the uzi(hebrew:עוזי‎,officially cased as uzi)** a related family of submachine guns.smaller variants are considered to be machine p**tols.
the first uzi submachine gun was designed by uziel gal in the late 1940s.the prototype was fin**hed in 1950,and initial service **sue began in 1954.
over its service lifetime,the uzi was manufactured by **rael military industries,fn herstal,and other manufacturers.
overview
the uzi uses an open-bolt,blowback-operated design.it and the czechoslovakian series 23 to 26 were the first weapons to use a"telescoping"("overhung")bolt design,in which the bolt wraps around the breech end of the barrel(hogg 1979:157-158).th** allows the barrel to be moved far back into the receiver and the magazine to be housed in the p**tol grip,allowing for a he**ier,slower-firing bolt in a shorter,better-balanced weapon.
the weapon ** constructed primarily from stamped sheet metal,making it less expensive per unit to manufacture than an equivalent design machined from forgings.with relatively few moving parts,the uzi ** easy to strip for maintenance or repair.the magazine ** housed within the p**tol grip,allowing for intuitive and easy reloading in dark or difficult conditions,under the principle of 'hand finds hand'.the p**tol grip ** fitted with a grip safety,making it difficult to fire accidentally.however,the protruding vertical magazine also makes the gun awkward to fire when prone.
when the gun ** decocked,the ejector port closes,preventing entry of dust and dirt.though the uzi's stamped-metal receiver ** equipped with pressed re**rcement slots to accept accumulated dirt and sand,the weapon can still jam with he**y accumulations of sand in desert combat conditions when not cleaned regularly.
[edit]design drawbacks
the uzi has been criticized for its open-bolt design.open bolt,blowback firearms tend to h**e reduced accuracy,because as the trigger ** pulled,the bolt slams forward and hits the breech,interfering with the shooter's aim.since the bolt ** held to the rear when cocked,the receiver ** susceptible to contamination from sand and dirt ingress.the open bolt design does expose the breech end of the barrel,and may improve cooling during periods of continuous fire.
[edit]operational use
the uzi gun was designed by major(captain at the time)uziel gal of the **rael defense forces(idf)following the 1948 arab-**raeli war.the weapon was submitted to the **raeli army for evaluation and won out over conventional designs due to its simplicity and economy of manufacture.gal did not want the weapon to be named after him,but h** request was ignored.the uzi was officially adopted in 1951.first introduced to idf special forces in 1954,the weapon was placed into general **sue two years later.the first uz** were equipped with a short,fixed wooden buttstock,and th** ** the version that initially saw combat during the 1956 suez campaign.[1]later models would be equipped with a folding metal stock.
the uzi was used as a personal defense weapon by rear-echelon troops,officers,artillery troops and tankers,as well as a frontline weapon by elite light infantry assault forces.the uzi's compact size and firepower proved instrumental in clearing syrian bunkers and jordanian defensive positions during the 1967 six-day war.though the weapon was phased out of frontline idf service in the 1980s,some uz** and uzi variants were still used by a few idf units until december 2003,when the idf announced that it was retiring the uzi from all idf forces.[2]
in general,the uzi was a reliable weapon in military service.however,even the uzi fell victim to extreme conditions of sand and dust.during the sinai campaign of the yom kippur war,idf army units reaching the suez reported that of all their small arms,only the 7.62 mm fn mag machine gun was still in operation.
the uzi proved especially useful for mechanized troops needing a compact weapon,and for infantry units clearing bunkers and other confined spaces.however,its limited range and accuracy in automatic fire(approximately 50 m)could be d**concerting when encountering enemy forces armed with longer-range small arms,and he**ier support weapons could not always substitute for a longer-ranged individual weapon.these failings eventually caused the phaseout of the uzi from idf forces.[3]
the uzi was also used in various conflicts outside **rael and the middle east during the 1960s and 1970s.quantities of 9 mm uzi submachine guns were used by portuguese c**alry,police,and security forces during the portuguese colonial wars in africa.
[edit]worldwide arms sales
total sales of the weapon to date(end 2001)has netted imi over$2 billion(us),with over 90 countries using the weapons either for their armed forces or in law enforcement.
the german bundeswehr used the uzi since 1959 under the name mp2(especially for tank crews)and ** now changing to the heckler&koch mp7.
the ir**h gardaí emergency response unit(eru)are replacing the uzi with the hk mp7.
in rhodesia in the late 1970s the uzi was produced under license,from **raeli-supplied,and later made in rhodesia,components.it was commonly called the"rhuzi"(although the title was also applied to some indigenous submachine gun designs).
sri lanka ordered a few thousand mini uzi and uzi carbines in 1990s.currently those are deployed with sri lanka army special forces regiment and sri lanka police special task force as their primary weapon when providing security for vips.
the united states secret service,the agency that guards the president of the united states,h**e used the uzi to provide covering fire while agents evacuated the president out of an area.when president ronald reagan was shot on march 30,1981 outside of the washington hilton hotel by john hinckley jr.,a secret service special agent pulled an uzi out of a briefcase and covered the rear of the presidential limousine as it sped to safety with the wounded president inside.[1]
[edit]variants
uzi carbine,standard size uzi with a longer 450mm(16 inch)barrel,designed to meet minimum legal rifle overall length requirements for civilian sales in the united states when the stock ** folded.
mini uzi,a scaled-down version of the uzi,first introduced in 1980.the mini uzi ** 600 mm(23.62 inches)long or 360 mm(14.17 inches)long with the stock folded.its barrel length ** 197 mm(7.76 inches)and its muzzle velocity ** 375 m/s(1230 f/s).
micro uzi,an even further scaled down version of the uzi,introduced in 1982.the micro uzi ** 436 mm(19.13 inches)long or 240 mm(9.45 inches)long with the stock folded its barrel length ** 134 mm(5.28 inches)and its muzzle velocity ** 350 m/s(1148 f/s).
micro uzi para
micro uzi pro
uzi p**tol,a semi-automatic p**tol derived from the micro uzi.
recent models of mini-uzi and micro-uzi are fitted with closed-type bolts.[4]
[edit]caliber variants
most uz** fire the 9x19mm parabellum cartridge,though some fire.22 lr,.41 ae,or.45 acp.caliber conversions ex**t in.40 s&w and 10 mm auto[2].
**ailable magazines include 20-,25-,32-,40-,and 50-round magazines(9x19mm parabellum),10-round magazines(.41 and.22 lr),and 16-round magazines(.45 acp).all of the above are manufactured by imi.other high-capacity magazines ex**t(e.g.50-round magazines and 100-round drums in 9 mm)which are manufactured by companies such as vector arms.