Read more about the Uzi Pro SB: https://www.iwi.us/UZI/UZI-Pro-Pistol-UPP9SB.aspx
Buy s Uzi Pro from GunsAmerica: https://www.gunsamerica.com/Search.aspx?T=uzi%20pro
IMI ammo: https://zqiammo.com/
Odds are you have heard of the UZI. The UZI was (and for some, still is) the epitome of the submachine gun. It has been the gun chosen by the elite and used by the masses. It started as a heavy weight submachine gun designed for military use.
The arm brace is a great addition to the Pro and is a welcome step between the naked pistol and the full on SBR.
The original UZI weighed in at nearly 8 pounds and measured 19 inches in length. As time progressed the UZI became smaller, lighter, and ultimately more efficient. With the following generations the UZI progressed into the Mini, then later the Micro and now the UZI Pro. Ultimately IWI has sold more than 2,000,000 UZIs and has exported them to over 90 countries. In short these guns have been used by more military, law enforcement and security companies than any other submachine gun in history.
The history of the UZI may be impressive, but what good does that do for the US firearms market? We can’t own machine guns manufactured after 1986, so what does IWI have for us?
IWI is now importing a new version of the latest and greatest UZI just for the US civilian market. The UZI Pro is more or less a neutered version of the current service model being employed around the globe, and it is being imported into the US as a pistol.
Features
- Caliber 9mm Luger (9x19mm)
- Operating System Blowback
- Magazine Capacity Included: 1-20 round and 1-25 round. Optional: 32 round magazine
- Barrel Type Cold hammer forged, CrMoV
- Barrel Length 4.5″
- Overall Length 10″ w/brace folded, 18” extended
- Weight 4.5 lbs.
- Rifling Right Hand, 1:10 inch twist
- Sights Adjustable Target Sights
- MSRP – $1,299
Design
The UZI Pro is a pistol built around the traditional UZI telescopic bolt / blow back design. The compact pistol has traditional UZI features such as the grip safety, the slide safety, steel stick magazines and ratcheting barrel nuts. From that point forward the gun departs from the old formula.
[full_width]
Broken down.
[/full_width]
For fans of the wide wide world of optics lights and lasers, 1913 rails have been added to both the frame and top cover of the gun. Because this is an incredibly compact design, the frame’s rail sticks out a bit. The charging handle has been moved to the side of the gun. The lower portion of the pistol is now made form polymer and the magazine release has been moved under the trigger guard. Most importantly IWI has incorporated a side folding arm brace into the gun. The arm brace is manufactured by SB Tactical and it truly does a great job of taming the already mild recoil of the UZI pro.
[one_half]
The brace, when folded, can get in the way. But it makes the gun much shorter.
[/one_half][one_half_last]
With such a compact frame, the rail section had to be extended out in front.
[/one_half_last]
The UZI Pro has what some would consider a heavy trigger pull. I’m not sure if Israelis just like heavy triggers, or what–but the trigger on the UZI Pro is stout. Breaking at 9lbs, it is very similar to a double action revolver’s trigger. Heavy with a lot of travel. However, it is manageable and still capable of delivering accurate shots, but it will take you a few rounds to acclimate to it.
Now let’s talk about safeties. The UZI Pro is what I’d call a very safe gun to carry. It incorporates two manual safeties and one passive safety. With a thumb safety and a grip safety, there is little chance of this thing going bang when you don t want it to. However, in the chance that it gets dropped, it also incorporates a firing pin block that will prevent accidental discharge.
Oversized controls are easy to find, even with gloved hands.
Ergonomics
Military firearms don’t always focus on ergonomics. Functionality doesn’t generally breed comfort. The UZI Pro seems to get 99% of it right. From the light weight of the polymer lower to the left side charging handle, the Uzi Pro just does it better than its predecessors. The oversized magazine release is easy to use. The lower is molded to accommodate large hands and it provides just enough traction that recoil doesn’t unseat your grip. Magazine changes have also been simplified by the bevel on the mag-well, which works as a funnel.
The SB Tactical side-folding brace brings an extra point of contact to the firearm, making it even more controllable. Using the brace as specified by the manufacturer (and the fine folks at the ATF), I found the shooting experience to be vastly improved. Recoil was tamed and muzzle rise was alleviated. With the Pro strapped to your wrist, you may feel a bit like Robocop. But strapping this one down works better than a lot of the larger pistols I’ve shot that had braces. Some are simply too heavy. You strap them on and lose most of the dexterity required to manipulate a large firearm. But the UZI Pro is light enough to be more maneuverable.
