Machine Pistol



The Machine Pistol is a new class of weapon introduced in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, although machine pistols were present earlier in the series classified as Sub-Machine Guns. A machine pistol is a fully-automatic/three round burst, very compact firearm. The boundary between Sub-Machine Guns and Machine Pistols, however, can be a bit hazy, since both have similar origins and roles. Both are pistol-caliber, fully-automatic or three round burst close-range weapons. Sub-Machine Gun is usually used to describe a weapon scaled down from a larger automatic weapon (For example, a G3 to an MP5), while machine pistol is used to describe a weapon scaled up from a normal handgun (Glock 17 to Glock 18).

Machine pistols and Sub-Machine Guns have their origins in World War I, where soldiers needed better weapons than bolt-action rifles for trench warfare. The first Sub-Machine Gun was the German MP18, a compact weapon with rifle-like properties and fully-automatic fire. It was the first fully-automatic weapon that wasn't a heavy machine gun, leading to the development of man-portable automatic weapons. After some experimentation, the Germans were able to modify existing pistols to be fully automatic, such as converting a C96 into an M172 Schnellfeuer. Machine pistols never fully caught on except in niche roles; Tank crews and boarding parties were among the few military roles that would require a compact, powerful weapon.

By the 1970s, machine pistols made a small resurgence; the MAC-10, HK VP70, M93R, and Glock 18 were developed over time as the need for such a weapon evolved, usually alongside handgun development. A few compact Sub-Machine Guns, such as the MP5k, TMP/MP9, and Mini-Uzi are sometimes classified as either Sub-Machine Guns or machine pistols. Only a handful are considered as "true" machine pistols, as they are handgun-sized weapons, which includes the Glock 18, M93R, APS Stechkin, Skorpion, Cz75 Full Auto and VP70.

In Modern contexts, the machine pistol is useful as a concealable, portable weapon that offers more firepower than a handgun, used by SWAT teams, security personnel, criminals, and some military special forces, though the role of the machine pistol in military is largely supplanted by the personal defense weapon like the P90.

The "MP" in many German weapons such as the MP40 and MP5 stands for "machinenpistole," which is German for 'Machine Pistol' (Though they use this term for Sub-Machine Guns, automatic weapons that fire pistol rounds.)

In the Call of Duty series
All current machine pistols are labeled as such in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, however, had a few that were in the submachine gun class. Machine pistols have a lower range, more recoil, and higher rate of fire than submachine gun, and can use an attachment called Akimbo, allowing the player to independently fire two machine pistols at once. however, recoil is much higher, and iron sights are disabled. Machine pistols were also featured in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Nintendo DS) and will be in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

 * Mini-Uzi *
 * Skorpion *

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (DS)

 * Mini-Uzi *
 * MAC-10 *

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

 * Glock 18
 * PP-2000
 * TMP
 * M93 Raffica

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized

 * Skorpion*

* Although classified in-game as a Sub-Machine Gun, one could argue that these guns are machine pistols.