Uzi - Civilian Variants

Civilian Variants

The Uzi Carbine is similar in appearance to the Uzi submachine gun, the Uzi carbine is fitted with a 16-inch (410 mm) barrel (400mm), to meet the minimum rifle barrel length requirement for civilian sales in the United States. It fires from a closed-bolt position in semi-automatic mode only and uses a floating firing pin as opposed to a fixed firing pin. A small number of Uzi Carbines were produced with the standard length barrel for special markets. Uzi Carbines were available in calibers 9mm, .41 AE, and .45 ACP.

The Uzi Carbine had two main variants, the Model A (imported from 1980 to 1983) and the Model B (imported from 1983 until 1989). These two variants were imported and distributed by Action arms.

Norinco of China manufactures an unlicensed copy of the Uzi model B with modifications made to avoid the US Assault Weapon Import Ban. The folding stock was replaced with a wooden thumbhole stock, the barrel nut was welded in place, and the bayonet lug was removed. The gun had a gray parkerized finish and was sold as the M320.

The Mini-Uzi Carbine is similar in appearance to the Mini-Uzi submachine gun, the Mini-Uzi carbine is fitted with a 19.8 inch barrel, to meet the minimum rifle overall length requirement for civilian sales in the United States. It fires from a closed-bolt position in semi-automatic mode only.

The Uzi Pistol is a semi-automatic, closed bolt, and blowback-operated pistol variant. Its muzzle velocity is 345 m/s. It is a Micro-Uzi with no shoulder stock or full-automatic firing capability. The intended users for the pistol were various security agencies in need of a high-capacity semi-automatic pistol, or civilian shooters that wanted a gun with those qualities and the familiarity of the Uzi style. It was introduced in 1984 and produced until 1993.

The USA firm Group Industries made limited numbers of a copy of the Uzi "B" model semiauto carbine for sale in the USA along with copies of the Uzi submachinegun for the USA collector market. After registering several hundred submachineguns transferable to the general public through a special government regulated process, production was halted due to financial troubles at the company. Company assets including partially made Uzi submachineguns, parts, and tooling were purchased by an investment group later to become known as Vector Arms.

A company known as Vector Arms purchased tooling and parts from the defunct firm of Group Industries and built and marketed numerous versions of the Uzi Carbine and the Mini-Uzi.