HISTORY
The Uzi was developed in the late 1940's by Uziel Gal. It was adopted by the Israel Defense Force in 1954. The Uzi proved itself on many occasions such as the Six Day War of 1967, the Yom Kippur war of 1973 and a variety of conflicts in Africa and South America. Due to its successful design and high demand for new sub machine guns after World War 2 the Uzi was sold to many nations worldwide, but predominantly to Africa, South America and NATO Europe. The Uzi has also been produced under license, most notably by Fabrique Nationale which took on almost half the total production. With many nations the Uzi has been replaced by other weapons. Israel used the Uzi until 2003, but since the 1980's it no longer was a frontline weapon. Despite the Uzi starting to become obsolete it is still used all around the world.
DESIGN
The design of the Uzi was inspired by the Czechoslovak Vz 23 sub machine gun. The Uzi uses a similar blowback design with wrap around telescoping bolt. This makes the overall length of the weapon much shorter and allows for a relatively long barrel. The Uzi consists mostly of stamped sheet metal, which is strong and easy to produce. The receiver has grooves in which sand and dirt can settle to improve relliability. The magazine is housed in the pistol grip an a grip safety is fitted to prevent accidental firing. The full size variants fire from the open bolt, while the smaller versions use a closed bolt design.
PERFORMANCE
Overall performance
The main reason the Uzi has become an icon is due to its performance. Given its limited production costs the Uzi has a very good performance. Despite its open bolt design the Uzi is a very reliable weapon. Being completely built out of steel the Uzi also is a very rugged and the small amount of parts allows for easy maintenance. By today's standards the Uzi is a relatively heavy sub machine gun. Its high weigh, good balance and low rate of fire allow for automatic fire out to relatively long ranges. The long barrel allows for a high muzzle velocity and good accuracy, but the open bolt design makes accurate semi-automatic fire more difficult.
Smaller variants
The Mini and Micro Uzi have very different characteristics. Due to their much higher rate of fire and lower weight they are less controllable. Being smaller and having a higher volume of fire they are much more suitable for urban warfare.
The Uzi was developed in the late 1940's by Uziel Gal. It was adopted by the Israel Defense Force in 1954. The Uzi proved itself on many occasions such as the Six Day War of 1967, the Yom Kippur war of 1973 and a variety of conflicts in Africa and South America. Due to its successful design and high demand for new sub machine guns after World War 2 the Uzi was sold to many nations worldwide, but predominantly to Africa, South America and NATO Europe. The Uzi has also been produced under license, most notably by Fabrique Nationale which took on almost half the total production. With many nations the Uzi has been replaced by other weapons. Israel used the Uzi until 2003, but since the 1980's it no longer was a frontline weapon. Despite the Uzi starting to become obsolete it is still used all around the world.
DESIGN
The design of the Uzi was inspired by the Czechoslovak Vz 23 sub machine gun. The Uzi uses a similar blowback design with wrap around telescoping bolt. This makes the overall length of the weapon much shorter and allows for a relatively long barrel. The Uzi consists mostly of stamped sheet metal, which is strong and easy to produce. The receiver has grooves in which sand and dirt can settle to improve relliability. The magazine is housed in the pistol grip an a grip safety is fitted to prevent accidental firing. The full size variants fire from the open bolt, while the smaller versions use a closed bolt design.
PERFORMANCE
Overall performance
The main reason the Uzi has become an icon is due to its performance. Given its limited production costs the Uzi has a very good performance. Despite its open bolt design the Uzi is a very reliable weapon. Being completely built out of steel the Uzi also is a very rugged and the small amount of parts allows for easy maintenance. By today's standards the Uzi is a relatively heavy sub machine gun. Its high weigh, good balance and low rate of fire allow for automatic fire out to relatively long ranges. The long barrel allows for a high muzzle velocity and good accuracy, but the open bolt design makes accurate semi-automatic fire more difficult.
Smaller variants
The Mini and Micro Uzi have very different characteristics. Due to their much higher rate of fire and lower weight they are less controllable. Being smaller and having a higher volume of fire they are much more suitable for urban warfare.