9x19mm Parabellum F1

   The 9x19mm Parabellum F1 was an Australian submachine gun produced in 1963. It replaced the Owens submachine carbine, which saw extensive use in the Second World War in the Pacific Theater with Australian and New Zealand forces fighting the Japanese. It retained the similarity of the Owens with its vertical magazine and slim figure. It was chambered in a different round however; the 9x19mm parabellum, essentially a 9mm cartridge. It had a perforated barrel whcih was intended to help with cooling. It also used a long wooden buttstock while the rest of the gun being stamped metal. This helped with the actual handling of the gun, making it more ergonomical, especially making it more reliable in full automatic. It was a blowback-operated selective fire weapon with an effective range of about 220 yards( that is really pushing it). It could be fit with a bayonet as well. It also had a rate of fire between 600-640 rounds per minute. 

    Seeing service initially in Vietnam, it was not recieved quite well. Australian soldiers did not particularly like how flimsy the gun was as well as how cheap it felt. The weapon itself was very cheap to make which led to some corners being cut. This submachine gun however did see service with the Australians until the 1990s.