bolt group rolls onto the breech when firing. This made it possible to install a barrel of sufficient length on the weapon, without increasing the dimensions of the submachine gun itself. This also had a beneficial effect on the bolt group, since its mass ensured high reliability of operation in adverse conditions and an optimal rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute, again without increasing the dimensions of the weapon itself.
Many will immediately recall that a similar solution was used in the Israeli Uzi submachine gun, but we remember the work of the Czechoslovak designers, namely their Sa vz submachine gun. 23.
The basis of the new submachine gun was a free-breech automatics. To ensure the durability of the structure and stability in the operation of the weapon, the fire was fired from an open bolt. Given the relatively large mass of the bolt group, this negatively affected both the accuracy of single shots and when firing in automatic mode.
The negative aspects were partially mitigated by the fact that the designers did not take the path of least resistance and introduced a full-fledged trigger mechanism into the design. The primer is pricked a little earlier than the bolt reaches its forward position, resting against the breech of the barrel.
Nevertheless, the weapon still showed not the most satisfactory results in accuracy when firing a "burst", in which it lost to its foreign classmates. Even a mass of 3 kilograms did not completely solve this problem. The obvious solution to this problem was to rework the entire design of the submachine gun, but a simpler and, as time has shown, a good solution was found. Reasoning that to conduct aimed automatic fire from a submachine gun, the shooter will use both hands to hold the weapon, the designers added an additional handle at the very edge of the receiver. Its convenient location allowed full control of the weapon during firing, leaving the bolt handle in place. The solution is certainly not the most technologically advanced, but cheap and with an acceptable result.
If we talk about the characteristics of the new submachine gun, then this is a fairly heavy weapon by modern standards. Its mass is 3 kilograms with a folding metal butt and 3.4 kilograms with a fixed wooden one. For the variant with a folding stock, the length is 645 millimeters and 418 millimeters. The folded stock does not interfere with the use of the weapon. The Beretta M12 submachine gun with a fixed wooden stock has a length of 660 millimeters. In both cases, the barrel length is 200 millimeters. The weapon is fed from detachable magazines with a capacity of 20, 32 and 40 rounds of 9x19.
In 1978, the Italian submachine gun was upgraded. Usually, the main feature of the new version of the weapon is considered to be changes in the firing mechanism, in which a safety platoon appeared, and a little later, a mode of firing with a cutoff of three rounds. However, the main change was that the weapon was able to use additional devices. In particular, a silent firing device of a rather perfect design appeared, it became possible to install a halogen flashlight, which was combined with an additional handle for holding, and a little later, a laser targeting system. The changes also affected the sighting devices, which became dioptric, which is rather a minus for such a weapon.
The modern version of the submachine gun has the designation M12-S2, in fact, apart from cosmetic changes, everything in it has remained the same since 1978. Materials, coating of parts, individual controls and receiver changed, but the design remained the same.
At the moment, the Beretta M12 pistol is not only in service with the army and law enforcement agencies of Italy, it can be found in more than twenty countries around the world. In Brazil, the Taurus company is engaged in the production of a licensed copy of this weapon, and this submachine gun is also manufactured in Indonesia and Sudan. But the most interesting thing is that the production of this PP was established by FN in Belgium.
A certain fame for this submachine gun was also brought about by its distribution among the militants of the "Red Brigades", in particular, it was with the use of this weapon that Aldo Moro was kidnapped.
After a quick introduction to the M12 submachine gun, you can begin to take a closer look at the new weapon, and you need to start with ergonomics.
Ergonomics of the Beretta PMX submachine gun
The appearance of the new Beretta submachine gun immediately makes it clear that it has little in common with previous Italian PP models. First of all, attention is drawn to the handle for cocking the shutter, which is now moved back and is located above the store, which indicates changes in the design of the weapon's automation. This is also hinted at by the shortened stroke of this handle, and hence the reduced shutter stroke, but we will touch on the automation a little lower.
On the left and right sides of the weapon, above the pistol grip, there are very large fuse switches, they are also the translators of the fire modes. It should be noted that not many manufacturers make this element of a large size, although this is only a plus, especially when the weapon is stained with dirt or when the arrow is wearing gloves.
