Yep, you read that correctly.
Back in the late 90s and early 2000s OF Mossberg was the American importer for the famous UZI carbine/machine pistol. And they sold the UZI line of GALIL rifles, and the UZI Eagle pistol (of which I own an example).
Here is a .pdf file of the 1998 OF Mossberg Law Enforcement Products Catalog featuring UZIs of all shapes and sizes, as well as full-on battle rifles and the 590A1 lineup of fine shotguns!
http://files.uzitalk.com/reference/lite ... merica.pdf
So this is a fragmentary mention about part of "The Past" of Mossberg which probably only a few of you recall, with pics and a casual review. My pistol is a full-size UZI Eagle 941R SKU 80102 chambered in 9mm Luger. You can see it in the above linked catalog on page 10 I believe.
I bought this pistol NIB from my favorite LGS on August 2, 2001. Being a huge fan of the CZ line of pistols, I immediately recognized this Israeli-made pistol as being an almost direct clone or copy of the fine CZ 9mm combat fighting pistol. No pistol, other than one based on the CZ-75, feels so comfortable and natural in my hand.
Research shows that the Israeli Military wanted a pistol for their Defense Forces that was made on their soil, and they determined that the CZ-75 pistol was as good as it gets for a fighting pistol. So it was copied almost down to the last detail, but with a couple "modifications" for their particular needs.
Unlike the sleeker and sexier slide and dustcover of the CZ-75 which more resembles a Browning Hi-Power, the Israeli UZI Eagle has a full length dust cover to help prevent sand and dirt getting into the internal rails.
And the barrel is hard chromed inside and out, with polygonal rifling instead of conventional rifling.
The UZI Eagle was dictated by the Israeli Defense Force to be carried with an empty chamber so the rear sight is very tall in order to positively cock the action by pushing the pistol down on a boot heel, belt or any protruding object if the weak hand is otherwise busy. It has a beefy extractor mounted to the outside of the slide, and is a de-cocker model. This allows the hammer to safely drop with the firing pin blocked from striking the primer. These features place this pistol in the DA/SA category of semi-auto pistols whereby the pistol can be carried with a chambered round with the hammer down and the first trigger pull is double action, followed by every other shot being single action (think SIG/Sauer).
This is an all-steel 17 shot pistol, with quite a lot of heft to it. It's big, equalling the size of a 5" Gov't 1911.
As you can see by the owners manual, this gun was an OF Mossberg item during those years!
Who would'a thought Mossberg was thinking outside the box way back then? In fact, I like that they took that marketing approach better than a lot of todays hideous monstrosities.
And this pistol, as comfortable and well made as it is, shoots more accurately than practically any other semi-auto pistol I have ever owned. Eats every single round ever encountered, and never fails me.
Thanks for your time.
Dave (nitesite)
Back in the late 90s and early 2000s OF Mossberg was the American importer for the famous UZI carbine/machine pistol. And they sold the UZI line of GALIL rifles, and the UZI Eagle pistol (of which I own an example).
Here is a .pdf file of the 1998 OF Mossberg Law Enforcement Products Catalog featuring UZIs of all shapes and sizes, as well as full-on battle rifles and the 590A1 lineup of fine shotguns!
http://files.uzitalk.com/reference/lite ... merica.pdf
So this is a fragmentary mention about part of "The Past" of Mossberg which probably only a few of you recall, with pics and a casual review. My pistol is a full-size UZI Eagle 941R SKU 80102 chambered in 9mm Luger. You can see it in the above linked catalog on page 10 I believe.
I bought this pistol NIB from my favorite LGS on August 2, 2001. Being a huge fan of the CZ line of pistols, I immediately recognized this Israeli-made pistol as being an almost direct clone or copy of the fine CZ 9mm combat fighting pistol. No pistol, other than one based on the CZ-75, feels so comfortable and natural in my hand.
Research shows that the Israeli Military wanted a pistol for their Defense Forces that was made on their soil, and they determined that the CZ-75 pistol was as good as it gets for a fighting pistol. So it was copied almost down to the last detail, but with a couple "modifications" for their particular needs.
Unlike the sleeker and sexier slide and dustcover of the CZ-75 which more resembles a Browning Hi-Power, the Israeli UZI Eagle has a full length dust cover to help prevent sand and dirt getting into the internal rails.
And the barrel is hard chromed inside and out, with polygonal rifling instead of conventional rifling.
The UZI Eagle was dictated by the Israeli Defense Force to be carried with an empty chamber so the rear sight is very tall in order to positively cock the action by pushing the pistol down on a boot heel, belt or any protruding object if the weak hand is otherwise busy. It has a beefy extractor mounted to the outside of the slide, and is a de-cocker model. This allows the hammer to safely drop with the firing pin blocked from striking the primer. These features place this pistol in the DA/SA category of semi-auto pistols whereby the pistol can be carried with a chambered round with the hammer down and the first trigger pull is double action, followed by every other shot being single action (think SIG/Sauer).
This is an all-steel 17 shot pistol, with quite a lot of heft to it. It's big, equalling the size of a 5" Gov't 1911.
As you can see by the owners manual, this gun was an OF Mossberg item during those years!
Who would'a thought Mossberg was thinking outside the box way back then? In fact, I like that they took that marketing approach better than a lot of todays hideous monstrosities.
And this pistol, as comfortable and well made as it is, shoots more accurately than practically any other semi-auto pistol I have ever owned. Eats every single round ever encountered, and never fails me.
Thanks for your time.
Dave (nitesite)