[Lurker]

It’s a gun that changed the game. That’s for sure.

L

[EQAndyBuzz]

I got to fire one in 1978. My Israeli guide carried one and during a brief break taught me how to fire it. First weapon I ever picked up.

[schurmann]

“It’s a gun that changed the game. ...”

It did change the game, but it was not an original.

The CZ 25 appeared earlier. Designed by Jaroslav Holecek and made by CZ, it was the first submachine gun to use a telescoping bolt. Reduced overall length and improved handling.

Submachine guns built this way resemble large autoloading pistols: the magazine goes up through the handgrip, while the bolt surrounds the barrel like a pistol’s slide.

Nine pounds sounds heavy today. But in the 1940s is wasn’t: no submachine gun of WWII vintage weighed less than eight pounds, and earlier designs tipped the scales even more. The M1928 Thompson gun weighed 11 to 12 pounds empty, and with a loaded 100-round drum it was almost as heavy as a BAR.