Talking ‘Bout My Generation: Four Subguns, Four Ways of Thinking

Over the years, we’ve seen submachine guns categorized by generations tied to the World Wars. Generation 1 is often represented by the Thompson submachine gun, with its finely machined steel, walnut furniture, and expensive manufacturing process. Generation 2 is typified by wartime expedients like the Sten — a weapon designed to be produced quickly, cheaply, and in enormous numbers while the world was at war.

After that, things become murky. Most authors simply lump everything developed after 1945 into “Generation 3,” while others reluctantly create a “Generation 3.5” or even a “Generation 4” for more modern designs. Such classifications ignore the enormous changes in doctrine, manufacturing, materials, ergonomics, optics, suppressors, and ammunition that have occurred over the last 75 years.

It’s time to stop viewing the submachine gun, personal defense weapon, and pistol-caliber carbine through a lens codified in 1948. The postwar era deserves its own framework. 

Firearms like the Uzi, MP5, P90, and Stribog are not merely later versions of the same idea. Each reflects the priorities, technology, and culture of the generation that produced them. They are products of different worlds, built to solve different problems, and together they tell the story of how the compact fighting firearm evolved from the Cold War to the present day.

After all, they stopped making $8 Stens when candy bars cost a nickel — and nobody’s making an FRT for a Thompson these days.

BABY BOOMERS: THE UZI 

For this generation, we selected the ubiquitous Uzi submachine gun. Like the Baby Boomers themselves, it arrived after World War II and seemed to be everywhere by the 1980s. It was the Tommy Gun for the Pepsi Generation.

The Uzi’s telescoping bolt, magazine-in-the-grip layout, and collapsible stock gave it a compact profile years ahead of its time. It felt less like a traditional submachine gun and more like a giant machine pistol built for military service.

Unlike many firearms that became obsolete as technology advanced, the Uzi endured. It was simple, rugged, and remarkably durable. The design could absorb enormous round counts, shrug off abuse, and keep running. Decades after its introduction, it remains instantly recognizable — a testament to the idea that sometimes the simplest solution is the most enduring.

Like the Baby Boomers themselves, the Uzi was once accused of being everywhere. Unlike the Baby Boomers, however, the Uzi never complained about rock music.

Transferable Uzis are still a thing and because there was a fair amount of them made, you can find one for less than the price of a Tesla. Some of the snobbish types think they’re too heavy, too slow, or too outdated. They can get the job done if you give them a shot, but we shouldn’t be basing new things on this older gun. 

GENERATION X: HK MP5

Marine Corps infantry doctrine stated to “never initiate an ambush with an open bolt weapon,” and that mantra is part of the reason that the MP5 in all its incarnations fires from a closed bolt, as opposed to Uzis, Stens, and the like.

The MP5 looks like it was designed in a factory by men with mustaches, Kraftwerk on the radio, and Rubik’s Cubes on coffee tables — all who demanded engineering precision in everything from consumer toys to counter-terror weapons. (Not too far from the truth.)

HK’s MP5 feels like it was built for work, because it was. The Uzi is iconic; this is an instrument. That distinction is why, decades later, the MP5 is still treated less like a relic and more like a benchmark. It’s an icon without trying to be one.

While genuine MP5s are largely unobtainium for most civilian shooters, there are close semiautomatic analogs available. There are a great many clones and copies made both here and abroad. More than a dozen different variations have been seen in these pages over the years, with undoubtedly many more to come. 

The MP5SD is an engineering solution as much as a firearm. This silent subgun uses barrel ports to bleed gas into an expansion chamber within its integral suppressor. In 1970s hostage-rescue doctrine, this allowed the use of standard 9×19mm 

ammunition while achieving significant sound reduction. The trade-off was reduced muzzle velocity and a potential impact on terminal performance (meaning the 9mm hit more like a smaller .380). 

Owning an MP5 or AP5 is a lot like owning a classic car. These guns were developed before modern accessory culture existed, and genuine HK parts will cost you an arm and a leg — assuming you can find what you’re looking for. 

Want to mount an optic? There’s a solution. Want modern furniture? There’s a solution. Want to suppress it, modernize it, or personalize it? There are solutions for all of those too. The MP5 ecosystem can do almost anything, but it often feels like you’re persuading a 1970s design to live in the 2020s — and the prices reflect that.

And that’s part of its charm. The MP5 doesn’t adapt effortlessly to the modern world; it negotiates with it.

MILLENNIALS: FN P90

By the late 20th century, the military role of the submachine gun was beginning to decline. Advancements in body armor raised questions about the long-term effectiveness of traditional pistol-caliber weapons. While armor-piercing handgun ammunition existed, the logistical realities of equipping large military forces made such solutions less appealing.

