I love PCCs and submachine guns. I think they are just so dang cool! One day, I plan to get my own MAC-10 or 11 series. But I also love weird guns, so naturally, weird SMGs are most certainly one of my favorite categories of firearms. I feel like I’ve been holding out on all the weird SMGs I know exist with that in mind. Let’s dig into the weird world of submachine guns and machine pistols that a lot of folks likely don’t know much about.
Venus 22-2
Our first gun feels like it fits more into a video game than real life. However, this isn’t from afar flung future or a pipe gun from Fallout 4. It’s a gun that’s design dates back to 1935, but it didn’t come to be until 1975. The Venus 22-2 is a descriptive name. The gun features two barrels, and it fires the .22LR cartridge. A dual-barreled, rimfire .22LR SMG sounds like a ton of fun.
The weapon was fed from a single magazine, but not really. It’s more like two independent magazines combined into one shell. The Benus 22-2 had two barrels and two firing pins, with a combined rate of fire of 1,800 rounds per minute. Each barrel fired at the same time, and the gun was shaped a bit more like a machine pistol. It lacks a stock but was likely controllable since it only fired .22LR.
Reportedly, there was even a suppressor that acted as a shroud that covered the entire front of the gun. I can’t seem to source a photo for it, but as weird as this thing is, I believe it existed. With that said, I really want KelTec to make a modern version of this gun in semi-auto because, well, why not?!
Conders SMG
I’m pronouncing this phonetically because I have no idea what the German name actually sounds like. The Conders SMG was designed and produced by Andre Conders, a German engineer, near the end of World War 2. The guy didn’t work for the regime and designed the weapon independently. This was a 9mm, blowback-operated submachine gun that seemed normal, even if it looked a little odd.
However, where things get weird is the fact it was a belt-fed 9mm submachine gun. A belt-fed submachine gun is all kinds of crazy. It seems almost like the ultimate household suppression weapon, but for warfare, well, that’s what GPMGs are for. It did offer a massive fire rate of 1,000 rounds per minute. I would absolutely love to shoot this thing, but alas, that seems like a pipe dream.
Only one of these submachine guns was ever produced. It was captured after the war ended and even sent back to Aberdeen proving grounds, where American forces repaired it and even tested it. Somehow, the gun made its way to Malta, where it apparently resides in a private collection.
American 180
The American 180 is the only .22 LR submachine gun ever issued by a state-wide police force. The Utah Department of Corrections adopted the weapon, and so did the Rhodesian SAS, and apparently, a French police force purchased two of the guns. This is an oddball. It’s a .22LR submachine gun that feeds from a pan magazine that holds anywhere from 177 to 275 rounds, depending on the size of the pan magazine.
The American 180 was an open bolt design that utilized a conventional blowback design. It fired absurdly fast, up to 1,200 rounds per minute. The idea was to provide an SMG that could fire quickly and controllably and put a lot of lead on target without too much risk of overpenetration. While the gun saw some minor success, it was passed from company to company.
Along the way, a briefcase was made that allowed the user to fire the gun from inside the briefcase. A dual and even a quad mount was produced to really throw some rimfire ammo at them. One salesman even attached eight of them to a plane to sell them to third-world countries. Sadly, the American 180 and its uber-complicated magazine are no more.
Colt SCAMP
Colt is going to look me straight in the face and say the SCAMP isn’t just Robocop’s pistol. Seriously, look at this thing. Although I guess technically, the SCAMP existed before Robocop, it’s the closest we’ve ever gotten to Robocop’s pistols. Technically, it would be considered a machine pistol, but machine pistols are fair game on this list.
SCAMP stands for Small Caliber Machine Pistol. It was designed in 1969 and fired the 5.56x29mm cartridge, making it one of the first PDW-type cartridges. The intention was to replace the M1911 with a supersonic pistol that could fire in three-shot bursts from a 27-round magazine. This was a very big gun, and the idea was that three shots helped ensure it would land a shot on target.
The Colt SCAMP never took off, and sadly, the generals in the American military didn’t want to give us a machine pistol straight out of Robocop. The pistol was reportedly well-made and easy to control with minimal recoil. Sadly, it and the .22 SCAMP cartridge never went anywhere.
Stoehr Machine Pistol
The Stoehr Machine Pistol would make KelTec, S&W, and Walther blush with it’s .22 Magnum firepower. Sure, the PMR-30 is cool, but is it as cool as a bullpup machine pistol chambering .22 Magnum that feeds from a pan magazine? That’s tough to beat. What exactly the purpose of the Stoehr Machine Pistol was is a bit lost to time.
Was it for the police? Military forces? Who needs such an odd gun? Maybe it was just for fun? A lot of the details of the weapon are unknown. The pan magazine likely worked well with the heavy rim of the 22 WMR cartridges and likely offered a fairly high capacity. The pan magazine was aided by metallic tape to ensure feeding, so it’s arguably a belt-fed design. The gun lacks any form of stock, and it seems to rest on the forearm of the shooter.
You’ve heard of blowback, but what about blowforward? The Stoehr machine pistol used a blow-forward design. It’s certainly a rather operating system that makes the gun even more interesting. The Stoehr Machine pistol was a very simple weapon but was also very weird. It never caught on, and I’m not sure if there are any produced beyond the prototype.
Keep it Weird
I love weird SMGs. I think that’s apparent. For some reason, they are a category of firearms that just attract weirdness to them. Maybe it’s because blowback is such a simple system it’s easy for anyone to dive into. Either way, these are my favorite weirdos, but it’s not a cumulative list of weird SMGs. If you know any weird ones, let us know below!
