Having designed, series produced, and deployed its MGP-79/MGP-79A/MGP-87 series of 9 x 19 mm caliber submachine guns, Peruvian Navy’s SIMA-CEFAR organization had by the mid-1980s accumulated considerable experience and was ready to launch a more ambitious program. Those weapons, although possessing the due credit of having launched the country’s first-ever indigenous small arms manufacturing program, generally represented what is commonly termed as “second-generation” SMGS. Weapons like the WWII-vintage German MP38, British STEN, the American M3 Grease Gun, and many others that appeared worldwide after the War. Except for one or another refinement, Peru’s MGPs basically incorporated the same characteristics. Size and weight were two of them.

Even with the stock folded, the MGP-87, for example, was 500 mm long, and, minus magazine, its weight just about touched the 3-kg mark. When one opts or a submachine gun, he or she is clearly trading cartridge power and range for lightness and compactness. The search for “firepower in a compact package” has for long existed. In the 193os, the Royal, Astra, and Mauser “Schnellfeuer” machine pistols were unsuccessful attempts to achieve this goal. The American Ingram M10/M11 series was somewhat more (although not entirely) successful, and some other subguns (Israel’s Mini and Micro Uzis, and Germany’s H&K MP5K, for instance) later appeared to fill this highly specialized niche. Not to mention more recent, radical designs such as Britain’s Bushman IDW (Individual Defence Weapon) and Austria’s Steyr TMP (Tactical machine Pistol).

Local operational requirements and potential export market possibilities formed the basis for the development of the MGP-84 (at one time designated MGP-15), which has been in production at the Callao naval Base, near the capital city of Lima, for several years. Besides adoption by Peruvian forces, it has reportedly been exported to such countries as Argentina, Honduras, and Mexico.

Compactness was, obviously, a primary design objective. This has been remarkably well achieved in the MGP-84, whose telescopic (or wrap-around) bolt entirely surrounds the 166 mm-long barrel, pretty much in the same fashion of a Colt Government Model pistol, for example. The return spring is positioned in a similar way, too, encircling the barrel. Many people don’t favor placing any spring too close to a heat source (a hot barrel, in this case), as this may lead to losing its temper, and it still remains to be seen whether, in the long run, this problem is going to manifest in the Peruvian gun.

Following a current trend in small arms manufacture, synthetic material is used in the construction of the main body (pistol grip/magazine housing, trigger guard, and firing mechanism housing), to which the steel tubular receiver is attached by two removable pins. The buttstock consists of a steel arm and a synthetic buttplate, and neatly folds to the right side of the gun, thus reducing overall length from 503 to only 284 mm, a mere 67 mm longer than a Beretta Model 92 semi-auto pistol, for example. This easily allows the Mini to be carried concealed under a coat or jacket (the manufacturer offers a dedicated shoulder holster for that) and quickly brought into action. This should prove most useful for bodyguard duties.

I have been invited by SIMA-CEFAR to test fire the MGP-84 at one of the Peruvian Navy ranges at Callao. Since that intense training activity by Navy (“Marina de Guerra”) and Marine (“Infanteria de Marina”) combat teams was taking place everywhere at the time of my somewhat unscheduled visit, I could not count on a formal shooting range (paper targets, etc) for my use. Instead, I had at my disposition a reasonable free area, surrounded by sand dunes, with a usable range of roughly 50 meters, which comes to be a realistic firing distance as far as small submachine guns are concerned. Informal (empty soda bottles and wooden crates) targets happened to be spread over the place at every imaginable distance. Ammunition supply was plenty, consisting of locally made FAME and Brazilian CBC/Magtech 9 x 19 FMJ rounds.

Like the previous MGP-79 and MGP-87, the “84” employs 20- and 32-round magazines similar to and interchangeable with those of the Uzi family, which, for the record, finds wide acceptance by Peruvian armed and police forces. This type of box magazine is of the staggered-row, two-position feed type, which is easier to load by hand and requires reduced bolt effort to strip rounds and feed them into the chamber. Not at all surprisingly, the magazine catch button occupies the same (low, left side) position in the pistol grip and is a carbon copy of the Israeli guns, but nothing else relates the two designs.

