A carbine-length, pistol-caliberfirearm that is capable of fully automatic fire. Early SMGs such as the MP18 have rifle-like appearance. While more modern models do have features like a folding stock, a pistol grip and a fire selector. The term "submachine gun" (SMG) was coined by John T. Thompson, to describe its design concept as an automatic weapon with notably less firepower than a machine gun (hence the prefix "sub-").
A subset of submachine gun is dubbed machine pistol, which are often used to describe a handgun with automatic fire capability (e.g. Glock 18C), or compact SMGs with handgun-like ergonomics (e.g. Micro Uzi).
The following guns are classified as an intersection between an SMG and assault rifle. They fire smaller caliber handgun rounds with spitzer-style, sharper tips, designed for higher velocity and better penetration against body armor. Such rounds resemble miniature intermediate rifle rounds.
