Socimi Type 821 The Socimi Type 821 - SMG was a submachine gun manufactured in the 1980s by the firm of SOCIMI , " Società Costruzioni Industriali Milano , SpA " located in Milan , Italy . Development . At a first glance the Socimi Type 821 - SMG appears to be an outright Italian copy of the Israeli Uzi , although the design sports many differences and improvements over the original project . The firm of SOCIMI had been active in the railway building sector since the early 1970s ; in 1983 , it entered in a Joint - Venture with the historic firearms manufacturer Luigi Franchi S . p . A . ( which later , specifically in 1987 , would have outright taken over ) to concentrate on the military weapons business . The results of this collaboration were a series of assault rifles , and the Type 821 - SMG . The early prototypes and evaluation samples of this sub - machinegun were shortly manufactured directly by Franchi , until SOCIMI had completed tooling - up to start in - house production . Description . The Israeli UZI sub - machinegun was taken as a basis , and several technical solutions of such weapon were outright adopted , including the telescoping bolt ( already in use in another Italian sub - machinegun , the Beretta PM - 12 ) , the safety / fire selector switch and the grip safety , and housing of the magazine in the pistol grip . However , SOCIMI / Franchi engineers wanted to distinguish their weapon from the original UZI , by developing a wide array of newer features . The SOCIMI sub - machinegun was built around a solid , monolythic rectangular receiver made out of one single piece of lightweight alloy , departing from the UZI ' s heavy stamped steel receiver design ; the SOCIMI receiver has one single opening on the rear from which the entire bolt assembly can be extracted , while the barrel is inserted in the front and secured by a nut , and can be separated from the receiver by unscrewing it like in the UZI . The grip has finger grooves for better handling . The stock is tubular and sidefolding , departing from the complicated retractable design of the Israeli UZI ; it pivots underneath the back side of the receiver and lies flat against the right side of the gun when folded . It is longer than the UZI stock ( 200 millimetres vs . 180 ) , and results more comfortable to operate and to shoulder . The buttpad folds horizontally against the stock when not in use . While the original UZI collapsing stock could be useful as a blunt object / weapon in the event of extremely close engagements or hand - to - hand combat , the SOCIMI Type 821 - SMG stock was not designed with such use in mind . The SOCIMI Type 821 - SMG is overall lighter and more compact than the Israeli UZI , weighting 2 . 450 grams unloaded vs . 3 . 500 grams of the UZI unloaded ; and has an overall length of 400 millimetres with stock folded ( vs . 470 millimetres ) and 600 millimetres with stock unfolded ( same as the UZI ) . The overall length reduction was achieved by shortening the barrel , using a 200 millimetres length vs . the original 260 millimetres . This has helped to achieve a slower rate of fire of 550 rounds per minute vs . the original 600 rpm of the UZI . Controllability in full - automatic fire results dramatically enhanced . Optimum results are obtained within a range of 150 – 200 metres , the telescopic bolt balances the weapon such that it can be fired one - handed with complete control . Users . The SOCIMI Type 821 - SMG was acquired in small quantities by the Italian Ministry of Interior and distributed to the NOCS team of the Italian Police , and possibly to other unknown Italian units or organizations . The SOCIMI Type 821 - SMG never went to become the standard sub - machinegun of any Italian force , as SOCIMI went bankrupt in 1992 and the production of their assault weapons system ( including the Type 821 - SMG ) was halted to be never reprised again . Franchi , owned by SOCIMI until the bankruptcy and undoubtably the entity behind the development of the SOCIMI weapons system , offered shortly the Type 821 - SMG as the " Franchi LF - 821 " with no success ; it was ultimately acquired by the Beretta Holding and as such stopped development and production of all strictly military - oriented firearms . The SOCIMI Type 821 - SMG samples acquired by Italian forces are now kept in stock . Other samples of this and other SOCIMI firearms are kept in warehouses by Italian firms such as Luigi Franchi S . p . A . and Fiocchi Munizioni . Rumors of foreign sales can find no confirm whatsoever ; before bankruptcy , SOCIMI had reached export agreements with an United States company called " MTS Corporation " , located in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Experimental developments from the SOCIMI Type 821 - SMG include a special tactical briefcase for the full - size model , and the SOCIMI Type 821 - 5 " Micro " SMG , a compact version with an overall length of 250 millimetres ; none of these ever passed the prototype stage .