[full_width]
The mag-well on the Pro is beveled and easy to find with the stick mags.
[/full_width]
[one_half]
Braced on the arm. At just 4.5 pounds, this is one of the easiest guns to brace like this.
[/one_half][one_half_last]
Bracing off the cheek, though, allows for more accurate shot placement.
[/one_half_last]
Using the brace off of my cheek, I found improved accuracy. As functional as this is as a pistol, I think it is a solid candidate for SBR status. With a simple form 1, this could be a great rifle for concealment. With the brace folded up, it is a chunk of gun, but it would still fit neatly in a pack or bag.
When not in use you can easily fold the Brace to the side. When its folded up it makes shooting the gun a bit difficult. However, you can slide the brace an inch or too forward and it stays out of your way while shooting the gun like a traditional pistol.
How does it shoot?
Shooting the UZI Pro is like any other Handgun or pistol caliber carbine. Recoil is negligible. The sights are adequate and the controls are right where they need to be. With the brace removed, I found the gun to be controllable but a bit wild. The gun just wants to do the wave. Add a single point sling, though, or the SB Tactical brace and it levels out. The extra weight is useful for controlling the muzzle rise.
Reliability and UZI have always been synonymous. The UZI Pro does not stray form that reputation. During the review, I put the gun through the paces. Feeding it a steady diet of of over 500 rounds of IMI 115gr EX-STAR 9mm and remanufactured Freedom Munitions 9mm, I had no malfunctions. Though this review wasn’t designed as a torture test, I suspect the the Pro would do exceptionally well in adverse conditions.
With every pull of the trigger it is clear that this is an UZI. Everything about it screams UZI and for me and allot of gun nuts this is the exact reason to buy this gun. Its been many years since legitimate Israeli UZI’s have been imported into the country. For me and many others fans of the UZI it has just been to long.
Accuracy of the Uzi Pro SB
The UZI isn’t known for accuracy. This is a compact package meant to get lead on-target fast. What some sub-guns do with accuracy, the old UZIs did with volume and rate of fire. With the UZI Pro, though, this is all changing–as well it should. This is a semi-auto. It should shoot as good as any pistol with a 4.5″ barrel–or even better, thanks to the extra mass.
[one_half]
From 7 meters, without the brace.
[/one_half][one_half_last]
Same distance, braced.
[/one_half_last]
I shot the pistol from 7 meters for the accuracy testing portion of this review. With the brace folded, I was able to consistently put down 2.5-inch groups. With the arm brace extended, I shot tighter 5 shot groups. No surprise. Clean 1-inch groups are easy. Moving out to 15 and then 30 meters, I was still able to make clean and fast hits on target. At the end of the day, the UZI Pro SB is not a precision rifle, but it functions as good as many pistol caliber carbines.
[one_half]
Front sight, adjustable for height.
[/one_half][one_half_last]
Rear sight with extra white dots to help line up the front sight. Just kidding–those white dots between the sights are glares.
[/one_half_last]
In the end
The UZI Pro SB is a welcome addition to the US firearms market. For many of us, it has been a long time coming. The UZI Pro (which has no folding brace) and Pro SB (with the SB Tactical brace) are now available and can be brought home today. $1,099 for the standard model and $1,299 for the SB version tested here, they aren’t exactly bargain bin guns–but an old IMI UZI carbine sells for $2000 and the pistols sell for $2500 or so.
Read more about the Uzi Pro SB: https://www.iwi.us/UZI/UZI-Pro-Pistol-UPP9SB.aspx
Buy s Uzi Pro from GunsAmerica: https://www.gunsamerica.com/Search.aspx?T=uzi%20pro
IMI ammo: https://zqiammo.com/
[one_half]
The upper, broken down.
[/one_half][one_half_last]
The Pro comes with one 20 and one 25 round stick mag.
[/one_half_last]
[one_half]
The polymer lower.
[/one_half][one_half_last]
The brace folded. Like this, the Pro becomes an easily concealed gun.
[/one_half_last]
How was he able to slide the rubber brace back so you could shoot it like a traditional handgun when folded?
Super excited and looking good luck and hope to haven one.