Controls are adequately sized and located. The fire selector, situated just above the forward end of the unusually wide, very sturdy trigger guard, has the settings “S” (safety), forward; “1×1” (semi-auto), top; and “A” (automatic), to the rear. Its manipulation is done with the thumb of the left (supporting) hand, easily, quickly, and effortlessly. It has been a frequent practice in many guns to place the selector switch closer to the main grip so that it can be, tentative and optimistically, actuated with the thumb of the right (firing) hand, but in quite a few instances its shape and/or actual positioning prevents this from happening. So, the MGP-84 Mini solution is straightforward.

The cocking knob, at about 45 degrees to the left, is attached directly to, and reciprocates with the bolt. Its size is large enough to allow positive manipulation, and small enough to avoid snagging in clothes, pieces of individual gear, bushes, etc.

With the stock extended, the gun provides adequate comfort for accurate, aimed fire, mainly when one chooses the semi-automatic mode. The protected sights (U-notch, flip-type rear sight, and post front sight) are easy to acquire and adjustable for 100 meters (in my view, the maximum realistic engagement distance for such a short barrel)) and 200 meters (a most optimistic proposition). Anyway, my available range did not go past the 50-or-so-meter mark and the weapon proved entirely capable of consistently hitting man-sized targets. At shorter distances (say 10 to 15 meters), head shots may be a viable choice to deal with emergency tactical situations, such as in a hostage rescue mission.

Since the beginning, I was particularly anxious to try the Mini in the automatic mode, and I’ll tell you why. Similarly-sized SMGs (Ingrams, Mini and Micro Uzis, MP5Ks, etc.) have inherently a high cyclic rate of fire, usually in the region of 1000 to 1200 rounds per minute, which does nothing to help in controllability and, consequently, in practical accuracy … past arm’s length. Since SIMA-CEFAR literature mentioned 650-700 rounds per minute for the MGP-84, I was more than eager to try it.

Although the shooting was not instrument-monitored, my accumulated experience with buzzguns made me believe that the quoted figures are pretty real. Even during normally useless very long bursts, controllability remained excellent, both firing from the shoulder and from the waist level. Using trigger control alone, short, two-round bursts and single shots are simple to master after some familiarization.

If required, the Mini can be fired with the buttstock folded. You can do it single-handed, like a pistol, or even using the folded buttplate as a forward vertical grip. Be aware, however, that no matter what Hollywood suggests, this is a sure way to lose a lot in terms of accuracy: just do it in case of a real emergency … and at very close ranges!

The Peruvian submachine gun’s compact size makes it an ideal weapon for covert, low profile missions. Much more so if you fit it with a sound suppressor. In just a few seconds, unscrew the forward receiver cap and substitute it for the locally designed silencer unit, which, thus, attaches to the original barrel. It is relatively light, not too bulky, and, boy, does it work! Without requiring the use of subsonic ammunition, it effectively cuts down the firing signature to slightly more than the metallic noise of the reciprocating bolt. The added weight, in fact, increases firing stability, and were the MGP-84 one of my tools-of-trade, I’d probably have it with the suppressor on most of the time for serious business.

SIMA-CEFAR (renamed SIMA Electronica in 1996) also offers a semi-auto-only version of the gun, a sort of ultra-compact carbine designated MGP-84C (at one time, MGP-14), for those not requiring – or not allowed to have – an automatic weapon. Those creative Peruvians built and tested a stockless, assault pistol variant, the MGP-14 Micro, in 1994, but the project did not go beyond the prototype stage.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS MGP-84 Mini

Cartridge: 9 x 19 mm
Operation: Blowback, selective fire
Feed: 20- or 32-rd detachable box mag.
Weight: no magazine: 2.3 kg, full 32-rd magazine: 2.9 kg
Length: stock extended: 284 mm, stock folded: 284 mm
Barrel length: 166 mm
Cyclic rate of fire: 650-700 rounds/min.

