Fire selector switch markings in Croatian: R: ‘Rafalno’, meaning ‘burst’, for full-automatic. P: ‘Pojedinačno’, for single-shot. Z: ‘Zaključan’, meaning ‘locked’, for safe.
The name of the opera was "Ero sa Onoga Svijeta". (Ero from the *other* world) It's about a wealthy man who wants to find a wife, but everyone wants him for his money. So he becomes a tramp and tells people he was sent down from the heavens. Comedic hijinks ensue. It's an excellent opera. The finale song (što na nebu sja visoko / sivi sokol) is well-known in the Croatian repertoire, even if IMO "Arija Mlinara Sime" was better :)
if you want the best burek of your life go to the bakery "dafina", big portions, best taste for low price if you fancy some bbq go to "tvornica pljeskavica"
Weird anecdote: as a child I had an uzi-shaped water-gun, molded plastic. The (non-functional) grip-safety and all as a solid piece. I always wondered what that awkward block was on the back of the grip.
That is most definitely some " lost " tooling that fell off the back of a truck. It happens to have fallen off the same time as a few machinist came up missing as well.
@@lindboknifeandtoolsince this video is about the Croatian ERO used in the Croatian Homeland War, that was a pretty stupid question can’t you see that?
@@exploatores It's a totally-not-licenced domestic production that by pure coincidence happen to be 99.9% parts interchangeable (sans the rear sight bolt and nut), so obviously it can't be a rebadged UZI. That one part difference is in no way, shape or form a plausible deniability feature. And since there are no grind marks to remove the original badges, it's clear as daylight that these were locally produced. So obviously the Croats just "obtained enough UZI's to be able to work out the tolerances themselves and decided to copy everything exactly as to not introduce any new kinks". Whether or not the guy tasked with working out the measurements happened to have an uncle in Isreal, that he would casually phone while working the calipers, is anyone's guess and hence ultimately just conjecture and speculation.
@@andersjjensen I think you missed what rebadged is. It´s when something is sold and manufactured under another name. But it´s the same product. you got a lot of cars. that are sold under many badges and names.
@@exploatores I think you missed the "Israeli foreign policy" joke in my statement :P This is obviously a "Uh, sanctions we don't want to get in trouble with are a bitch, so here are the exact blue prints of both the gun, the processes and the tool line"-move by Tel Aviv. Any decent existing manufacturer of industrial electrical components can carbon-copy an UZI pretty damn rapidly if they get that kind of help. If they got help down to the specific feeds and speeds for the milled parts it's no wonder they did it in 12 months.
My UZI in the Dutch army was made by FN. And it looked identical to this one, other than that cheapo nut on the rear sight. So that technical data package got around.
You have now a technical toy Uzi 6mms BB replica from Northeast company. It is even made of stamped sheet metal, with a sort of a greenish finish. You will like it!!!
Hi! This video is very informative as all Ian makes!! I also had an Uzi in the army as they still do here in Portugal. We had them since our ex colonial war, but I do not know now since when exactly they came. Back to my service military days in 1985/6, they were like this one, but I know we had them with the wood stock too. What a gun!!
I was issued one in the army back in '99, the barrel was so badly fitted it was visually off-kilter, and the point of impact was half a meter to the right and above point of aim at 50 meters. :)
@@almavranesic1256 Ne vjerujem, toliki odmak je definitivno konstrukcijska greska. Cijev je vidljivo ukoso stajala u kucistu, bez tragova ostecenja koje bi mozda objasnilo iskrivljenost.
KONČAR - Elektroindunstrja d.d. Founded in 1919 as Elektra. Formally registered in 1921. Became a SIEMENS subsidiary the same year. After WWII it was renamed in honor of Rade Končar, a Croatian Serb and the Yugoslav partisan. Later, the company's name was shortened to Končar. It was a SFRY's equivalent to that of SIEMENS.
