The M56 submachine gun is a Yugoslavian

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

chambered in 7.62×25mm Tokarev, designed for use with the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...

. Initially a state-funded product, it was later produced by

Zastava Arms Zastava Arms ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Застава oружје, Zastava oružje) is a Serbian manufacturer of firearms and artillery, based in Kragujevac, Serbia. It was founded in 1853 when it cast its first cannon. It is the leading producer of firear ...

and saw use in a number of conflicts following the breakup of

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. The M56 is based on the

MP 40 The MP 40 (''Maschinenpistole 40'') is a submachine gun chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge. It was developed in Nazi Germany and used extensively by the Axis powers during World War II. Designed in 1938 by Heinrich Vollmer with in ...

submachine gun captured from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, easily distinguished from the MP 40 by its increased length and curved

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

. Inexpensive and simple to produce and maintain, the M56 also proved to be quite effective at range over its German counterpart due to its 7.62×25mm cartridge having significantly higher velocity than the 9×19mm round used by the

. Internally the M56 lacks the telescoping recoil spring found in the MP 40. The magazine release also differs and is located directly behind the magazine instead of on the side of the receiver on the MP 40. The M56 also uses a double feed magazine (similarly to the Soviet PPS) contrary to the single feed magazines used on the MP 40. The M56 has a fire selector switch allowing the operator to fire in either semi or fully automatic which the MP 40 did not have. Disassembly also differed with the gun being taken apart via a rear end cap, separating the lower and upper receivers while the MP 40 this was accomplished by a button on the lower receiver located behind the magazine well. Another change from the MP 40 is that the M56 lacks the Bakelite resting bar below the barrel on the MP 40

Users

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References

External links

Zastava Arms official website
{{Zastava firearms 7.62×25mm Tokarev submachine guns MP 38 derivatives Simple blowback firearms Submachine guns of Yugoslavia Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1956