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1. Nice story on the UZI. I owned two at one time a 9mm and one in 45 ACP from Action Arms. Unfortunately had to trade them off. I know have two of the KelTec Sub 2000’s with Glock 19 and 17 formats. Great guns and mags are interchangeable. With the price of Uzi’s you can outfit your whole clan with KelTec’s, mags, and ammo for the price of one Uzi.

2. I’ve never shot an UZI before, but for some reason, I think I would prefer the M3 ‘Greasegun’ (which I haven’t shot either). I think I would rather have it instead.

3. I believe that the M3 was developed as a cheap alternative to the Tommy Gun in WWII. Each tank in the Marine Corps still had one when I was a Marine “back in the day, although we had M16s, too. All I can say is that it is a crude, durable, slow firing weapon. You can do far, far better.

4. Great article on a great firearm.

   Having said that, I personally have never understood the whole semi-auto submachinegun concept. The idea behind the sub-gun is the rate of fire provided by it’s full-auto ability. Once you make a sub-gun semi-auto only I have trouble envisioning a role that it fills, that could not be more conveniently filled by a handgun with an extended magazine. Given, the slightly longer barrel normally found on a sub-gun will give a little higher muzzle velocity. The stock and two-handed firing may give a little more accuracy. But at the distances that a sub-gun is normally employed at I don’t know that these counteract the ease of carrying a handgun in a holster, at a huge weight saving.

   1. @Lone Canadian, i ask myself that all the time, why would you want a pistol caliber semi auto carbine, isn’t a pistol in the same caliber much easier to use, and more maneuverable? Is the added velocity really that much of a game changer? However, my son claims he has a much better hit frequency with ar-15 in 9mm than with his other 9mm pistols.

      I’m an old fart, I like bigger bullets coming out at zippy speeds.

      1. There is no doubt that the carbine is more accurate, but the effectiveness of the round (usually 9mm) is limited to short distance. You might even be relatively accurate with a 9mm carbine at 100 yards, on paper, but there is no stopping power at that range. By the time you come in to that 25 yard range where a 9mm is most effective, generally the need for pinpoint accuracy is gone.

         I’m with you Mike, I’m an old fart – so if I’m going to carry something with the weight/length of a sub-gun, I want something bigger, zippier and with more punch. Like I said above – without full auto capability I don’t see a real purpose for a subgun.

5. The Germans bought Uzis because of laws requiring them to spend a metric ton of German Marks for restitution to the Jews in Israel. Buying something was better than giving it to them straight away. The Germans bought ammo, agriculture items, and UZIs. I remember seeing the German Bundeswehr soldaten carrying them at some of the Heidelberg Kazerns, at both US and Bundeswehr areas. During Desert Storm 1, the Bundeswehr pulled gate check and guard duty at US installations here in Germany to relieve US Army soldiers to go to Kuwait, and many of these Bundeswehr Soldaten were armed with fixed wood stock UZIs, ….. until all of the accidents happened !!! Since the IMI military version fires from an open bolt, any negligence can easily cause the heavy bolt and strong spring to send the bolt foreward and cause a negligent discharge. If it is on Full Auto, as the military versions were, then a full mag disperses. Because of the high accident rate, the Bundeswehr retired their UZIs for collapsable stock G3s or MP5s. Their SOP was to not have the weapon charged, and the bolt closed on an empty cylinder! Keep that in mind, an open bolt. Don’t drop it, or bang it around, a small piece of metal is holding a heavy bolt and strong spring in the compressed position. I heard that later there were closed bolt models brought out, just for this reason, but I’ve never seen one, they are generally forbidden for personal use here in Germany.

   1. Oh, and I forgot my biggest argument. By carrying a handgun for a close encounter, you can still carry a bigger stick, but carrying a semi-auto subgun pretty much negates carrying another rifle sized firearm.

6. I once has the ‘hots’ for a mini-uzi and schemed constantly how I might afford one back when they were fairly abundant on the gun market. Never did, however. Now they are both rare and still too expensive for me for what they are. Like Wojo said, I could economize with the Kel-Tec SUB2000 (and have, folded away in a laptop case in my truck) as well as an AR9 that I absolutely love. Both use Glock mags.
   Nice article. Thanks

7. Having owned an IMI UZI in semi-auto and firing it multi times with heavy use, with multiple users like Pat did, with zero malfunctions. I agree it is a great gun, with a great history. It is heavy for its size, and dated with no optic rail, so no longer as desirable to many. But, if you are a history buff, military buff, it is a lot of fun to shoot and accurate also. Anonymous; I have shot the full-auto UZI many times and the M-3 Grease Gun, the UZI is way more accurate, controllable and much more of a gun. The Grease Gun, is clunky, cheaply made and not very accurate, and difficult to get 3 round bursts. I fired it twice and that was enough. Totally agree with Survivormann99. If you are ever in the Ozarks check out:

   http://ozarkmachinegun.com/

   They have just about any full auto you want to shoot, just bring plenty of cash!

