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Ref. Firearms developed and manufactured in Southern Africa 1949-2000. By Piet Winterbach. Credit for this information goes to Pretoria Arms and Ammunition Ass. All rights are reserved. No part of this information may be reproduced, stored, manipulated in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any mechanical, electronic or digital form or by any other means, without prior written permission of the publishers. Any person who engage in any unauthorised activity in relation to this publication shall be liable to criminal prosecution and cliams for civil and criminal damages The BXPs are 9 mm pistols and submachine guns developed in the mid-1980s by the South African company Mechem. (currently a division of Denel, formerly under ARMSCOR SA) as an improved version of the American MAC-10, and brought into production in 1988. Due to international arms embargoes of Apartheid South Africa, the country was forced to design and manufacture their own weapons. The submachine guns was intended for use by military forces. The pistols were aimed at the private security companies, in the commercial market, but not many were sold locally. The manufacturing rights shifted from hand to hand several times during the years, passing from Mechem to Milkor Marketing and later to Truvelo Armoury, the current manufacturer (as from 2008). The pistol is constructed from stainless-steel pressings and precision castings. The receivers are made from stamped steel and consist of two halves - upper and lower. The weapon is manufactured in semi-automatic for security and automatic for military use. The automatic version fires from the open bolt, while the semi-automatic version fires from the closed bolt. Both versions are blowback operated. The bolt wraps around the rear of the barrel when closed, saving on overall length. The cocking handle is located at the top of the receiver. The BXP has an ambidextrous safety lever and a separate fire mode selector built into the trigger. The military-use version can be fired in single-shot mode by partially pressing the trigger, or in full-auto mode by fully pressing the trigger. There is also an interceptor notch that catches the bolt if it is released during the cocking but prior to activating the sear. The weapon is coated with a rust-resistant coating which doubles as a dry lubricant. Owing to a wide variety of muzzle devices (including silencers, heat shields, and even rifle grenades), the weapon can be used to fire non-lethal and explosive projectiles by the means of blank cartridge, as well as normal ammunition. The BXP also features an underfolding buttstock, made from stamped steel. The standard sights are of open type, but the BXP can be equipped with laser aiming modules and collimating sights. The gun fires at a relatively high rate of about 1000 rounds per minute, and is well-balanced and reasonably accurate with a barrel length of 208 mm (8.2 in). It can be fired single-handedly by folding the stock forward to form a solid foregrip. The weapon is coated with a rust-resistant coating which doubles as a dry lubricant. This pistol was manufactured in South Africa for private security companies but did not gain popularity and like many other SA made firearms were not a commercial success locally. The BXP tactical pistols and BXP submachine guns are still manufactured by Truvello Armoury for export markets. This pistol fits into a collection of South African made handguns, which most are unfortunately discontinued, but are an important part of South African firearm history. A semiautomatic version is also built; this is identical for game purposes except for not being able to fire on automatic (or modified to automatic fire without considerable difficulty), and that the under-folding wire stock of the standard BXP is deleted. The Armeson Occuded Eye Gunsight is also not included in the pistol version, nor does it include the attachments for a silencer. For some parts of the world (largely in Africa, the Middle East, and South/Southeast Asia), this version is sold as the BXP Tactical Pistol; in North America, South America, and Central America, it is called the Phoenix. Ref. Firearms developed and manufactured in Southern Africa 1949-2000. By Piet Winterbach. Credit for this information goes to Pretoria Arms and Ammunition Ass. All rights are reserved. No part of this information may be reproduced, stored, manipulated in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any mechanical, electronic or digital form or by any other means, without prior written permission of the publishers. Any person who engage in any unauthorised activity in relation to this publication shall be liable to criminal prosecution and cliams for civil and criminal damages

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