Šokac

Đuro Đaković · Submachine Gun · Discontinued · 1991

Also known as: MP Šokac, Šokac P 1

Overview

The Šokac is a Croatian select-fire submachine gun developed in 1991 to meet the newly independent Croatia's urgent wartime demand for domestically produced small arms. Essentially a mechanical copy of the Soviet PPSh-41 rechambered in 9x19mm Parabellum, it uses a simple straight blowback action and cheap stamped steel construction. It feeds from MP 40-style stick magazines of 25- or 30-round capacity, and a folding stock modeled on the Sa vz. 23 family replaces the PPSh's wooden furniture. Produced by the Đuro Đaković works in Slavonski Brod, it saw service with Croatian forces throughout the Yugoslav Wars.

Specifications

Weight (empty)3400 g (119.9 oz)
Overall Length870 mm (34.25")
Folded Length600 mm (23.62")
Barrel Length254 mm (10.00")
Action TypeBlowback
Firing MechanismOpen Bolt
Trigger TypeSingle Action
Magazine Capacity30 rounds
Magazine TypeDetachable Box
Muzzle Velocity400 m/s (1312 fps)
Effective Range150 m (164 yd)
Rate of Fire600 rpm
Barrel RiflingRight Hand
Frame MaterialSteel
Barrel MaterialSteel
Stock MaterialSteel
FinishPhosphate

Calibers

Features

Variants

Service history

Operators

Conflicts

Production

Estimated total produced: 6,830 · Production years: 1991-1995

Estimates vary between roughly 5,000 and 6,830 units produced by Đuro Đaković in Slavonski Brod.

Origin

Country of origin: Croatia

Discontinued: 1995

Notes

The safety is located forward of the trigger in the manner of the PPSh-41, and the folding stock can only be collapsed with the magazine removed. Later production examples used plastic grips and magazine housings. Many were destroyed after the war when the Croatian government offered rewards for the surrender of select-fire weapons.

Background

One of more than a dozen improvised submachine gun designs produced domestically in Croatia during the War of Independence, the Šokac exemplifies wartime innovation under blockade, built in railroad workshops from available machinery and Yugoslav territorial-defense technical documentation.