What is Machine pistol?
A '''machine pistol''' is a typically a [[:en:wikt:handgun|handgun]]-style [[firearm]] that can fire fully automatic or burst fire. Fully automatic means that the gun will continue to fire very rapidly so long as the [[:wikt:trigger|trigger]] is pressed and held. Burst fire means that when you pull the trigger, a number of shots determined by the shooter will be fired (for some guns, this is three shots, fired very quickly). Machine pistols fire pistol [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridges]]. Machine pistols usually have the cartridges fed into the gun with a [[Magazine (firearms)|magazine]], which is a rectangular box which holds the cartridges. Machine pistols are usually self-loading, which means that the gun automatically loads a new cartridge into the chamber after a shot is fired. [[File:MarineCorpsGlock18.jpg|thumb|A US Marine fires a fully automatic Glock 18]] ==History== [[File:Arty08.jpg|thumb|The Luger P08 could fire in a fully automatic fashion]] The first true machine pistol was the [[Germany|German]] MP-18 introduced in 1918.<ref>''The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II'', ed. Chris Bishop (New York: Metrobooks, 2002), p. 249</ref> It fired the [[9x19mm Parabellum|9mm Parabellum]] cartridge. It used a side-loading magazine that held 20 cartridges.<ref>''A Global Chronology of Conflict: from the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East'', ed. Spencer C. Tucker (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2010), p. 1796</ref> The Germans converted some pistols, like the [[Luger]], into machine pistols. They invented a type of Luger called the Luger P08 in [[World War I]] to German [[artillery]] crews. It had a longer barrel and a 32 round magazine shaped like a round drum. It was given to artillery crews so they could defend themselves. In 1951 the Russian army developed the Stechkin APS, which could fire in burst fire or in fully automatic fire. When the gun was used in burst or automatic fire, users were told to use the wooden stock so that they can control the weapon better. One of the problems with machine p