SIONICS (acronym for Studies In the Operational Negation of Insurgents and Counter-Subversion) was an American company producing firearm suppressors (also called "silencers"). It was founded in the 1960s by Mitchell WerBell, a former OSS officer. [1]
The company was originally formed to design silencers for the M16 rifle. Later, WerBell began work on designs for a low cost, efficient silencer for machine guns. [2]
In 1967 WerBell partnered with Gordon B. Ingram, inventor of the MAC-10 submachine gun. They added Werbell's silencer to Ingram's SMG and attempted to market it to the U.S. military for use in the Vietnam War. [3] The silencer was the M14SS-1, designed for the M14 rifle, and forty suppressors were sent unofficially to the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam during early 1969 for combat evaluation, and an undisclosed number were procured under ENSURE Number 360.1, but the suppressor was not adopted officially. [4]
To obtain capital for manufacturing, Werbell solicited 29 investors for 7 million dollars each into a holding company called Quantum Ordnance Bankers. They created a manufacturing corporation called Military Armament Corporation, and merged it with Quantum and SIONICS. The efforts to sell to the military failed and Werbell lost control of the company. [5]
SIONICS Weapon Systems, which manufactures AR-15 type rifles in Tucson, Arizona, [6] has no relationship to the original SIONICS, beyond the name.
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 M1 carbine is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was issued in the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced in several variants and was widely used by paramilitary and police forces around the world after World War II.
The MP 40 is a submachine gun chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge. It was developed in Nazi Germany and used extensively by the Axis powers during World War II.
The National Firearms Act (NFA), 73rd Congress, Sess. 2, ch. 757, 48 Stat. 1236 was enacted on June 26, 1934, and currently codified and amended as I.R.C. ch. 53. The law is an Act of Congress in the United States that, in general, imposes an excise tax on the manufacture and transfer of certain firearms and mandates the registration of those firearms. The NFA is also referred to as Title II of the federal firearms laws, with the Gun Control Act of 1968 ("GCA") as Title I.
A flash suppressor, also known as a flash guard, flash eliminator, flash hider, or flash cone, is a muzzle device attached to the muzzle of a rifle that reduces its visible signature while firing by cooling or dispersing the burning gases that exit the muzzle, a phenomenon typical of carbine-length weapons. Its primary intent is to reduce the chances that the shooter will be blinded in low-light shooting conditions. Contrary to popular belief, it is only a minor secondary benefit if a flash suppressor reduces the intensity of the flash visible to the enemy.
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 B. 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 Springfield Armory M1A is a semi-automatic rifle made by Springfield Armory, Inc., beginning in 1971, based on the M14 rifle, for the civilian and law enforcement markets in the United States. "M1A" is a proprietary name for Springfield Armory's M14-pattern rifle. Early M1A rifles were built with surplus G.I. parts until Springfield Armory, Inc. began manufacturing their own. Robert Reese bought Springfield Armory from Elmer Ballance, and moved the manufacturing to Geneseo Ill in 1974.
The MAC-11 is a machine pistol/submachine gun developed by American firearm designer Gordon Ingram at the Military Armament Corporation (MAC) during the 1970s in Powder Springs, Georgia, United States. The weapon is a sub-compact version of the Model 10 (MAC-10), and is chambered to fire the smaller .380 ACP round.
Mitchell Livingston WerBell III was an OSS operative, mercenary, paramilitary trainer, firearms engineer, and arms dealer.
The Colt 9mm SMG, also known as the Colt Model 635 or Colt M635, is a 9×19mm Parabellum submachine gun manufactured by Colt, based on the M16 rifle.
A Kalashnikov rifle is any one of a series of automatic rifles based on the original design of Mikhail Kalashnikov. They are officially known in Russian as "Avtomát Kaláshnikova", but are widely known as Kalashnikovs, AKs, or in Russian slang, a "Kalash". They were originally manufactured in the Soviet Union, primarily by Kalashnikov Concern, formerly Izhmash, but these rifles and their variants are now manufactured in many other countries. The Kalashnikov is one of the most widely used guns in the world, with an estimated 72 million rifles in global circulation.
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.
Gordon Bailey Ingram was an American inventor and entrepreneur. Along with Mitchell WerBell III, he founded Military Armament Corporation. Ingram was the creator of the MAC-10 and MAC-11 machine pistols, and is widely credited with repopularizing the submachine gun.
Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC) is an American company that develops and manufactures firearms, firearm suppressors, muzzle devices and related accessories.
Military Armament Corporation is a defunct American manufacturer of small arms, co-founded by Gordon Ingram, an engineer and gun designer, and Mitchell WerBell, owner of SIONICS, which manufactured gun sound suppressors. It is known for manufacturing the MAC-10 and MAC-11 machine pistols in the 1970s.
A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor, or sound moderator, is a muzzle device that suppresses the blast created when a gun is discharged, therefore reducing the acoustic intensity of the muzzle report and jump, by modulating the speed and pressure of the propellant gas released from the muzzle. Like other muzzle devices, a silencer can be a detachable accessory mounted to the muzzle, or an integral part of the barrel.
The AAC Honey Badger PDW is a personal defense weapon, frequently used in a suppressed configuration and is based on the AR-15. It is chambered in .300 AAC Blackout and was originally produced by Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC). The weapon is named after the honey badger.
Smith Enterprise Inc. (SEI) is a firearm and accessory manufacturing facility based in Tempe, Arizona that is known for making flash suppressors, muzzle brakes, sound suppressors, M14 rifles and accessories for M14 rifles.
Gemtech is an American manufacturer of silencers (suppressors) for pistols, rifles, submachine guns, and personal defense weapons (PDWs). The company also produces ammunition and various accessories.
The SIG MPX is a gas-operated submachine gun designed and manufactured by SIG Sauer, and is primarily chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum. It is a gas-operated firearm featuring a closed, rotating bolt. These design features, rare in submachine guns, were chosen to enhance the safety of the user and to have a more reliable firearm. It was designed in 2013 and was released to the general public in 2015. It features the SIG Sauer short stroke push-rod gas system to reduce the recoil and improve the reliability of the weapon.