8. All good comments today. I took Chuck Taylor’s sub gun class during the 1980s and found the full-size Uzi to be an unreliable brick. The mini-Uzi, however, is a pure joy to handle, carry, and fire. MUCH lighter, more reliable. His grease gun was, as many here have observed, clubby, bulky, and hard to use well. Some students liked it. I favor the S&W M76 or Mini Uzi in a true sub-gun.
   The author of The Ultimate Sniper, John Plaster, worked in MAC V SOG. He documented his only use of his 9mm submachine gun, I think it was an M76- and he said the enemy he salted down with it was not very impressed, as he continued to try to engage as they left the scene.
   Similarly, a good friend serving on the XXXX XXXX County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team used an MP-5SD, along with a partner to down a cocaine-addled suspect in a basement. The man emerged from a downstairs bar with a shotgun and began to aim. My friend fired most of a magazine of Federal Hydra-Shok ammunition into the man’s chest in sort of a question mark pattern. Not a sound or any reaction, just swung a .410 toward his partner. His partner fired a five round burst into his neck, and the suspect decided to aim at my friend again. He put the rest of the magazine into his face, and one of the slugs clipped the cortex and he fell to the floor. The medical examiner called and said the deceased sounded like a maraca when he shook him.
   This experience really shook my friend’s confidence in the Nine badly and he upgraded his personal equipment. The experience also had a deep effect on him, and he left the Sheriff’s department for a medical-related career.
   My take is that if I’m going to carry something that weighs as much as a full-size Uzi, it’s not going to eat 9mm ammo. I own them primarily because the caliber is everywhere, but they are held in reserve. Similarly, I have conversion barrels for my Forties so if the need arises, I can change over to the lessor round.
   Pat did a good job covering the history and heritage of the piece.
   And last, seems like an open-bolt weapon would invite a ton of blowing sand and dust to enter and cause all sorts of mischief with a lubed machine. Uzis don’t do well without lubrication.

9. I’ve had a 9mm IMI Uzi Carbine model B for nearly 40 years. It’s now possible to purchase a top cover with a picatinny rail permanently mounted. I’ve got a Meprolight optic mounted on mine. It’s possible to get picatinny rails for the bayonet mount too, so a flashlight or laser etc. could be added.

   Though it is a relatively heavy firearm, it’s still highly maneuverable in tight places, and there’s very little recoil. My spouse loves shooting our Uzi. If the SHTF, the Uzi will be one of the firearms accompanying me as I do homestead chores, because of its compactness and its reliability.

10. I owned a Chinese made UZI knock off semiauto about 30 years ago. It shot reliably for about 1 mag full then failed to feed, requiring use of charging handle to chamber each round and fire. I changed ammo type, the springs and lube amounts but never got rid of the problem until I sold it as non-reliable.

11. Pat, while on the subject of subguns, do you think you could review the CZ Scorpion EVO 3 Pistol with Brace? I’ve been contemplating one, just have to get it cleared through the Department of War (read wife).

    1. I second that suggestion on the CZ Scorpion EVO 3 and throw in a binary trigger too. Seems like that would be about as close to a full auto subgun as most people will ever get.
       Pat, thanks for the review of Group industries. I bought some of their parts back in the 80’s and they’re high quality. If I didn’t already have an IMI model B Uzi I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a Group Uzi.

12. Another IMI model B owner. I’ve deer hunted with mine, and works good at the 50-75 yard range with 124gr JHP. Old M16 30 rnd Alice mag pouches can carry six 32 rnd mags. (some do, some don’t) Even tried helicopter door gunnery out the side of a OH-58 with a brass catcher, but wished for full auto in that role. But it is better than the .38 revolvers we carried.

13. Tried a Uzi at a machine gun shoot,found it easy to shoot(points quickly,trigger ok,sights ok),reliable(it was in constant use without any failure) but underpowered for interpersonal confrontation. We learned that over 100 years ago in the Philippines,which is why we developed the 45acp and 1911,then Thompson SMG.

14. as the ‘other’ Canadian, our restrictive gun regs make pistols/’ scary looking’ semi autos mostly pointless. More onerous to transport/ own, virtually impossible to gain proficiency, other than from a bench. Pistol caliber carbines don’t fall in that group, though.

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