Orița M1941 (original) (raw)

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Submachine gun

Oriṭa
Oriṭa M1941
Type Submachine gun
Place of origin Romania
Service history
In service 1943[1]–1970s[2]
Used by RomaniaNazi Germany
Production history
Designed 1941
Manufacturer Uzinele Metalurgice Copșa Mică și Cugir
No. built 6,000+
Variants Orița M1941, Orița M1948
Specifications
Mass 3.45 kg (7.6 lb) without magazine 4 kg (8.8 lb) with magazine
Length 894 mm (35.2 in)
Barrel length 278 mm (10.9 in)
Cartridge 9×19mm Parabellum[3]
Rate of fire 400-600 rpm cyclic
Muzzle velocity 400 m/s (1,300 ft/s)
Effective firing range 200 m (656.2 ft)
Feed system 25 or 32 round detachable box magazine
Sights graded from 100 m (328.1 ft) to 500 m (1,640.4 ft)

The Orița is a 9×19mm Parabellum submachine gun that was manufactured in Romania during World War II and for several years afterwards. It was named for Captain Marin Orița (Military Technical Corps, Romanian Army), who is credited in Romania with its design.[4] (Other sources describe the Orița as a joint Czech-Romanian project;[1] the Czech Leopold Jašek and the Romanian Nicolae Sterca are also considered to have contributed to its design.[2][5]) The mass production was made by CMC Uzinele Metallurgice Copșa Mică together with Cugir Arms Factory. The first version, Model 1941, entered operational service with the Romanian Army in 1943.[1] Two later improved models were the Model 1948, with a fixed wooden stock, and the rare paratrooper Model 1949, with a folding metal stock.[6] It remained in service with the Romanian Army until it was replaced in the 1960s by the more powerful Pistol Mitralieră model 1963/1965, a Romanian version of the AK-47 assault rifle. The Orița remained in service with the Patriotic Guards ("Gărzile Patriotice") until the 1970s.[2]

With a production rate of 666 pieces per month as of October 1942,[7] 6,000 were produced until October 1943.[8]

A small quantity of these Romanian weapons was also used by the Wehrmacht during the last two years of the Second World War.[9]

Other specifications

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A carbine version of the Orita was designed, chambered in 9×23mm Steyr. Only one prototype was built; it is preserved in the National Military Museum in Bucharest.

  1. ^ a b c Axworthy & al (1995), p. 75
  2. ^ a b c Plăvcan, L. & Plăvcan, D., Romanian Firepower…
  3. ^ Specifications for Orița, Model 1941, are from Plăvcan, L. & Plăvcan, D., Romanian Firepower…
  4. ^ König (1977), p. 229
  5. ^ Anonymous, Román kézifegyverek…
  6. ^ König (1977), p. 231
  7. ^ Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 75
  8. ^ Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 149
  9. ^ John Walter, Guns of the Third Reich, Greenhill Books, 2004, p. 163