Engineering:Métral submachine gun

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Métral submachine gun
TypeSubmachine gun
Place of originSwitzerland
Production history
DesignerGérard Métral
Designed1985
Specifications
Mass2.9 kg
Length600 mm (stock extended)
360 mm (stock folded)
Barrel length200 mm

Cartridge9×19mm Parabellum
Calibre9 mm
ActionBlowback, open bolt
Rate of fire600 rpm
Muzzle velocity390 m/s
Effective firing range25 m
Feed system32 round Sten type magazine
SightsAperture rear sight, post-type front sight

The Métral submachine gun is a submachine gun designed by Swiss army reserves officer Gérard Métral intended for clandestine manufacture and distribution during foreign occupation circumstances.[1][2]

It is a blowback, select fire, Uzi type design, open bolt submachine gun, with a side folding stock. The design and function of the parts are based on various existing submachine guns (like Suomi M1931 for the trigger mechanism and Ingram MAC-10 for bolt security etc.), along with some of the author's own innovations and solutions, for example, the bolt construction and folding stock.[1]

Although the subtitle of the book detailing its design and constructions calls it "homemade", the design is mainly intended for a more professional, almost mass-production kind of manufacture.[citation needed]

Its designer calls for any constructor to be skilled at metalwork, with access to a shop lathe, drill press and milling machine (the last being optional but very helpful). Métral himself says of the main spring, barrel and magazine construction: "Try doing it yourself only if you have no other choice" and calls them "difficult to build".[1] Some parts need hardening, which is usually beyond the means of an amateur, and several parts are intended to be purchased or having them made to order. However care has been taken to keep the appearance of all the separate parts as inconspicuous as possible.[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Métral, Gérard (1995). A Do-it-Yourself Submachine Gun. Boulder, Colorado: Paladin Press. pp. 1, 7, 11. ISBN 978-0-87364-840-0. 
  2. "Métral Clandestine SubMachineGun 9x19mm". http://www.securityarms.com/20010315/galleryfiles/2900/2932.htm. Retrieved 2016-04-10.