Also doing substations, hydro power plants, solar plants, windturbine parks, trains, trams etc. Producing many equipment on ther own. Many people in Croatia dont know that. They know Koncar for elevators and kitchen aparatus…😅
This was an interesting and enjoyable video. Thanks, Ian. I think you also reviewed another iconic weapon--the Tawain-made M14 rifle. Quite a few other weapons designed and fielded by one nation have been produced in other nations. It's always interesting to see technology transfers versus reverse engineering.
Alternate source could be the German MP-2 uzi. A lot of expats were in germany long before the war and a lot of black market gun stuff came from germany, including some of the nicest DDR AKs.
And Germany was very sympathetic to Croatia and very likely supported Croatia during the Balkan Wars, at least indirectly. I remember a Danish officer noting that Croatian artillery suddenly got very good and followed procedures and tactics that seemed straight out of the Bundeswehr artillery training manuals and exercises, and he definitely thought that German personnel was unofficially training the Croatian army. Given Germany’s strong and good relations with Israel as well, it doesn’t seem implausible to me that there could’ve been some sort of German involvement with this gun too. Either with Germany acting as a go-between to connect the Croatians with the Israelis, or as an outright backer with the Israelis providing an extra layer of plausible deniability for the Germans.
i'm not sure but iirc german MP-2s where not german produced but dutch produced... back when the bundeswehr was looking into the uzi Israel was still not happy about giving gemany a data-package enabeling germany to produce the weapons but sanctioned the deal with the dutch producing them in exchange for german Leopard-Tanks
I was thinking the same thing. The West German Uzi (MP-2A1) has a larger cocking handle/knob, very much like the example that Ian wasin this video, than the standard Israeli Uzi. Just spit balling an idea.
Believe me this is very good mgun... It's on a heavier side, but perfect for two hands with a stock, I was caring one in Cro army, I was commander of APV... I really liked it!!!
It was also used by lower ranking officers in airforce and anti aircraft crews. Mobile radar crew had these, conscripts doing secondary things got M70s as usual. MPs had them as standard. In early 2000s there where still some new and unused in armory. As i remeber, it was picky about ammo used, did not run well on low grade Argentinian ammo. Tank crews had Scorpion or ERO.
@@oskng Nema razloga da ih se ne može obnoviti, npr. zamijeniti cijevi i ponovno ih brunirati. Šteta da odu u talionicu. Stroj koji hladno kuje cijevi za HS2000 može napraviti cijevi za ERO, bez problema. U Hr Zrakoplovstvu ih je bio dosta i većina je bila mint, početkom 2000tih.
@@oskng Djelomična obnova ne može koštati više od 30-40% novog oružja. Mislim da ovdje treba gledati i povijestni aspekt kao prvog masovnog HR oružja. Tko je odgovoran sada više nije bitno, treba ga obnoviti te promijeniti pravila igre, ti/ja dužiš, ti/ja odgovaraš.
Greetings from Hungary! After I watched your video, I started to wonder. To put the long story short, there was(is) a bar/restaurant known to be a place of ill-repute in my hometown, in the district where I started to grow up(There are even some urban legends about gangsters ending up buried under certain public buildings, etc.). During primary school, I can't exactly remember, about 2000-2001, we rarely been around the place but one night,I was coming back from a friend and I had to walk right next to this place. And by accident I just looked to my left, looked on the back seat of a black Mercedes. And there was a brown leather holster and within it, was something which awfully looked like an UZI. Not a MAC-10(or 11), not a vz 61, not a Radom SMG, an UZI. After I told this to my parents, my father gently took me aside and said 'you've never been there, you've seen nothing'. Now I wonder, maybe said weapon wasn't an actual UZI but a Croatian copy.
ero is actually a nickname for Croats from Herzegovina. Herzegovinians often leave out the letter h in their speech, so they say Ercegovac, which is abbreviated as ero. There is also the opera "ero from the other world"
Funny enough,my grandmother who was Herzegovian Croat never said "h" but either dropped it (saying "leb" instead of "hleb"/bread)or turn it into "k" ("kemija" instead of "hemija"/chemistry)
I plan to be in Vienna soon, maybe I should make a pit stop in Zagreb (as an American who lives on our West Coast, that isn't as big a detour as it might seem to Europeans).