It should also be noted that the safety bracket is large enough, for which, on the contrary, those who will use the weapon at negative air temperatures will say.
The new submachine gun has a folding stock, and it does not interfere with the use of the weapon in the folded position. The only negative point is that cocking the shutter may be difficult, but access to the cocking handle remains. The weapon does not have the ability to adjust the butt length.
The designers abandoned the open sights rigidly mounted on the weapon. You can install a removable rear sight and front sight of any convenient design. Standard rear sight and front sight are folded and in the folded position do not interfere with the use of collimator or telescopic sights of low magnification.
In the front of the receiver, under the barrel, there is a guide on which an additional handle can be installed for holding, a small-sized flashlight or a laser designator. Since the cocking handle was shifted back, the urgent need for an additional handle for holding has disappeared, now the submachine gun can be held in the usual way for most people. It should be noted that the length of the seat under the barrel is sufficient to simultaneously install additional devices along with the handle for holding.
Of interest is a rather long store receiver, which for some reason was made without expansion, which could facilitate changing stores in a stressful situation. No less interesting is the weapons store itself, which was presented completely plastic and transparent. To what extent such a store will be resistant to external influences and whether this will be the only option is not yet known. Although a rather strange decision to make the magazine completely transparent, to control the amount of ammunition, and at the same time cover it with an almost half-opaque magazine receiver.
The barrel of the weapon has a thread at its cut for the installation of silent firing devices. Without PBS, the thread is covered with a sleeve. Many big-name gun brands are now trying to push the idea of quick-release “mufflers” that are not connected to the barrel of the weapon. The idea is good, but has not yet proven itself, apparently because the designers of Beretta decided not to make the new product the only possible option for installing the PBS on a submachine gun.
Beretta PMX submachine gun design
The most important difference between the Beretta PMX submachine gun from its predecessors is that now the fire is fired from a closed bolt, which means that the weapon has been completely redesigned and has very little in common with the M12. Perhaps drawing parallels between a fairly well-known model and a new one is only needed for a warmer reception of the PMX submachine gun, but the facts indicate that this is a different submachine gun.
However, excellent does not mean bad. The new automatic weapon system makes it more stable during automatic fire, and modern methods of processing parts can significantly increase the service life of the submachine gun and those of its components that are exposed to maximum loads.
Returning to the similarity of the M12 and PMX, it should be noted that some sources indicate the relationship of the new submachine gun with the Swiss P26 carbine of the B + T company. These weapons are intended for the civilian market, as well as for those who are prohibited from having weapons with the ability to conduct automatic fire. Both copies have a very large external similarity, so it is likely that it was the P26 that served as the basis for the new Italian submachine gun.
Characteristics of the PMX submachine gun
The mass of the new weapon, despite the use of plastic and light alloys, is 2.4 kilograms. The new submachine gun is fed from magazines with a capacity of 30 rounds 9x19. The possibility of issuing variants of weapons for other common ammunition is still unknown. In comparison with the M12, the barrel of the submachine gun has become shorter - 170 millimeters. At the same time, the total length remained approximately the same - 640 and 418 millimeters with the butt unfolded and folded.
Pros and cons of the Beretta PMX submachine gun
It is quite difficult to talk about the positive and negative aspects of the new weapon, since in order to assess it, you need to compare it with something. Comparing the new submachine gun with the M12 is not worth it for obvious reasons.
The obvious positive qualities of the new weapon are guaranteed to be ergonomics and the possibility of using additional devices. Some doubts arise about the angle of the pistol grip in combination with a relatively short stock, but as practice shows, this is more a matter of habit.
A strange decision was to close the transparent store with an opaque store receiver, the meaning of such a cunning move remains unclear.
Conclusion
In general, the weapon makes a good impression, but it is unlikely to outperform similar models from other manufacturers in terms of performance. Already, a small amount of these submachine guns have been sent to Italian law enforcement agencies. If the transition to a new weapon is deemed appropriate, then the Beretta company can expect a large order. Since now there are about 50 thousand units of M12 submachine guns in various versions in operation.
