The Agram 2000 is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine (firearms), magazine-fed automatic firearm, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to descri ...

inspired by Beretta's model M12. The name "Agram" is the old German name for

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, the capital of

. The vast numbers of ex-special forces Agrams in Croatia after the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

, as well as the availability of a sound suppressor, has made it a popular choice for criminals. It was never officially adopted by the

Croatian Army The Croatian Army ( or HKoV) is the land force branch of the Croatian Armed Forces. It is numerically the largest of the three branches of the Croatian Armed Forces. The HKoV is the main force for the defense of the country against external threa ...

. Infamously unreliable in the war period due to its poorly constructed magazines, it would often fail to feed rounds from the magazine, decreasing its commercial demand outside of Croatia and transnational criminal organizations of the time. The Agram 2000, like the Beretta M12, was chambered for the

9×19mm Parabellum The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO or simply 9mm) is a Rim (firearms)#Rimless, rimless, Centerfire ammunition, centerfire, tapered cartridge (firearms), firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer ...

cartridge. These weapons were used in the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

and were preferred due to its full-auto fire, provisions for silencer, flexible ammunition count and compact size. Today, the 2000 series is a rarity outside the Balkan areas, because even though it is still produced in Croatia, its production has been scaled down. Mainly produced between 1990 and 1993, only a few more examples have been produced since 1997. The reason for this is that the Agram 2000 is locally manufactured and there is no more conflict or demand for a fully automatic SMG in the region anymore, and low demand due to poor and cheap construction.

Specifications

The unique feature on this gun is the thumb-hole

foregrip A vertical forward grip or foregrip is a vertical pistol grip mounted on the fore-end of a long-barrel firearm, designed for grasp A grasp is an act of taking, holding or seizing firmly with (or as if with) the hand. An example of a grasp is ...

that ensures a firm grip and good recoil control while firing fully auto. The charging handle is on the left-hand side of the receiver, just above the

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

. The fire selector is found just above the trigger which allows for safety, single-shot, and full-auto firing modes (S/1/A). The barrel shroud is perforated for heat dispersion and sports a front

iron sight Iron sights are a system of physical alignment markers used as a sighting device to assist the accurate aiming of ranged weapons such as firearms, airguns, crossbows, and bows, or less commonly as a primitive finder sight for optical telescope ...

post. The rear sight is a flip-up sight that can dial its zero up to . Some sources report that it has a rate of fire of 800

rounds per minute Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * Having no sharp corners, as an ellipse, circle, or sphere * Rounding, reducing the number of significant figures in a number * Round number, ending with one or more zeroes * Round (cryp ...

. The barrel is slightly longer and a thread-on barrel sleeve is included to enable the attachment of a silencer or muzzle brake. The materials used for making this weapon include stamped, sheet metal and molded plastic. The specifications for the

buttstock A gunstock or often simply stock, the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock, a buttstock, or simply a butt, is a part of a long gun that provides structural support, to which the barrel, action, and firing mechanism are attac ...

do not exist. The Agram 2000 measures at about without the sound suppressor on.

Variants

* Agram 1995 – straight box magazine, no handguard * Agram 2002 – straight box magazine, adjustable sight, reshaped plastic handguard

Users

* * * * *

Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an Albanians, ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Republic of Serbia (1992–2006), Republic of R ...

: smuggled from Croatia by arms smugglers * : confiscated from criminals and were pressed into use with Territorial Defence Forces during the Battle of Kyiv

References

9mm Parabellum submachine guns Submachine guns of Croatia {{Submachinegun-stub Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1990