Argentina's 9x19mm FMK 3 submachine gun

Following WWII, Argentina’s State-owned FMAP-DM (Fábrica Militar de Armas Portátiles – Domingo Matheu), located in the city of Rosario, Santa Fé Province (380km Northwest of Buenos Aires), carried out production of the .45ACP caliber Colt M1911A1 pistol (about 70,000 examples), and the 7.65x53mm Mauser M1909 cavalry carbine (20,000) for Argentine Army use, having used primarily machines and tools acquired from the German firm Fritz Werner. Also, under the direct supervision of three Italian designers from the city of Brescia – Bergonzi, Ruggieri and Sustercic – the Factory designed and manufactured about 50,000 examples of the P.A.M.1 and P.A.M.2 submachine guns, 9x19mm weapons based largely on the U.S. .45ACP caliber M3A1 ‘Grease Gun’ ( http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/04/25/p-m-1-p-m-2-argentinas-grease-guns/).

In the late 1960s, the Product Engineering Department of FMAP-DM started work on a number of tentative 9x19mm projects aimed at selecting a winning indigenous design for series manufacture. The model eventually chosen was the creation of designer Magin Almará, and was initially designated PA 3 DM, from the Spanish language initials of Pistola Ammetralladora (Machine Pistol), 3rd Model and the factory’s name. Weapons of the early production batch of about 4,500 units were known as P.A. (0202) FMK 4 Modificación 1 (solid plastic stock) and P.A. (003) FMK 3 Modificación 2 (retractable wire stock), but were finally defined, respectively, as the FMK 4 and FMK 3, only. Well, so much for designations!

One’s first glance at the conventional open-bolt, blowback-operated FMK 3 will immediately confirm that the gun was conceived with low-cost, mass-production in mind. In a black enamel finish, it is widely built of stamped sheet-metal pressings, the handguard being the only plastic component you’ll find in the weapon. The rectangular lower receiver includes an integral pistol grip (which doubles as magazine housing) and accomodates all the trigger/firing mechanism assemblies, as well as the external guide tubes for the retractable wire stock. The upper receiver, a cylindrical job, obviously houses the barrel and bolt assemblies, incorporating the sight units on top. The two receivers are held together by two spring-loaded pins which are removed from the weapon sideways for field disassembly.

A wrap-around bolt is employed, so that about 180mm of the 290mm long barrel (six grooves, RH twist, 1:250mm pitch) are enclosed within it. This type of bolt is somewhat more expensive to manufacture, but is generally credited with making the weapon more stable in firing, mainly in full-auto (cyclic rate of fire: 600-650 rounds per minute), and reducing the overall length without sacrificing ballistic efficiency. In this particular aspect, however, the Argentine subgun is still a comparatively long piece at 690mm with the wire stock in the extended position (520mm, fully retracted). The gun’s weight with a fully-loaded 40-round magazine is 4.3kg, while its empty weight is a respectable 3.8kg, as much as any decent assault rifle around! A 25-round magazine is also available, both versions being of the staggered-row, two-position feed type.

The magazine fits into the stamped metal grip, which by necessity is located at a 90-degree angle relative to the gun’s longitudinal axis. This arrangement perforce leaves something to be desired in the ergonometric department and the so-called instinctive pointability. Although there’s no way escaping from a ‘fat’ grip to accommodate the magazine, the one fitted to the FMK 3 is particularly uncomfortable, particularly to small-handed fellows like yours truly. And to make things worse, there’s a lousy grip safety lever (which I dislike, in principle) on the squared back of the pistol grip. If not fully pressed inwards by the shooter’s palm (in a somewhat unnatural hold) the bolt will remain locked in either the closed or open position, so as to avoid accidental discharges due to mishandling or drops of the weapon.

The magazine catch is conveniently located at the lower rear end of the pistol grip, being pressed inwards to release the mag and allowing an easy one-hand operation. The button-type charging lever is situated on the left side of the receiver, just above the plastic handguard, and does not reciprocate when the gun is fired. A slot cover helps in keeping dirt away from the weapon’s inside. The fire selector, a lever on the left side of the lower receiver, halfway above and between the trigger and pistol grip, has three positions: “S” (Seguro, Safe), top; “R” (Repetición, Semi-auto, center); and “A” (Automático, Auto), bottom. Although it was certainly designed for actuation with the thumb of the right (firing) hand, my experience with the gun has shown that this is not naturally achieved as a result of the thick pistol grip. However, I’ve found it perfectly okay flipping it up and down with the thumb of the left (supporting) hand.

The hooded front sight is a post adjustable for elevation, while the aperture rear sight, L-shaped and adjustable for windage, has usual and realistic settings for 50 and 100 meters, sight radius being a generous 320mm. All my firing experiences with the FMK 3 date back to the early 1990s at an outdoor range at FMAP-DM, and I just can recall they were “average, acceptable, okay”, nothing particularly “outstanding”, nor “compromising” in any way. I do remember to have liked the existing combination of the FMK 3’s slow rate of fire with its heavy weight, with gave it an “A” grade in full-auto stability and controllability.