CZ USA has collaborated with Colion Noir to bring us an announcement regarding the availability of Scorpion Evo 3 pistols in 2015:

I have to admit, that’s an unconventional but effective way to do a press release. The Scorpion Evo 3 is a current generation submachine gun intended to eke into the MP5’s market, and is similar in some respects to the H&K UMP series that was designed to replace that weapon. Like the MP5 and UMP, the Scorpion Evo 3 operates from a closed bolt, and like the UMP (but not the MP5), it uses a straight blowback mechanism. The construction is a durable-feeling polymer, and the magazines are translucent double-stack double-feed items that look simple, cheap, and very serviceable. The controls are comfortable and clearly designed around the sort of user input that H&K seemingly ignored for years on the MP5. Not only does slapping the charging handle drive the bolt home, but so too does activating the very AR-15-esque bolt release. The gun comes standard with rails for optics, and a threaded barrel with a removable flash hider. When I handled one at SHOT, the biggest negative I came away with was that field strip procedures for the Evo 3 are not obvious – stripping the gun is not hard when instructed on how, but having a teacher the first time is extremely helpful to say the least.

The Evo 3, like its stablemate, the S805 Bren rifle, takes the name of a famous historical Czech small arm; in this case the unique to a fault Vz. 61 submachine gun. The Vz. 61 almost has no equal: It is a small, lightweight automatic weapon, that is simultaneously and inexorably both controllable and somewhat impotent. While my firing impressions of the weapon are mixed, there’s no doubt it is different.

Unlike its namesake, the Evo 3 is a very conventional submachine gun in 9mm. Neither small nor large, it represents a return to par for Czech submachine guns. As Colion Noir points out, the gun is evidently designed as an MP5 killer – but I have significant doubts about its ability to compete with the short-barreled ARs that finally did that teutonic wonder in. The pistol, though, will find a niche among enthusiasts of that type of weapon. For what it is, it’s extremely attractive. A low MSRP firearm from one of the great firearms manufacturers of Europe with a whole lot else going for it; and it comes with a SIG brace.