The Personal Defense Weapon, or PDW, emerged as an alternative. Intended for vehicle crews, support personnel, and others whose primary job was not infantry combat, the PDW sought to bridge the gap between a pistol and a rifle. The concept was not entirely new — the United States had employed the M1 and M2 Carbines in a similar role from WWII through Vietnam — but the P90 approached the problem from a completely different direction.

The P90 rejected almost every convention with a new cartridge, magazine protocol, layout, and mission. It looked like something from tomorrow and became famous through movies, television, and video games. For many shooters, their first encounter with the P90 wasn’t on a military range but on a television screen or computer monitor.

Its motto: “Why follow the rules when you can redesign them?”

Like millennials themselves, the P90 came of age at the turn of the millennium, convinced that the future was arriving any minute. It promised new technology, new solutions, and a break from established thinking. Yet time has a way of sneaking up on us. In just a few years, the P90 will be 40 years old — a reminder that yesterday’s vision of tomorrow eventually becomes history.

As a PDW, the design is remarkably well thought out. 

There is no magazine protruding below the firearm to snag on equipment or vehicle interiors. Empty cases eject straight downward, making the platform effectively ambidextrous, and the overall package is compact enough to maneuver comfortably in confined spaces.

GEN Z: GRAND POWER STRIBOG

Grand Power’s Stribog may be the most unusual addition to this list because it was designed primarily for the civilian shooting public rather than finding success with military or law enforcement users first.

It is a compact firearm that relies heavily on modern materials and manufacturing techniques. Polymers have replaced much of the folded and stamped sheet metal that defined earlier generations. More importantly, it embraces the plug-and-play philosophy that became commonplace with Glock pistols and AR-pattern rifles.

Optics-ready? Of course.

Suppressor-ready? Naturally.

Customizable? Why wouldn’t it be!

The Stribog reflects an era in which users tailor their equipment to their own preferences rather than adapting themselves to a fixed design. By contrast, the MP5 was designed in a time when the shooter adapted to the gun. The Stribog was designed in a time when the gun adapts to the shooter.

Look at the Uzi, it’s answer to every question is: “Why do you need to do that?”

The Stribog’s motto may as well be: “Make it your own.”

Unlike earlier generations, which often arrived as finished products with limited options for modification, the Stribog feels almost incomplete until the owner puts their own stamp on it. Red dots, suppressors, stocks, triggers, lights, slings, the platform expects personalization. In that sense, it may be the most Gen Z firearm of them all.

RANGE TIME

The Uzi is always a performer, especially in its pure factory state. Suppressed or unsuppressed, in 9mm or with a .22LR conversion kit, it draws attention the moment it comes out of the case. Everyone wants to shoot it. Its weight keeps it controllable even on full-auto, and while the iron sights are about as basic as it gets, that hardly matters once the magazine starts dumping. It’s not something you want to carry all day — but it’s absolutely something you want to shoot.

Century’s AP5-SD looks like it might be finicky, but it isn’t. Run suppressed with a Banish 45, it produces a tone that’s less about raw decibels and more about character — deeper, richer, more mechanical than sharp. Paired with a Franklin Armory binary trigger, it comes surprisingly close to that rapid-fire experience without crossing into full-auto territory.

The P90’s 5.7×28mm cartridge isn’t cheap, but the ergonomics and integrated optic make it immediately obvious how much intent went into the design. Suppressed with a Griffin Armament Dual-Lock, it takes on an almost suppressed .22 rifle character — soft, fast, and strangely effortless for something that looks like it came off a sci-fi set.

If the MP5 is a classic Corvette, the Stribog is the modern performance build of that idea. Outfitted with a Kinetic Development Group rail extension, vertical grip, Primary Arms red dot, Thunder Beast Arms Fly 9 suppressor, and Franklin Armory binary trigger, it becomes a compact, highly adaptable system rather than a fixed design. It doesn’t ask the shooter to adapt to it — it is conformed to how the shooter wants it to work. Even the most jaded shooter tends to shoot with a big grin instead of that practiced indifferent stare.

SO WHICH GENERATION ARE YOU?

The funny thing about generations is that they rarely describe when you were born. They really describe how you think.

If you appreciate simplicity, durability, and proven solutions, you’re probably an Uzi fan.

If you admire engineering, precision, and designs that improve through mastery rather than reinvention, the MP5 may be your spiritual home.

If you look at every problem and immediately wonder how it could be solved differently, the P90 calls your name.

And if your first instinct is to customize, personalize, optimize, and make something uniquely your own, you’ll probably feel right at home with the Stribog.

The truth is that none of these firearms replaced the others. The Uzi, MP5, P90, and Stribog all remain relevant because each represents a different philosophy. They were built by different generations in different countries to solve different problems, and in many ways they reflect the people who admire them.

As for me, I suspect there’s a little bit of each generation in all of us, which is why I’ll take them all.

Can you ever have too many sub guns?