Between 1944 and 1945, some 600 of a new Italian submachine gun were manufactured with Fabbrica Fratelli Giandoso as the "TZ-45". The weapon was designed by brothers Tono and Zorzoli Giandoso in 1944 and delivered to Socialist Italian forces. Other ventures of this time sought to outfit Socialist forces with similar tools - the Brescia FNAB-43 submachine gun being another example (7,000 produced).
The TZ-45 was chambered for the readily-available and proven 9x19mm Parabellum German pistol cartridge feeding from a 40-round detachable box magazine. The action relied on a blowback system with selective fire possible. Rate-of-fire reached 800 rounds-per-minute with muzzle velocity reaching 1,200 feet-per-second. Effective ranges were out to 500 feet - suitable for short- and medium-range encounters. Sighting was through a front/rear iron pairing.
Externally, the submachine gun took on a conventional arrangement with a pistol grip/trigger unit situated at the extreme rear of the metal body. A telescoping wire butt was fitted for support and portability. The receiver was mainly rounded in its shape with the barrel exposed along most of its length ahead. The magazine feed was under the receiver in the usual way though considerably ahead of the trigger area. The ejection port was cut into the top of the receiver, well ahead of the firer's face.
Due to its hasty design and production, the TZ-45 was not a well received automatic weapon system. Regardless, it was available and needed during the uprising of 1943-1945 and continued service until the end of the war. Some of the guns fell into the hands of the German Army and were used against any and all of its enemies into the final days. At the end of the war, the weapons were tested by the Allies (namely Britain and the United States) and found to be quite sub-par when compared to contemporaries. They were quickly discarded and deemed largely unreliable and poorly made weapons.
The end of the war did not end the story of the TZ-45 for its rights were sold off to the Burmese military where the weapons were serially manufactured under the local designation of "BA-42". The weapon's issues continued to plague it in service yet these guns were in use up until the early part of the 1990s - though by this time in second-line roles. Burmese production spanned from 1952 to 1955 adding another 5,400 of the guns to total production.
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