Croatian Sokac SMG - A PPSh-41 Copy from the 1990s
Forgotten Weapons
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The Šokac is just one of more than a dozen different submachine guns developed and produced domestically in Croatia during the Yugoslavian civil war of the early 1990s. It is a mechanical copy of the Soviet PPSh-41 made in 9x19mm and a folding stock modeled after the vz25 family of submachine guns. Like the PPSh, it has a selector for semiauto or fully automatic fire, and used stick magazines of 25- and 30-round capacity. The Šokac was first tested in August of 1991, and it appears that as many as 5,000 were produced in total.
Today we are looking at both an early metal-framed example with a wooden grip and a later (and more typical) type with a plastic grip and magazine housing. There were also at least a few made with underfolding MP40-type stocks.
Thanks to Kessler Auktionen AG for letting me film some of their guns!
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