The SIG MP310 is a
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 ...
manufactured in Switzerland, developed from
SIG
Sig used as a name may refer to:
* Sig (given name)
*Sig, Algeria, a city on the banks of the Sig River
*Sig Alert, an alert for traffic congestion in California, named after Loyd Sigmon
*Sig River, a river of Algeria also known as Mekerra
sig (l ...
's earlier
wood stock MP46 design. Its
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 ...
was able to fold forward 90 degrees under the
gun barrel
A gun barrel is a crucial part of gun-type weapons such as small firearms, artillery pieces, and air guns. It is the straight shooting tube, usually made of rigid high-strength metal, through which a contained rapid expansion of high-pressure ...
, and it was fitted with a collapsible wire
buttstock
A gunstock or often simply stock, the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock, a buttstock or simply a butt, is a part of a long gun that provides structural support, to which the barrel, action, and firing mechanism are attached ...
.
First introduced as the MP48 model in the late 1940s, the
wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
pistol grip
On a firearm or other tools, a pistol grip is a distinctly protruded handle underneath the main mechanism, to be held by the user's hand at a more vertical (and thus more ergonomic) angle, similar to the how one would hold a conventional pist ...
and forestock were replaced in the 1950s with a polymer stock on the MP310. Production ended in 1972.
The SIG MP310's use of
precision castings and high quality of
manufacture made it an expensive weapon to produce; this expense may have contributed to it not being widely adopted.
Users
Switzerland: The MP310 was adopted by Swiss
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
forces.
Chile: In service with
Chilean Armed Forces
The Chilean Armed Forces ( es, Fuerzas Armadas de Chile) is the unified military organization comprising the Chilean Army, Air Force, and Navy. The President of Chile is the commander-in-chief of the military, and formulates policy through the Mi ...
and police.
See also
*
MAT-49
The MAT-49 is a submachine gun which was developed by French arms factory Manufacture Nationale d'Armes de Tulle (MAT) for use by the French Army and was first produced in 1949.
Development
In 1949, after evaluating several prototypes (including ...
*
Vigneron submachine gun
The Vigneron is a submachine gun manufactured in Belgium during the 1950s. It used the 9×19mm NATO cartridge and was used by the Belgian Army until the 1980s.
The Vigneron is a selective-fire weapon for short-range street and brush fighting. It ...
*
Sola submachine gun
The Sola is a submachine gun that was built by Societe Luxembourgeoise SA in Luxembourg between 1954 and 1957. It uses the 9×19mm Parabellum round and is capable of using MP 40-type magazines, which were popular around Europe at the time. This w ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Image 1 at MilitaryImages.NetImage 2 at MilitaryImages.NetSIG MP46/MP48/MP310at Forgotten Weapons
at Modern Firearms
Submachine guns of Switzerland
Telescoping bolt submachine guns
Infantry weapons of the Cold War
SIG Sauer submachine guns