From the window of my plane in the commercial flight en-route to Lima, the sight of the dark blue waters of Lago Titicaca (the world’s highest navigable lake, right on the border between Bolivia and Peru) was one more breathtaking scene of the equally majestic Andes Mountains that I tried to record in my mind. Photographs alone could hardly match the sensation of actually being there, and I couldn’t help imagining how it would have been in the time of the native pre-Columbian civilizations which existed for over 5,000 years. Their Apogee was reached by the Incas in what is now Peru around the year 1500, only to be drastically brought to a bloodstained end, following the arrival of Spanish “Conquistador” Francisco Pizarro in 1532.

Although a great portion of the passengers on my flight from Brazil were clearly foreigners eager to visit such traditional places as the ruins of Machu Picchu, the cities of Arequipa and Cusco, and the intriguing Nasca Lines (colossal figures of animals and constellations traced on the ground and only clearly perceptible when you fly above them!), the purpose of my visit was not so touristic and/or esoteric. Pretty much on the contrary, my objective was to test fire and learn about submachine guns of indigenous design and manufacture. Yes sir, the Peruvians do have a local small arms production capability!

For the record, domestic firearms construction in that South American nation had already been tried in the early 1950s, when American designer Gordon B. Ingram (better known by his compact, fast-firing M-10/M-11 series SMGs) established the local “Fábrica de Armas Los Andes”. The aim was to series-produce his .45 ACP caliber Model 6 submachine gun under license from Los Angeles-based Police Ordnance Company. It’s not clear how many examples were actually assembled in Peru.

It would take about twenty more years for the Peruvians to think about making guns again, and that time they decided to go ahead and contrive a national product. Oddly enough, incentive for this effort came in the mid-1970s at what was then the “Departamento de Armas del Arsenal Naval” (Weapons Department of the Navy Arsenal), at the Callao Naval Base, adjacent to the capital city of Lima.

That establishment was primarily in charge of maintaining and repairing Peruvian Navy armament of all types. Its CO at the time, one Captain Benvenuto, boldly decided they should contemplate actual manufacture of small arms. A project group was put together, and this allegedly also included an Italian and an Argentine designer. As it has frequently happened in countries deciding to establish a domestic firearm production capability, a subgun was chose as the initial product. This comes from the fact that this type of weapon is intrinsically simpler to design and cheaper to make than, say a good revolver or rifle.

A prototype was ready for testing by 1979, and later showed to be good enough to justify series manufacture. At about the same time, the SIMA-CEFAR organization was established, SIMA standing for “Servicios Industriales de la Marina” (Navy Industrial Services), and CEFAR for “Centro de Fabricaciones de Armas” (Weapons Manufacturing Center), whose responsibility would be making and marketing the guns.

As it should be expected, moving from a couple of working prototypes into series production status is no simple task, much more so in a country with very limited financial and industrial resources. Skilled technicians had to be trained and adequate tooling procured from different sources, and all this resulted in the production of the first domestic Peruvian submachine gun, the MGP-79, starting around 1983. Something like 16,000 guns were made through about 1985, all being supplied to the local Police and Armed Forces.

The MGP-79

MGP stands for “Marina de Guerra del Peru” (Peruvian Navy), and this first model is a stockless weapon which operates by conventional blowback action and, like all subsequent members of the family, is chambered to fire the popular 9 x 19 mm cartridge. The receiver is a conventional tubular structure, to the fore end of which is fastened the 240 mm-long barrel (12 micro-grooves, RH twist) by the collar of a perforated jacket. The similarly-cylindrical bolt with a fixed firing pin and its corresponding recoil spring assembly (guide rod and buffer) are inserted into the receiver from the rear end, which features a screw-on cap.

Following a configuration common to many of the so-called second-generation SMGs, pioneered by the German MP38/MP40 series of WWII fame, the long magazine housing is well forward under the receiver, and doubles as a vertical fore grip. Wooden panels, with a marked protuberance at the rear, were originally employed here, but later examples featured straight synthetic panels. The magazine catch, found on the lower left side of the housing, is a square button fashioned after the one used in the Uzi family of SMGs. The 20- and 32-round box magazines also come from the Israeli design, being of the staggered-row, two position feed type.

