Sanna 77
The Sanna-77 (from South Africa) is the end of a line of submachine guns which can trace their existence and lineage to the days of Rhodesia and their Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965.
Sanna 77
Atirador · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Field
- submachine gun.
- Region
- South Africa.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
The Sanna-77 (from South Africa) is the end of a line of submachine guns which can trace their existence and lineage to the days of Rhodesia and their Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Sanna 77. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q7418809 · wikipedia · Sanna 77
In this article
History
The small landlocked Rhodesian state faced international sanctions and an arms-embargo from 1965 as well as guerrilla warfare from 1966 and so began producing their own arms. Having been supplied a quantity of the now ubiquitous Uzi submachine gun, Rhodesia set up facilities to produce a similar sub-gun based on the CZ-25 which incidentally was also the inspiration for the Uzi. The first attempt was the LDP, which was taken from the initials of the manufacturing firm (Lacoste Engineering) and the engineer/designer (Alex DuPlessis), although many Rhodesians felt that it stood for "Land Defence Pistol". The LDP was strikingly based upon the CZ or Vz-25 series of sub-guns, which was the first to have a telescoping bolt and a magazine situated inside the pistol grip of the weapon. It is unknown when its production was transferred from Rhodesia to South Africa, but it appears that some production began in the early 1970s. The name changed to the Kommando-LDP, the Kommando making extensive use of plastics in the frame. The Kommando was tested as a potential submachine gun for use with "Counter-Terror Forces" as well as having a semi-auto version for civilian use with a three-round burst facility. However the Kommando, which used an Uzi magazine, proved somewhat unreliable as the selector would sometimes trip between semi-, burst- or full-auto mode. It essentially failed as both a civilian product as well as a military one, the South African Defence Force using either the Israeli Uzi or the locally South African produced Milkor BXP submachine gun. Dogged by unreliability, legislative restrictions on licences and being no more than a heavy semi-auto pistol, the Sanna-77 was a commercial failure. The Sanna-77 has long since ceased to be produced and is no longer commercially available.
Description
The Sanna-77 was of all metal construction, unlike the plastic framed Kommando LDP, and has the magazine in the grip and a folding metal stock. The front sight was hooded and the cocking handle located high on the left side of the receiver. The Sanna-77 is not really a submachine gun, being made for civilian use only and therefore, due to legal restrictions, only available in the semi-auto mode of fire. It is therefore better termed a pistol-caliber carbine rather than a submachine gun.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
Connections
Knowledge graph
Connections
Each connection was recorded deliberately, with the basis for it kept on the internal record.
Broader subject
1- submachine gunTerminology
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Militaria
6,095 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- sambucaTerminology
- SAMHOTerminology
- SAMP/TTerminology
- Samson Remote Controlled Weapon StationTerminology
- SanshikiTerminology
- SapsanTerminology
- SAR 21Terminology
- SAR 80Terminology
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with Sanna 77?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.