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Armaguerra OG-43 & OG-44 Submachine Guns

In 1943, Giuseppe Oliani developed the OG-43, an innovative stamped submachine gun for the Repubblica Sociale Italiana, the German puppet state controlling Northern Italy after the Kingdom of Italy surrendered in September 1943. Oiliani’s design was extremely compact, using the magazine as a pistol grip and had a folding stock and foregrip.

Società Anonima Revelli Manifattura Armaguerra built the prototypes at their factory near Cremona with the OG-43 and OG-44 assembled before the end of World War Two. Part of a push to increase small arms production that also saw the development of two other submachine guns; the FNAB-43 and TZ-45. The OG-43 had an L-shaped bolt which ran above the barrel, much like the later Walther MP, allowing for a shorter, slimmer and lighter weapon (see image #3).

Oliani’s prototypes used a simple blowback action with both chambered in 9x19mm. They fed from Beretta M38A double stack, double feed magazines. With its stock folded the OG-43 was approximately 47cm long, when extended it measured 72cm, while the later fixed stocked OG-44 was 78cm long overall.

The later OG-44 prototype is markedly more conservative in its design with a conventional layout (see image #4). The weapon had a fixed stock which connected with the pistol grip and hinged downwards to disassemble the weapon and remove the bolt. This change moved the trigger assembly from in front of the breech to behind it, this change most likely simplified the weapon for easier production.

Unlike the FNAB-43 and TZ-45, neither of Oliani’s prototype submachine guns entered serial production, with only a few prototype’s completed. The OG-43 is an important milestone in submachine gun design as it is one of the first, if not the first, to combine stamped manufacture and an L shaped bolt with a pistol grip magazine housing. For one reason or another Oliani’s designs were not developed further after the war and other domestic manufacturers like Beretta seized the market.

Sources:

Submachine Gun, A. Williams & M. Popenker, (2011)

Armaguerra OG-43 and OG-44, Modern Firearms, (source) [also Image Source]

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