Thanks for video.I was not aware of production of UZI in Croatia.What I am sure of ,is that in Hercegovina (Ero is nick name for those guys),people could manufacture anything.Cigarets,Brandy,Cognac,Money,Car keys,lock braking tools etc. Guns manufacturing was on top of all and many work shops were running in small villages. Each one producing only one part as secret police of Communist Yugoslavia had eyes everywhere.That was knowledge used and sure not from Israel.
_"With Israeli help?"_ Not at all. As a matter of fact, Israel refused to sell Galil rifles to the Croatian military in the late 1990s, and then refused to sell them the Tavor in the 2000s, specifically _because_ the local industry was manufacturing the ERO without IMI/IWI license. That's the reason why Croatia developed two national rifle systems in the span of twenty-five years - first the abortive APS-95, then the VHS and VHS-2 series. During their war of independence, however, Croatia received weapons and expertise from South Africa through the local Croatian expat community. The presence of LIW/Vektor R4 rifles and LIW-manufactured S1 sub-machineguns (locally-manufactured UZI) in Croatian hands was well known and documented. ARMA-GRUPA company Končar-Arma d.o.o. reverse-engineered the South African R4 to prototype the APS-95. The same company manufactured the ERO. So they may very well have reverse-engineered the South African UZIs.
@@Paladin1873 Might well be South Africa. Or, frankly, a former IMI executive or IDF officer willing to forego questionable history for cold hard cash.
@@Paladin1873 there was a case back in the day of a well known South African arms trafficker of Croatian descent who provided Croatia with South African guns: R4 rifles, LIW-made UZIs, ans MGL grenade launchers. Before the fall of Apartheid, that guy had a role in helping South Africa bust the sanctions. There is zero reasons why he couldn't have been responsible for exporting the blueprints and all technical packages of the South African made UZI and other S.A.-made weapons to Croatia. Remember, shortly after the war, the Croatians prototyped the APS-95 (essentially a Galil, like the R4), and the RGB-6, which is a clone of the Milkor MGL that is still being manufactured and offered for sale.
@@Paladin1873 why would he be punished? It was just a decades old sub-machinegun. Nobody cared except for the manufacturing company that was pissed about their royalties and refused to sell Galil and Tavor rifles to Croatia _after_ the war. The guy who was allegedly responsible, however, was indeed arrested. In August 1991. By the Serbs. When he mistakenly landed his plane carrying weapons to the Croatians on a strip controlled by the JNA. He was released in a prisoner exchange in November of the same year. Google "Anton Kikaš". Croatian-Canadian. Ferried weapons from South Africa to Croatia during the Homeland War. He was prominently featured in a Washington Post article of February 14, 1993, indicating that he was still in the business of selling South African weapons to the Croatians and that he had direct connections to the then-Minister of Defense of Croatia, Gojko Susak. To this day, Anton Kikaš is considered a national hero.
I was part of the KFOR peace keeping forces in 99 to 2000, while doing Main Service Road (MSR) patrols we had noting but problems with the Croatian border check points that actually refused to allow us to cross or would keep us held up at check points for several minutes and up to an hour before they would stamp our documents and allow us to pass, the Hungarians set up bypass points that would mark our documents and allow us to reenter, the Croatians were polite and never get rude but would basically drag their feet when it came to letting us through, I'm glad life was able to go on peacefully and their people are now safe, US Military Police 99-2000 KFOR Patrols
@@themeatpopsicle That seems highly unlikely, since Croatia only joined KFOR last year. Edit: My bad, Croatia joined KFOR in 2008, but that's still too late for op's timescale.
