NVA K-50M Submachine Gun
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Essentially a variant of the Soviet PPSh-41, the K-50M drew upon Hanoi's experience with captured French weapons, especially the MAT-49 submachine gun. The K-50M fired the same 7.62x25mm round as its Sino-Soviet parents, but replaced the wooden stock with a sliding wire butt derived from the French gun. The Vietnamese also cut the cooling sleeve by nearly three inches, faired it in the barrel and removed the muzzle compensator that was intended to limit barrel climb during automatic fire. They tap welded a front sight on the barrel's end and added a wooden pistol grip. The resulting gun was four inches shorter and two pounds lighter than its Soviet and Chinese counterparts. Although designed to go with a curved 35-round magazine, it could also use the PPSh-41's 71-round drum.
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