SITES Spectre M4

SITES Spectre M4 History

The Spectre M4 is a submachine gun of Italian origin that represents a highly compact automatic weapon system for use by military, law enforcement and security personnel. The weapon became the flagship of the US assault weapons ban movement in the 1990s, limiting its reach in the civilian market and later circulated by a handful of special forces, law enforcement and security companies.

Although discontinued, the type now (2013) exists globally (albeit in limited numbers) and is proving popular among companies that rely on bulky single-fire power in a compact, highly portable form.

The design of the Spectre is credited to Italian gunmakers Roberto Teppa and Claudio Gritti, whose work spanned the early 1980s until mass production began in 1984 under SITES S. p. A. (Societa Italiana Tecnologie Speciali, S.p.A.) brand label based in Turin, Italy. Production continued until 2001.

Despite its promising properties, the Ghost was only procured in large quantities by Italian special forces and the Swiss army. SITES ceased production in 1997, after which the manufacture of the future Spectre fell to Gritti's Swiss brand Greco Sport SA.

Externally, the Spectre has a very clean futuristic design with a very short casing, integrated pistol grip unit and straight magazine. The front baffle has four large slots on each side for proper heat dissipation, using an internal bolt assembly as part of a "force-pull" system that pumps cooler air into and around the barrel. The front end covers the entire barrel section and is usually partially exposed in other submachine gun designs. An optional vertical fore grip can be added under the forearm for supporting hands.

By convention, the pistol grip hangs below the rear of the stamped steel receiver, with a large trigger ring for gloved hands. The charging handle is installed on the left side of the fuselage, and the ejection port is installed on the right side. The magazine is fed into a queue chute located directly in front of the trigger group.

A foldable wire (including the stock) sits above the receiver and is hinged at one end. When folded, the stock rests neatly against the weapon to be as compact as possible. Once deployed, the weapon can be used with a traditional three-point grip.

Both front and rear mounted iron sights allow for relatively accurate fire at medium to close range, although this weapon is almost exclusively designed for close quarters combat. It provides the military, security and law enforcement with automatic firepower and lethal body-stopping capabilities of a 9mm pistol cartridge in a highly portable frame.

The Spectre was originally designed for the widely used 9x19 Parabellum cartridge, although it was later available in molds that provided chambers for the 9x21mm IMI, .40 software and .45 rounds of ACP. The action is recoil with a closed bolt, making it one of the few "double-action" submachine guns ever made. A selector switch is mounted on the left side of the frame, allowing semi-automatic and fully automatic firing modes. The rate of fire is listed as a manageable 850 rounds per minute, with an effective range of 500 feet. The standard magazine is an in-house developed 50-round version in an unconventional four-post configuration that allows for a more manageable magazine length.

The same magazine length can be used for a 30-round count. Civilian versions are limited to 5, 10 and 15 rounds for obvious reasons. The weapon has a total weight of 3kg and a barrel length (barrel extension) of 22.8 inches and a compact length of 13.8 inches.

In keeping with its safety-oriented design, the Spectre has been given a special "shock-off" capability that allows it to be loaded into the cartridge relatively safely, ready to fire, and allows the operator of the weapon to Reacts with near-instantaneous reaction time. Due to its inherent dual-action function, if the trigger lever is successfully activated, the Spectre does not need to be formally triggered in the normal way before firing.

As mentioned earlier, civilian ghosts have a limited amount of ammo and are limited to semi-automatic fire.

Specification

BASIC

Year of Service

1984

Origins

Italy

Categories

Submachine Gun (SMG)/Submachine Gun

Manufacturer

SITES S. p. A. - Italy / Greco Sport S.A. - Switzerland

Carrier

Israel; Italy; Switzerland; USA

Dimensions and Weight

Overall Length

580mm

22. 83 inches

Run Length

130 mm

5. 12 inches

Cured weight

6.39 lbs

2.90 kg

Attractions

Before and after ironing.

Action

Recoil; Closing Bolt; Selective Fire

Backflush operation

The air pressure created by the rearward movement of the fired case provides the necessary bolt movement, case ejection and stripping of the new case from the magazine.

Cartridges and Paper Feeds

Caliber*

9 x 19 mm parabellum; 9x21mm IMI; . 40 B&W; . 45 ACP

Circle/Feed

5, 10, 15, 30 or 50 rounds magazine

POWER

Maximum efficiency. Arrived

500 feet

(152m | 167m)

Rate of fire

850

Number of revolutions

Mile speed

1,300 ft/s

(396m/s)

VARIANTS

Spectre M4 name of the base line; military/law enforcement grade with selective firepower (semi-auto/auto; folding wire rest; optional vertical fore grip. "Falcon" - Italian market, semi-automatic form of the Spectre M4 for civilian use; reduced magazine capacity. "Ranger" - Italian market, semi-automatic lower carbine form for civilian use; reduced magazine capacity. Spectre-HC - US civilian designation "Falcon" variant; reduced magazine capacity; semi-automatic fire only.