The pistol caliber carbine (as the modern technique people call it), the "machine pistol" (as Jeff Cooper and the Germans in WW2 called it), or the SMG - Submachinegun as I like to call it, has its own niche in the tactical scheme of things...just like the shotgun does. In that niche it works great, but outside of it, it is at a disadvantage. Interesting that I could say that for just about every small arm out there. All tools have an intended purpose and there is not a do-everything weapon.
The original submachinegun was intended to put down a great deal of fire on a given “objective” at close range. These weapons preceded the modern assault rifle and were never intended to reach out past a given short distance. As submachinegun manufacture developed, we saw a move from the old world manufactured weapons like the Thompson (which is quite heavy by modern standards) to the WW2 vintage weapons like the Sten and MP-40. Later more compact designs like the Uzi and Ingram developed, some being very compact submachineguns like the Uzi, Mini Uzi and MP5. Others becoming little more than a big pistol with a stock attached like the Skorpian, the M-10, and the Micro Uzi.
Anyone who has worked with a Class 3 SMG will never consider it a waste of time, a useless weapon, nor would he eschew it in a fight if he had a choice. But Class 3 weapons are costly and out of the realm of most people’s armories. While I can afford a Class 3 Uzi and legally own it in Free Arizona, I find it hard to justify the expenditure of several thousand dollars. Specially since the use of full auto is a very limited attribute of the weapon. I recall doing much more work with single shots – maybe bursts of no more than three with the MP5 while in SWAT. Recently I was discussing UZI deployment with some friends who were former IDF Special Operators, and they told me virtually all their work was in semi auto. In fact, after some thinking, my friend could not remember a time when they ever used full auto capability operationally.
So what about the semi auto varieties? These are far more available to everyone today. Before I get into the advantage/liability discussion of this, I want to lay out what I see as the role of each category of small arm.
The pistol does nothing exceedingly well other than being small. Being small it can live on your person every day and be ready at hand in the blink of an eye. It is sufficiently powerful to handle problems inside arms reach to about the distance seen in most homes. In trained hands it can reach much farther, but in most hands it is good to about 25 yards.
All things being equal, a pistol will not do well against a rifle or a shotgun, nor a submachine gun.
The rifle’s best attribute is power. This can be taken to extremes so we will say “adequate power”. One would not consider a 500 Nitro as an infantry weapon for example. Excluding sniper/marksman’s activities and focusing on CQB, the rifle also has the4 attribute of high volume of fire, the ability to penetrate cover in many calibers, and the ability to reach out several hundred yards. Along with that comes size, and difficulty in concealing and carry. Additionally, the ability of the rifle to penetrate and reach may be advantageous in some cases, but a serious liability on other cases. Even an AKSU (also called a Krinkov, or Suzchka) may not be the best answer for home defense in an apartment, or to deploy inside a car as some examples.
The shotgun’s role is as a close range power tool that can allow a response in rapidly moving situations, in reduced light and against superior numbers. Its utility is in its use of buckshot, but its liability is a lack of reach, penetration, precision, and the same size issues as the rifle.
Now please don’t fall into the typical American gun guy mentality of “all or nothing” and begin writing on the internet that Gabe hates rifles, pistols and shotguns because it is not true. But I understand, and hopefully you will to understand the characteristics of these various weapon systems and where they are good and where they are not.
With that in mind, let’s examine the pistol caliber carbine that I call the submachinegun. If left in its, NFA/GCA68 condition, it will yield no advantage greater than any rifle length weapon. If I must have a 16” barrel with a folded stock that opens up to probably 25 or 26 inches, why would I bother with this when I can have an AK-47 or an M4? The only situation would be if I anticipated all my shots being needed inside of 50 yards, and had serious concerns about penetration and the problem of missed shots over reaching my comfort zone. Moreover, if minimally trained people, or small people were going to use the gun.
For example, my junior staff can run an UZI far better than they can run an AR-15 or an AK. Interestingly, they can shoot better with the UZI than with a pistol. For that matter, so can I. The addition of two more contact points (cheek and shoulder) over the “hands only” pistol is a boon to accuracy outside the close range envelope.
Can it compete with a full rifle like an AR, AK, or a FAL? No it can’t but neither can a Glock or a 1911. But other than constant carry issues, once the weapons are in hand, the SMG will always outshine the pistol when used by operators of equal skills for the reasons I described.
Now, let’s add another factor. Length. If one takes his 16” barreled UZI or HK-94 or whatever, and has the barrel shortened to original specs (yes, yes – with all the evil paperwork completed and guvmint approval in hand), you have a whole new animal in hand.
Since have been talking about the UZI, a non-NFA UZI with a 16” barrel (and stock folded up) is 25” long. This is as long as an AK with the stock folded. With the barrel shortened to 10” the UZI is a very compact 18” long. Eighteen inches long! That will fit in a lap top bag, or a tree-hugger backpack. This is something you can take with you all day everyday, where even the folded-stock AK may be left behind simply out of convenience.
So what we have then is a weapon that is small enough (18” long), light enough (8 pounds), with a serious capacity (25 or 32 round magazines), and the capability to easily hit out to 100 yards in the hands of minimally trained personnel, whose caliber likely can be the same as the main carry pistol, and whose ballistics will not yield the penetration of a rifle, nor the distance traveled of an errant rifle round. And whose low sound and flash signature will not be disorienting in a close range interior fight.
Those are some very interesting attributes that are not provided by pistol, shotgun, or rifle. Thus there is in fact a role and a purpose for the semi auto pistol caliber submachinegun. I like the concept and will look deeper into its possible future deployment.
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Gabe Suarez
