The Machine Pistol
Beretta 93R
The machine pistol is a firearm that is capable of fully automatic or burst-fire. Such pistols are often used by police and military forces who need an easily concealable weapon with a high rate of fire. These guns can typically be changed between a fully automatic firing rate or a three round burst to better control the weapon and its recoil. Some people maybe confused between the differences of a sub-machine gun and a machine pistol, the term, sub-machine gun, generally refers to a firearm with a large rifle-like body. Where machine pistols are guns built made automatic using the design of a semi-automatic.
Machine pistols are often criticized for being rather inaccurate. This is caused by a number of reasons; the fully automatic function causes the gun to kick upwards while firing and is even harder to control because of it's low weight and the lack thereof of a shoulder strap or shoulder stock. Although these problems can be resolved by the three round burst function used in certain machine pistols or by steadying it in some way, like using a shoulder strap to push down on the gun as it fires so it does not kick upwards.
Some of the first fully automatic machine pistols were invented by the German arms manufacturer, Mauser, during 1896, with the creation of the Mauser C96. This gun also had an attachable stock which could also be used as a holster. The Mauser did not have a magazine in the the grip of the gun but instead had a boxlike internal magazine.
Machine pistols are often criticized for being rather inaccurate. This is caused by a number of reasons; the fully automatic function causes the gun to kick upwards while firing and is even harder to control because of it's low weight and the lack thereof of a shoulder strap or shoulder stock. Although these problems can be resolved by the three round burst function used in certain machine pistols or by steadying it in some way, like using a shoulder strap to push down on the gun as it fires so it does not kick upwards.
Some of the first fully automatic machine pistols were invented by the German arms manufacturer, Mauser, during 1896, with the creation of the Mauser C96. This gun also had an attachable stock which could also be used as a holster. The Mauser did not have a magazine in the the grip of the gun but instead had a boxlike internal magazine.