By John MarshallFew firearms are iconic and recognizable at a

glance. The UZI submachine gun is one of these,placing it right up there with the Thompson subma-chine gun as a true classic in the world of pistol-caliber automatic weapons. You would be hardpressed to find someone who hasn’t heard of it orwho hasn’t seen one portrayed in the movies or onthe evening news.In 1949, after the war of Israeli independ-

ence, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) wasseeking an official replacement for the out-moded Sten gun, a bare-bones 9mm sub-machine gun developed by the Britishduring World War II. An IDF committeedeveloped certain specifications thatwere considered desirable. Whatthey sought was a 9mm weaponwith a rate of fire of 450-500rounds per minute. The maxi-mum weight was to be 4 kilo-grams, and it should becapable of firing in both fullauto and semiautomaticmodes with a selector/safetyswitch. A wooden or foldingstock should be used. Maga-zine capacity was to be 40rounds; it should have awooden pistol grip, and mightpossibly accept a bayonet.Later suggestions for the idealsubgun were for easy barrelreplacement, a recoil springinside the bolt, and a safetywhich would prevent acciden-tal discharge when and if theweapon was impacted or dropped.Two men were working on this project at the

time – Major Chaim Kara of the Israeli OrdnanceCorps, and 25-year-old Captain Uziel Gal, who hadalready fashioned a prototype in the precedingyear. In initial testing, both early weapons failed tosatisfy expectations. Major Kara and Captain Galboth went to work to improve their weapons. In1950, another committee was created to test thetwo subguns exhaustively. Following these tests, itwas decided to further develop the weapon submit-ted by Captain Gal for a number of reasons. Itwould be easier and cheaper to produce, it hadfewer parts, and maintenance was easier andcheaper. Accepted in 1951, the 9mm gun was to benamed the “UZI” after Captain Gal’s first name,which means “God is my might.” Despite Gal’s ob-jections, the name stuck.In 1952, Gal’s submachine gun was patented in

his name, but with the proviso that the productionrights would be given to the Israeli Ministry of De-fense (MOD). In 1954, the first 100 UZIs were pro-duced and given to the IDF for extensive

field-testing. Following these initial trials, the IsraeliOrdnance Corps ordered 8,000 of the arms to-gether with 80,000 magazines. Israeli paratrooperswere the first to get the new guns, which featuredremovable wooden stocks (very similar to thoseused on Thompsons), and somewhat smaller actuat-ing knobs than were used on later versions. Theguns could be quickly and easily field stripped formaintenance and proved reliable and durable. In1956, UZIs were ordered by the Netherlands for its

armed forces, kicking off worldwide sales by

Israeli Military In-dustries (IMI). Shortlythereafter, an agreementwas reached with FN Herstalin Belgium to produce thegun there, providing that FNwould consult with IMI oneach sales contract and thatIMI would get 50 percent ofall manufacturing for the UZI.Germany also made it as itsMP2 under license for the Ger-man Bundeswehr, beginning in1959. In the late 1970s, Rhodesiamade licensed versions, at first fromIsraeli components.Unlicensed copies of the UZI

have been made in China and somehave been sold in the U.S. SomeU.S. firms have also made copies. Todate, it’s estimated that over 10 mil-lion have been produced. The UZI pioneered no new con-

cepts, but combined existing ones inan effective way. The sheet-metal receiver is easilymade from stampings. A portion of the blowbackbolt covers the rear of the barrel when in the for-

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40 CLASSIC FIREARMS: The UZI Submachine Gun

“The UZI first saw action during the 1956 Suez campaign. The compact weapon proved

to be reliable, durable and effective….”

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