Orita M1941

• Name — Oriṭa • Origin — Romania • Type — Submachine gun • Is Ranged — yes • Service — 1943 –1970s • Wars — World War II Vietnam War Sino-Vietnamese War • Used By — Romania Nazi Germany North Vietnam • Design Date — 1941 • Manufacturer — Uzinele Metalurgice Copșa Mică și Cugir • Number — 6,000+ • Variants — Orița M1941, Orița M1948 • Weight — 3.45 kg without magazine 4 kg with magazine • Length — 894 mm • Part Length — 278 mm • Cartridge — 9×19mm Parabellum • Rate — 400-600 rpm cyclic • Velocity — 400 m/s • Range — 200 m • Feed — 25 or 32 round detachable box magazine • Sights — graded from 100 m to 500 m

The design of the Orița uses an open bolt firing mechanism which has a floating firing pin and lever system instead of a fixed firing pin. The rifling of the barrel is six-groove right-handed. In 1948, several changes were made to the design: the manual safety was replaced with a grip safety lever, a reinforced metal wrist was added to the stock and the semi-automatic selector was removed with the gun remaining at fully automatic only. Mass production was made by CMC Uzinele Metalurgice Copșa Mică and Cugir. With a production rate of 666 pieces per month as of October 1942, 6,000 were produced until October 1943.

The first version, Model 1941, entered operational service with the Romanian Army in 1943. Two later improved models were the Model 1948, with a fixed wooden stock, and the rare paratrooper Model 1949, with a folding metal stock. It remained in service with the Romanian Army until it was replaced in the 1960s by the more powerful Pistol Mitralieră model 1963/1965, a Romanian version of the AKM assault rifle. The Orița remained in service with the Patriotic Guards ("Gărzile Patriotice") until the 1970s. A small quantity of these Romanian weapons was also used by the Wehrmacht during the last two years of the Second World War. During the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army was supplied with Orița submachine guns by Romania. The Vietnamese continued using the Orița in the Sino-Vietnamese war of 1979 as well.

A carbine version of the Orița was designed, chambered in 9×23mm Steyr. Only one prototype was built; it is preserved in the National Military Museum in Bucharest.

• Nazi Germany • North Vietnam • Socialist Republic of Romania