Romanian Orita Model 1941/48
Forgotten Weapons
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The Orita SMG was designed by a Romanian Army Captian Marin Orita in 1941, and went into service in 1943. It was used primarily in Southern Europe in late WW2 with Romanian forces. It was a wood-stocked, simple blowback, 9x19mm weapon. As originally designed, the Model 1941 Orita was not drop-safe, and this was addressed in a 1948 upgrade program. That upgrade made a number of changes. It replaced the manual safety lever with a grip safety (which locked the bolt in place when not depressed, thus rendering the gun drop safe). It also replaced the one-piece wood stock with a strengthened metal wrist, and eliminated the semiauto selector lever.
The total known production is unknown (to me, at least), but virtually all of the 1941 patterns guns were updated to the 1948 standard. The Orita would serve in the Romanian Army until the 1950s, and in various reserve forces for several decades after.
Many thanks to the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History in Brussels for access to this very rare piece! Check them out here:
https://www.klm-mra.be/en/
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