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Labora Fontbernat Model 1938

Submachine Gun (SMG)

The Labora Submachine Gun was a rarity of the Spanish Civil War in that it was of wholly indigenous design and not based on any existing weapon.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 7/11/2017 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com

The Labora Fontbernat Model 1938 was one of the few firearms to emerge out of war-torn Spain during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). It served with both the Spanish State (Nationalist forces) and the Spanish Republic (Republicans). Of traditional blowback operation, the submachine gun was chambered for the powerful 9x23mm "Largo" cartridge and fed from a 36-round detachable box magazine. Its characteristics were consistent with other submachine gun designs of the period: wooden shoulder stock, cylindrical receiver, straight magazine, etc...

The Larbora's design was initiated as early as 1936 but it was not made available in the numbers required until the last few months of the Spanish conflict. At its core the weapon was a "clean-sheet" design not copied from any existing submachine gun - which made it unique for a 1930s weapon. Its construction was also of particularly high quality in which machining was heavily used though this also added to cost-per-unit. The end of the war in 1939 (a Nationalist victory) forced an end to production of the Labora.

Production stemmed from Industrio de Guerra do Cataluna.

Performance-wise, the submachine gun managed a rate-of-fire of 750 rounds-per-minute with a muzzle velocity of 1,300 feet-per-second.

Specifications

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