It’s just a pistol with a machine gun shape…… I prefer my Ingram full auto!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=056G1xRwv-8
uhhhh your commiting a felony bracing the arm brace against your shoulder unless that is a SBR, and that’s the ATF stance on this!!!! A big publication like this cant vet someone or something like this shows complete ignorance!!! way to go gunsamerica!!! this makes me think of ND’s or something like that to follow!!! it happens right?!!!
Are you serious? Do you not see the gap that’s clearly between his shoulder and the sig brace? Can’t tell if you’re trolling or not.
If you look closely, he’s not bracing it in his shoulder – quite. There’s some space there. He’s bracing it on his cheek, which the ATF allows. Ridiculous law, but that’s how the ATF sees it.
Let’s be honest, this whole ‘arm brace’ thing is just another work-around of the law, in this case turning this gun into a SBR. I hate the ‘wink, wink’ thing wherever I see it.
Pete…it’s called complying with the law not going around the law. The guy who invented it, made if for a friend of his that lost his arm in combat….the rest is history. Is there a wink wink behind Slide Fire? No…because they comply with the law too. I’m not talking about you, but I always find it funny that you’ve got all these people with Molon Labe pictures on their facebook pages and then they come out telling people to “just” go pay your tax stamp.
These things were intended to be full-auto SMGs. When you dumb them down to semi auto for the U.S. civilian market they become little more than overly bulky and overly expensive 9mm pistols. From a functionality standpoint, a Glock 17 or just about any other full-sized service pistol is just as good for half the money. A shoulder stock can be really useful on a pistol length AR or AK because those have rifle-round range and accuracy. On a 4.5” barrel 9mm it’s just a gimmick. I’m not against buying one if you are a military-style collector, but someone looking for a practical defensive gun should buy a standard handgun instead.
Yep, an expensive clumsy heavy handgun with a bad trigger.
I couldn’t Agree with you More!
When will these hit the U.S.market and will they be legal in N.Y. STATE ?
I highly doubt they’ll be legal in NY. It’s based on a subgun and weighs too much.
Why are you using the brace to shoot from the shoulder? Now you have an SBR, which is something that people who purchase the brace do not want their firearms to be labeled. Now you’ve just given the ATF a little more proof that the brace will make a simple pistol into a NFA item.
He isn’t shooting from the shoulder! The article refers to “bracing from the cheek” – notice the gap between the brace and his shoulder? I did.
Alphabet agency makes a stupid “opinion” that becomes law, expect intelligent people to find a way around said stupid opinion/law
Nice article – and now another “I want” on my list!
As pointed out, why would someone doing a demonstration show ATF that this nice little devise can be misused as a shoulder stock. Us firearms users/collectors/hunters etc, are under enough ATF attention not to mention those ass——-‘s in Washington who think they know more, and are better than our founding fathers who lived under oppression of overbearing government types who wish to rule over us and have a dreaded hatefulness of citizens being able to defend ourselves from those few in elected positions who are the “we know what’s good for you” types who would not think twice about using the military and law enforcement to mandate “A New World Order” and outlaw or update the Constitution, Bill of Rights, the Amendments etc that were put in place by those who lived under oppression of kings and tyrants “who also knew what was good and best for their people”. Please don’t give them any more ammunition to destroy our rights. Punish the criminals not the law abiding citizens of this great nation who are just exercising their God given rights of protection and lawful free living.
Douglas A. Mutschler CW2, CISpecial Agent, U.S.Army(ret)
You know that shouldering that arm brace is a felony offense. By doing that it becomes an SBR and a class 3 tax stamp is required for that usage……
not intended to be on shoulder , that’s the rule. its on his cheek, where the shooter intended to have it placed. I am not an attorney.
Oy Jake…such a nice boy. And such a nice gun! May you live and be well 😉
I still like the cheeseball original.
I’m not wealthy enough to collect everything new that comes along so its impossible for me to want a neutered subgun that’ll never slip under my shirt without a huge bulge. If I didn’t already have an FN90 shooting 50 shriekers I’d rather pay the transfer tax for the original Rabbi than this thing.
I owned a Uzi 9mm parabellum pistol sometime ago , It was a great side arm
What happened? Why are you guys suddenly shunning me? Did I do something wrong? Or did “you know who” threaten you guys with a lawsuit or something? I would just like to know. Thank you, Marty
Great article Jacob. Did you get those latest samples I sent?
IDF requires triggers be heavy enough that the gun can be picked up by the trigger and not fire.
For everyone else, that doesn’t matter.
That’s an awesome little factoid! Thanks for commenting Aaron.