Italian handgun company Tanfoglio had their 9x19mm TCMP submachine gun with them at the Tanfoglio booth during Indo Defense 2018. We reported on the TCMP in 2016 when the company was showing the TCMP at the IWA Show, but since then TFB hasn’t heard too much about the design since then. At Indo Defense we were able to talk through the submachine with the president of the company, Massimo Tanfoglio.

-Miles V, Indo Defense 2018

First things first, the submachine is built using a mixture of aluminum and polymer components with a metal upper receiver and a polymer lower receiver. Some might confuse it for a Tanfoglio handgun that has been turned into a submachine gun, but the design is completely different. Upon breaking open the submachine gun, one finds that the hammer is actually located in the upper receiver, swinging down to strike the firing pin during the cycle of operations. Mr. Tanfoglio claims that this helps direct some of the felt recoil differently than a conventional hammer swinging up design, allowing the submachine to be fired one-handed. Magazines are proprietary to the submachine gun and cannot be interchanged with the handguns.

Safety and fire selector is located on left side of submachine gun. Note how the stock struts slide into the frame -Miles V, Indo Defense 2018

Currently the TCPM is in 9x19mm but Mr. Tanfoglio mentioned that there was some interest to experiment with the in a 5.56x45mm platform but this would necessitate a major redesign of the components.

The magazine release is on the left side of the gun. Also note the internal trigger safety -Miles V, Indo Defense 2018

Slide release lever is below the charging handle, just in front of the trigger -Miles V, Indo Defense 2018

Note that the charging handle and the forward grip can be folded into the contour of the design -Miles V, Indo Defense 2018

Sights are integrated into the optics ready Picatinny rail, using fiber-optic rods for a better sight picture -Miles V, Indo Defense 2018

Forward sling swivel can be ambidextrous -Miles V, Indo Defense 2018