The firing mechanism proper is contained within a stamped, rectangular lower body affixed to the receiver. The pistol grip is an integral part of this assembly, and may also be encountered with wooden or plastic panels, both types with conspicuous finger grooves.

Shooting Impressions

The most cooperative staff of SIMA-CEFAR was kind enough to allow me to carry out a hands-on evaluation of the MGP-79, an event which took place at one of the many combat training ranges at the Callao Naval Base. My host for the occasion was Captain Daniel Quiróz, then Marketing Officer of that organization. On our way to the test site he drove past several training areas where I could see a number of “Marina de Guerra” (Navy) and “Infanteria de Marina” (Marine Corps) combat teams hard at work. Instructors and trainees alike displayed an outstanding degree of professionalism, which should come as no surprise to anybody in view of the fact that both the local Military and the Police share responsibilities in anti-terrorist and anti-drug operations. The guys I saw there were not merely following a course schedule, but rather, learning or drilling how to survive in real-life combat and assure their opponents … don’t!

At 3.3 kg with a loaded 32-round magazine in place, the MGP-79 is well within the weight range of typical second-generation SMGs. My individual taste does not favor inserting the magazine into a housing too far forward in the gun, I favor those just ahead of the trigger guard (H&K MP5-style) or, even more, within the main grip (Uzi-style). As usual, tapping the bottom of the magazine after insertion makes sure that it is in place and held by its catch.

Applied safety and fire control are performed by two distinct levers on the left side of the gun body, which leaves a lot to be desired in terms of ergonomics. A single lever is certainly preferred, mainly under the usual stress of combat. Just above the main grip and within satisfactory reach of the right hand’s thumb lies the fire selector. In a 90-degree arc, settings are semi-auto (curiously marked “1×1”), to the rear, and full-auto (marked “RAF” for “Ráfaga”, or Burst). The applied safety lever, which blocks the bolt either in the closed or open position, is located on the left side, near the magazine housing. It can be flawlessly manipulated with the thumb of the left hand, and settings are “F” (“Fuego”, or Fire), forward, and “S” (“Securo”, or Safe), down.

The cocking piece is a knob protruding 90 degrees to the right side of the weapon, so if you are right-handed and don’t want to lose your grip when actuating it, just turn the gun slightly towards its left side, and use the supporting (left) hand, instead. As an additional precaution against accidental discharges, the retracting handle can be pulled to the rear and hooked up into a vertical notch in the receiver, a simple and long-established method.

As mentioned earlier, the design parameters for the MGP-79 surprisingly did not call for any kind of buttstock, which might well be an indication that its intended operational use was only CQC (close-quarters combat) or any other actions (I wonder what) not requiring too-accurate fire. In contrast, however, decent adjustable sights are provided. The rear unit is a flip-type, two-position (100 and 200 meters) V-notch, while the front sight is a hooded blade, radius being a reasonable 260 mm.

The example I used in my test was in excellent condition and was marked with serial number “383” (definitely an early production weapon) and “FAP” (“Fuerza Aérea del Perú”, or Peruvian Air Force). Although it came with sling swivels at the rear and forward ends, regretfully the sling itself was missing, as it would have made a good additional support for more precise shooting. Anyway, the “opposition forces” at hand were simply empty plastic bottles, soda cans, and broken wooden crates spread around the sand bank I was shooting at … and, most fortunately, they didn’t return fire!

Range was in the region of 50 meters, more than realistic for submachine gun use, and the stockless MGP-79 still allowed me to concentrate most of my semi-automatic and automatic fire on the “enemy” in such a way that heavy casualties among them would have been expected. Firing from the waist, assault-style, shot convergence both with short and long bursts was pretty much satisfactory.

The supporting hand was alternately used to hold the vertical fore grip (magazine housing) and to grasp the barrel sleeve well near the muzzle end, the latter proving more effective for speedier turn-around movements, like would have been required for the engagement of multiple targets. The insulation provided by the perforated jacket was barely enough to protect my hand from the moderate barrel heating generated by my brief scuffle with the bottles.

