There is a variation of the basic pistol that is worthy of a quick look, but is a variation that most of us will never fire, much less own. It’s called a machine pistol, which means a full-auto pistol—illegal without federal registration and tax stamp. Less there be confusion in terminology, understand that the abbreviation MP is sometimes used to describe them, but the Germans use that same abbreviation to describe the submachine gun—MP38, MP5, etc. In common use, the submachine gun is a compact full-auto firearm that fires pistol cartridges. It has a buttstock for support and is very effective in trained hands. In most cases, submachine guns are not easily concealed. Machine pistols, on the other hand, are full-auto guns firing pistol cartridges and having fairly concealable characteristics. More often than not, they do not have stocks or other support devices. I do not believe the machine pistol has characteristics that make it an effective firearm for anything but highly specialized roles.
May 21, 2013
