Did this once but I was thinking about it again. From trench clearing staple to airport security gun headed into obsolescence the submachine was a qualitative leap in smallarms technology that changed parts of combat theory forever.

So Where have all the subguns gone? THREAD

So where and why did submachine guns (hereafter SMGs) come about? The 1900s saw a boom in semi automatic pistols and machine guns, but the rifle remained (largely) a bolt action affair. Some attempts at semi-automatic rifles took off but largely failed to gain traction. The

in between from the machine gun and the bolt action rifle was generally the light machine gun (the Lewis, Chauchat, BAR, Hotchkiss etc), light enough to be man portable but still heavy and with harsh recoil that meant it was best employed from the prone or supported position.

A true (dependable/mass producable) semi-automatic rifle in a battle rifle caliber eluded most nations until after WWII (most nations were in development or small scale fielding of *some* semi auto, but only the US entered the war with a semi-auto general issue rifle, the Garand)

Adding to that, when WWI began, the major combatants had spend the previous 30-50 years developing their own battle rifles and cartridges and they were all bolt action. Trying to develop and introduce, for mass issue, a semi-automatic rifle would be both cost prohibitive and

risky, particularly given no one had worked out all the kinks. But the evolution of warfare, particularly in the near fighting that occurred in trenchworks and cities, made the (often 4 1/2 ft long) lengthy bolt action rifles both cumbersome and less effective in close quarters

situations where milliseconds matter. The pistol provided a partial answer and was a favorite of early raiding parties both quick to fire and quick to reload often carrying as many as 10 rounds. But pistols are extreme close range weapons, far less accurate, & far lower velocity

weapons than their rifle peers. They (generally) lack a stock or forward furntirure to hold them and take more accurate shots, especially under pressure. The technology for machine pistols (full auto pistols) already existed, but this mostly just meant you dumped your ammo

quickly and with minimal accuracy. But the idea and mechanisms for taking a pistol caliber round and using it in a full auto design existed. Enter the SMG. First the Italians, then Germans, and other nations began producing longer barreled (capable of generating higher velocity),

external magazine fed, wood stocked, pistol caliber guns, what we know today as submachine guns. They fed from a higher capacity magazine than most pistols, were substantially more accurate, and had a somewhat longer range than a pistol. The submachine gun would augment the

range and accuracy of a bolt action rifle, with the automatic fire of a light machine gun, in a package lighter and more maneuverable than both. At longer combat distances (generally past 100-150m) the SMG would be next to useless. But when used in concert with general issue

rifles, it would provide serious killing power when the trench lines were breached (by attacker or as defender) and for the nasty business of urban combat. By the end of WWI most of the major powers had developed or were developing an SMG (with the notable exception of Britain).

In the interwar years, the SMG would become popularized in folk lore for its association with gangsters in the US (the Chicago Typewriter a now-common nickname for the Tommy gun). As the world came closer to world war, nearly everyone had both a SMG and a more modern light

machine gun/automatic rifle (the Bren, Degtyarev, BAR, and the most important machien gun of WWII, the MG-42, etc). The era of automatic fire standardized at the squad level had arrived. The submachine gun was refined more, more efficient, often lighter and more portable, and its

role better understood, often becoming the standard weapon for squad/plt leaders, vehicle crews, and rear echelon troops. The Soviets went as far as to equip entire battalions (with mixed effects) with SMGs. From Tunisia to Normandy to Stalingrad to Guadalcanal etc the SMG was

a vital part of a squad's loadout, even in a military like the US that already had a semi-auto rifle as standard issue. It's capacity for close quarters combat in a compact package was unparalleled and millions were produced and disseminated. And then the war ended.

Almost immediately, the SMG began to fade away. Semi-auto/select fire rifles were being adopted the world over. The US would (after gaming the system & unfairly forcing Britain to capitulate in arms trials) adopt the select fire M-14, retaining a full caliber (7.62x51) cartridge,

and most of Western Europe would follow suit with 7.62x51 rifles like the FAL, G3, and CETME. Russia had already adopted the 7.62x39 SKS and would almost immediately change the game forever when they took the lessons of WWII and developed what initially was intended to be

something of a super SMG: the AK-47. Shortly after inception, the intermediate caliber (heavier/more lethal/greater range than a pistol, while lighter/less range than a battle rifle), select fire (full auto and semi), "assault rifle" would become the new world standard for a

military rifle. The groundwork had already been laid with the German 7.92x33 (Kurz) StG44, but the Russians who quickly abandoned designs to use it as an SMG, would be the first to wholesale adopt an assault rifle as their general issue firearm. The US would lag behind, clinging

to the heavy, harsh recoil and poorly controlled automatic fire of the M-14, until the 60s when they adopted the M16. Gradually, nearly ever nation on earth would adopt one of the two, or develop their own (the FAMAS, SA80, G36, QBZ-95 etc) and mostly give up on the full caliber

battle rifle (with a few hold outs). Capable of aimed fired out to 300-500m, repeatable aimed fire(think rapid fire semi auto) at closer ranges, and sweeping automatic fire when necessary or at close combat ranges, these rifles weighed in only slightly heavier (sometimes lighter)

than legacy SMGs. Lighter, more compact SMGs (the Sterling, the MP5, the Beretta M12, Polish PM-63) would be introduced, but the shift was demonstrably towards these being weapons for rear area troops, sometimes vehicle crewmen, special troops, and increasingly, police forces.

As assault rifles got smaller and smaller (both with bullpups and the introduction of carbine variants like the AKS-74U, M4, and similar), the retention of SMGs became even less practical, when you could issue a far more capable gun in roughly similar dimensions). Both the gun &

the ammunition for assault rifles would become more refined, lighter, and even more capable, even out of shorter and shorter barrels.

Today, nearly ever major military still fields a full length assault rifle (M16A4/IAR, AK74M+, QBZ-03, HK416, G36 etc)

and alongside that they generally operate a yet shorter still variant (nearly the entire US Army uses the M4, and carbine AK variants are all over the Russian military).

But where has the SMG gone?

It's largey been replaced. In most instances, the assault rifle or carbine is

more than sufficient. When that's still too long, a new class of firearm has filled the gap: the Personal Defense Weapon (PDW). This niche firearm, uses either a niche caliber that is more or less a smaller assault rifle round (bottlenecked 5.7, 4.6) or an intermediate caliber

5.56, but in a far smaller package than a rifle or carbine. These weapons are meant to be highly concealable, easily stored, greater range and far more lethal than their pistol caliber SMG forefathers. They're suited both for rear area personnel who something more capable than

a pistol/SMG, but less than a full on rifle/carbine, special purpose missions, and perhaps most dominantly, as weapons for protection details guarding high profile figures.

The submachine gun, has largely left serious military service, with a few exceptions (including theUS Army

recently acquiring a relatively small number of 9mm APC9K compact SMGs), with both the proliferation/capability of light/compact assault rifles, and the gradual (though limited) adoption of PDWs. It largely falls into the realm of police/security forces, where the slower round is

better suited to police work, particularly in crowded or civilian dense environments where more potent weapons risk overpenetration (and subsequently hitting bystanders) and much further travel if they miss their target.

There remain niche applications for the SMG in a military

context, but they're are overwhelmingly being eaten up by assault rifles/carbines and PDWs. It is very likely that in the decades to come we'll see SMGs disappear altogether from modern military usage.

And that's where all the subguns went.

End thread.

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