But there’s a trick with the MGP-79: its ejection port is located right on top of the receiver. Although the “formal” ejection path should take the empty cartridge cases up and forward, I had the annoying experience of seeing (and feeling!) some of them hitting my shooting glasses a number of times, mainly when I fired the gun from a lower position. Were it shouldered (had it a stock!), the brass would probably fly inoffensively over the shooter’s head. That is one design snag.

Cyclic rate of fire averages about 700 rounds per minute, a reasonable figure, and proper trigger manipulation allows one to squeeze out two- and three-round bursts (and even single shots, with a little more familiarization time) in full-auto setting. I tried some single-handed firing, as this may eventually be required in an emergency, but found it not practical, mainly as a result of the main grip being too far back from the gun’s center of gravity. For my small build, it was far from effective beyond short ranges, but maybe Rambo and others of his species would find it a piece of cake…

Design improvement

The shortcomings I noticed during my relatively brief shooting session at Callao obviously also called the attention of the MGP-79 users as time passed and operational experience accumulated. Although the weapon’s reliability as a whole was generally praised, there were complaints regarding the barrel’s limited resistance to high volumes of fire. What would in our days be called a PIP (Product Improvement Program) was eventually carried out by SIMA-CEFAR, the result being the MGP79A/MGP-87 series of buzzguns, which entered production in 1987.

MGP-79 Technical Specification:

Cartridge: 9 x 19 mm
Operation: Blowback, selective fire
Feed: 20- or 32-round detachable box magazine
Weight: no magazine: 2.65 kg, 32-rd magazine: 3.25 kg
Overall length: 526 mm
Barrel length: 240 mm
Cyclic rate of fire: 700 rounds/min

Part One of this three part series on Peruvian submachine guns is in SAR Volume 2 Number 3.

With the MGP-79 the Peruvians laid the first solid basis for the establishment of an indigenous small arms production capability. Not only had they designed a functional submachine gun, but also had it placed in series production and deployed with its forces, no small a feat for a nation with limited economic and industrial resources.

As time went by and operational use of their own SMG accumulated – pretty much as a result of Peru’s intensive anti-terrorist and anti-drug commitments – it was clear that there was ample room for improvement. The weapon was generally reliable, all right, but SIMA-CEFAR (the Navy’s organization in charge of small arms research, development, and manufacture) went ahead with analyzing criticism received from MGP-79 users, and, accordingly, incorporated changes into the basic design.

The resulting MGP-79A /MGP-87 series began to come out of the assembly line in 1987. Since this work involved both the modification of earlier “79s” and brand-new “87s”, some confusion (at least for the uninitiated…) resulted in terms of actual weapons’ designations. My examination of different examples has shown that some retain the original MGP-79 markings, others are marked MGP-79A, and some others display both MGP-79A and MGP-87, while others are marked MGP-87, only! In an effort to help in identifying the Peruvian subguns, regardless of the actual markings they may show, I’d suggest the following simplified system:

MGP-79 – original stockless model.
MGP-79A – foldable stock, same (240 mm-long) barrel.
MGP-87 – foldable stock, shorter (194 mm-long) barrel, either without or with a reduced-diameter perforated jacket.

Although the firing mechanism was left basically unmodified, noticeable external changes were made. The cocking handle, for example, was moved from the right to the left side, the bolt-locking notch being eliminated. In some earlier weapons, the actuator will be found turned into a vertical position, apparently to facilitate things for left-handed shooters. Very meaningfully, the ejection port was displaced from the top of the receiver to about 45 degrees to the right, thus eliminating that nasty tendency of having empty cartridges hitting your face.

The sights retained the same radius, but the front unit became a post with sturdy steel protection ears, which were also incorporated for the U-notch (originally, a V-notch) rear sight. Other modifications in the receiver area included strengthening of the magazine housing structure and the change of the rear cap sling swivel into a fixed loop on the left side, just below the rear sight.

