A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an automatic firearm with notably less firepower than a machine gun. As a machine gun must fire rifle cartridges to be classified as such, submachine guns are not considered machine guns. The submachine gun was developed during World War I (1914–1918) as a close quarter offensive weapon, mainly for trench raiding. At its peak during World War II (1939–1945), millions of submachine guns were made for assault troops and auxiliaries whose doctrines emphasized close-quarter suppressive fire. New submachine gun designs appeared frequently during the Cold War, especially among special forces, covert operation commandos and mechanized infantrymen. Submachine gun usage for frontline combat decreased in the 1980s and 1990s, and by the early 21st century, submachine guns have largely been replaced by assault rifles, which have a longer effective range, have increased stopping power, and can better penetrate the helmets and body armor used by modern soldiers. However, they are still used by security forces, police tactical units, paramilitary and bodyguards for close-quarters combat because they are "a pistol-caliber weapon that's easy to control, and less likely to overpenetrate the target".
The Military Armament Corporation Model 10, officially abbreviated as "M10" or "M-10", and more commonly known as the MAC-10, is a compact, blowback operated machine pistol/submachine gun that was developed by Gordon Ingram in 1964. It is chambered in either .45 ACP or 9mm. A two-stage suppressor by Sionics was designed for the MAC-10, which not only abates the noise created but makes it easier to control on full automatic.
The 9×19mm Parabellum is a rimless, centerfire, tapered firearms cartridge.
The PP-19 Bizon is a 9×18mm Makarov submachine gun developed in 1993 by the Russian company Izhmash. The Bizon was designed by a team of engineers headed by Victor Kalashnikov and including Alexei Dragunov.
The 9×23mm Largo centerfire pistol cartridge was developed in 1903 for the Bergmann–Bayard pistol. It was adopted by the Spanish and Danish militaries, with the former using it until the 1980s, when it was replaced by the 9×19mm Parabellum.
The Beretta M12 is a 9×19mm Parabellum caliber submachine gun designed by Beretta. Production started in 1959, the first users were the Italian Carabinieri, Italian State Police and the Guardia di Finanza, though in limited numbers; it was only widely issued beginning in 1978, replacing the old Beretta MAB. In 1962 the Italian Army bought a limited number of Franchi LF-57 submachine guns, judged better than the M12 but never issued to the troops, and only in 1992 the M12S2 variant was introduced, in very limited numbers. The Italian Air Force bought instead many M12S and M12S2 for the airport security units. However, the weapon had a higher initial success in the Arab countries and South America.
The FIC Mk. 9 is a sub-machine gun designed by a private venture of Floro International Corporation (FIC) based in Tanay, Rizal Province in the Philippines. The weapon is marketed to local security forces as a low-cost alternative to imported submachine guns and is currently in limited use by the Philippines Marines and the Philippines Navy.
The Vigneron is a submachine gun manufactured in Belgium during the 1950s. It used the 9×19mm NATO cartridge and was used by the Belgian Army until the 1980s. The Vigneron is a selective-fire weapon for short-range street and brush fighting. It remains reasonably accurate up to 100 m using sighted semi-automatic fire.
The FMK-3 is a selective fire blowback-operated submachine gun of Argentinian origin designed by Fabricaciones Militares in 1974. Around 30,000 were produced for the Argentinian military by 1991.
The M3 is an American .45-caliber submachine gun adopted by the U.S. Army on 12 December 1942, as the United States Submachine Gun, Cal. .45, M3. The M3 was chambered for the same .45 ACP round fired by the Thompson submachine gun, but was cheaper to mass produce and lighter, at the expense of accuracy. The M3 was commonly referred to as the "Grease Gun" or simply "the Greaser", owing to its visual similarity to the mechanic's tool.
The Glisenti Model 1910 was a 9 mm calibre semi-automatic service pistol produced by the Italian company Società Siderurgica Glisenti. It was put in production in 1910 to replace the aging Bodeo Model 1889. It saw extensive service in World War I and World War II with the Royal Italian Army. The Model 1910 has a complex and weak firing system which mandates that the pistol ought to use weaker cartridges than pistols of comparable calibre.
Fábrica de Armas Halcón was an Argentine defense company founded in 1941 and located in Buenos Aires.
The PP-19 Vityaz is a 9×19mm Parabellum submachine gun developed in 2004 by Russian small arms manufacturer Izhmash. It is based on the AK-74 and offers a high degree of parts commonality with the AK-74. The gun is directly developed from the PP-19 Bizon. "Vityaz" (витязь) is Russian for "brave warrior" or "knight".
Indústria Nacional de Armas (INA) was a Brazilian firearms manufacturer.
