Uzi

The Uzi is a compact, boxy, light-weight machine gun. Manufactured by Israeli Military Industries (IMI) and designed by Uziel Gal (1923-2002).

It fires a 9mm Parabellum round using blowback from open bolt to drive a cyclic rate of 600 r.p.m. at a muzzle veleocity of 400 m/s. The weapon is 650 mm long with stock extended and 470 mm without, it weighs 3.5 kg with each 25 round magazine a further 500 g.

The weapon was designed shortly after Israel held its independence in the war of 1948. Based on the Czech M25 design the weapon was submitted to the Israeli army for evaluation. The weapon won out over more conventional designs due to its simplicity and economy - it was made of stamped metal plates and was light and small, and with relatively few parts was easy to strip, maintain and re-assemble. It features a magazine held within the pistol grip, allowing for intuitive reloading in difficult conditions ("fist finds fist"). The weapon also featured a grip safety, making it difficult to misfire.

The initial model was accepted in 1951 and saw war action in 1956. It was soon developed into a number of more well engineered variants. Versions include the mini (1980), micro and pistol sizes as well as both blowback and electrically operated firing systems. Gal did not want the weapon to be named after him but his request was turned down.

Total sales of the weapon to date (end 2001) have netted IMI over $2 billion, with over ninety countries using the weapons either for their soldiers or in law enforcement.