A most significant transformation was the addition of a foldable buttstock. The simple, stamped-steel structure folds very neatly to the right side of the lower receiver and in no way interferes with the weapon’s operation. The buttplate is so shaped as to come to a rest in a position around and flatly in front of the magazine housing. Therefore, the supporting hand can have a firm grip around it, should firing the subgun with the stock folded be required for any other serious reason than showing off for a new girlfriend
accompanying you to the range…

Some MGP-87s (in my observations, only those with the cocking handle turned upwards) feature a somewhat shorter stock, the differently shaped buttstock of which rests at the rear of the magazine housing, when folded. While still allowing the supporting hand to grasp around it, this arrangement is not so comfortable as the one found in most guns. When extended, it also leaves something to be desired in the ergonomics department, bringing the receiver (and, as a result, the rear sight) too close to one’s face.

Since the firing mechanism, in itself, was not changed, the new MGP79As and MGP-87s kept the same dual-lever system for applied safety and fire selection. Both switches are located on the left side of the lower body, the forward unit (operated with the thumb of the left/supporting hand), near the magazine housing, has the settings “F” (Fuego, or Fire), forward, and “S” (“Securo”, Safety) down. The rear one has the positions “RAF” (“Ráfaga”, Burst), down, and a most unusual “1×1” (semi-automatic), to the rear. There’s no doubt that unifying all those functions into a single lever would be much more practical from the user’s point of view, but it seems that redesigning the project accordingly would have taken too much effort, time, and money to justify such a change.

During an informal, but fully enjoyable, shooting session at the Callao Naval base, near the capital city of Lima, I could attest that the “new” MGPs are, indeed, much better than the original “79s”. The average cyclic rate of fire was maintained in the 700 rounds per minute range, which makes the 3.5 kg gun pretty much stable, even during long bursts. A decent trigger mechanism allows very short (2- or 3-round) bursts to be squeezed out, and single shots at full-auto setting are quickly mastered by any shooter with basic SMG skills.

Precision is greatly enhanced when one uses the weapon in the semi-auto mode, which most people tend to ignore as a major operational employment option for submachine guns, notwithstanding what Hollywood movies have been promoting for ages. Indeed, subguns are superb, specialized weapons to fill the gap between short-range gear (revolvers, semi-auto pistols, and shotguns) and rifles. In my view, they are more like semi-auto carbines with a full-auto option for occasional use rather than automatic weapons for eventual single-fire use.

Every weapon represents a compromise of advantages and disadvantages, and the submachine gun is no exception. But one great asset it possesses is the capability of being effectively silenced, or suppressed, if you like. And the people from SIMA-CEFAR (renamed SIMA Electronica in 1996) have taken full advantage of this, offering a pretty good silencer for the “79A/87” series. It consists of a complete (integral with its own short
barrel) unit which is quickly installed by unscrewing and removing the original barrel, and subsequently screwing the suppressor into the receiver. Although no actual sound measurements were possible at the time, performance at the range was equivalent to the best around, always bearing in mind that the basic purpose of a sound suppressor is to “disguise” the noise signature of a firearm, not make it, eh, “silent”.

Most unusual for a buzzgun, the MGP-87 has a grenade-launching capability. The use of a smaller-diameter barrel jacket allows fragmentation grenades to be launched from the weapon, thus increasing versatility in combat. Although ranges are inferior (about 100 meters) to those achieved with rifle-launched grenades (300 or so meters), it is still about three times farther than one can hand-throw a grenade.

Evolution of the Peruvian-made submachine guns from the pioneer MGP-79 through the intermediate MGP-79A to the later MGP-87 (which remains in production) not only made the country self-sufficient in terms of this class of police/military weapon, but also allowed it to gain priceless experience to create a newer, state-of-the-art SMG, the MGP-84 Mini.

Don’t miss Part 3 of the Peruvian Submachine Gun series is in the next issue of SAR!

MGP-87 Technical Specifications

Cartridge: 9 x 19 mm
Operation: Blowback, selective fire
Feed: 20- or 32-round detachable box magazine
Weight: no magazine: 2.9 kg, full 32-rd magazine: 3.5 kg
Length: stock extended: 766 mm, stock folded: 500 mmBarrel: 194 mm
Cyclic rate: 700 rounds/min