The Avenger Submachine Gun,During “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland, the country was aw
The Avenger Submachine Gun,During “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland, the country was awash in paramilitary groups who took a personal vendetta to bring about a certain political result. The Irish Republicans wanted Northern Ireland to be reunited with Ireland. The Ulster Loyalists held fast to the United Kingdom. With almost open warfare being conducted by both sides, the need for arms was plenty. However there always were not enough weapons to go around. It was not uncommon for paramilitary groups to improvise their own weapons. One such improvised weapon was a submachine gun called the “Avenger”, which was popular with a loyalist group called the Ulster Volunteer Force during the 1990’s.To the casual observer, the Avenger SMG may look like a crudely cobbled together piece of junk. However the Avenger was a simple yet deadly weapon. Produced by cottage industry, these improvised SMG’s were constructed in garages, basements, and attics around Belfast. Pretty much the entire firearm was constructed from stamped sheet metal. After all sheet metal is very easy to find, cheap, and easy to fabricate. The Avenger also included a simple folding stock and a sound suppressor. Chambered from 9mm, it fired from an open bolt and used 32 round Sten magazines. In many ways the Avenger was a very crude weapon, especially compared to regular SMG’s used by military and police forces. The Avenger’s barrel lacked rifling, which limited the accuracy of the weapon. However, for its purposed it didn’t really need much accuracy. The Avenger was intended as a close up weapon where firepower was more important than accuracy. The Avenger could only be fired in fully automatic only, and lacked a safety. It had a rate of fire around 900-1,000 rounds a minute, which quickly depleted its magazine.It is unknown how many Avenger submachine guns were produced. Based on the number captured by the Royal Ulster Constabulary, an estimated 300 may have been produced. -- source link
#guns#firearms#weapons#submachine gun#northern ireland#the troubles#improvised weapons#paramilitary groups#ulster loyalists