@@parazitkolol because you have go through Croatia to get to Bosnia/Herzegovina from Hungary and half my unit was in Okuchani Croatia and half at Tzar Hungary
Yup, just like the IMI Uzis we had @ the IDF. One was briefly issued to me until I got the armory to set me up with a handgun instead (and that one was as unique as the Uzi, a Walther PPK).
You swapped out an uzi for a handgun ? Even a former servicemember of the Canadian Armed Forces I can't understand the logic. The Uzi is already pretty compact. Especially when compared to the C7 with its M203 that was my issue. I loved the Browning HI Power that was my sidearm but I wouldn't use it as my main weapon. Despite the fact it carried me through two firefights where my dumb ass dropped my rifle.
I recommend Gunslinger Girls or Upotte. Neither are explicit, but they're both pretty good in their genres and of course they feature some rather nice gunplay. :)
Civilians don't need a different version. We have the right to the military model. You phrased your comment in such a way that I think we agree on this.
The only Croatian I have ever seen or even heard about was a man named Mirko Cro-Cop. I don't think he fights anymore but he was basically one of the baddest men to ever put on a pair of MMA gloves, 2nd only to Fedor.
@@jimrieder4600 Yes, and he is a good guy overall. He is good to everybody, known and unknown, and helps anybody and anywhere he can. I met him in person (on a street, walking dogs, many times), and he is always friendly. We see him ehlping people in the neighbourhood and animal shelters accross the Croatia.
I agree with Ian's theory: gun development is a lenghty proccess, including reverse engiering, and the jewish people do have a reputation of sticking together. Some jewish-croatian's second cousin's bestfriend's brother-in-law worked for IMI and handed them the technical data package.
eeeeeehhhh as an Israeli of no real importance in this world or knowledge of anything, I think the more notable fact that Israel as far as I know has never commented on any of this to me speaks more of at least tacit official approval
@@urbanarmory I think the US has again helped Out. To be more precise, the FBI. It was a major goal of the US to fight communism indirectly but ofc they couldnt use a weapon model if their Own. It would be too obvious. So they gave access to a model of their closest alliance
I reckon they probably shipped the entire production line that had been mothballed somewhere in Israel. This in addition to the “jewish-croation’s second cousin’s best friend’s brother-in-law”, and a few of his coworkers.
Ian uploading a Video where he is in a different Country each few Days makes me like to think he's got a Private Jet and spends every Day travelling somewhere else in the World to review a Gun because they want his Opinion on it. Like THE Firearm Expert every Museum and Gouvernment requests as first Choice. Of course that's not true and he records these all when he's there and then uploads them in a diverse Manner, but i like to imagine it the other way Prost & Cheers and Happy New Years from Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps
4:55 back sight bolt+ nutt. I know one IMI Uzi bought 1994, from European official main Uzi dealer.Bolt is 100% same. Bolt nutt no pentagon shape but just round. And it also has small Cutt’s so it look’s 🌜🌛 Looked at it a minute ago😂
Ian, query regarding content release on History of Weapons & War app Vs RUclips. Forgotten Weapons and the other channels release content on RUclips first and then 12-24 hours later on HWW app. Will this be the format going forward in 2024? Could not find a messaging portal on HWW app. Cheers Martin PS: still like to see a review on the Sako TRG 42😊
I carried Ero in Croatian army, as a first or commander of APV Yugoslavian 80 on tracks, I learned to shot on AB 72 or Yugo Kalashnikov, but I also carried ERO, it's ok for that kind of weapon...
I remember in the early 90s SOF magazine ran a story about Israel giving their blessing and technical assistance to the manufacture of this UZI clone. They mentioned how rare that was.
There's gotta be some interesting back story to this. After the fall of the Soviet empire several former Soviet block countries experimented with Israeli weapons. That was happening around the same time as Israel was switching to AR-15 style rifles across the board. At that point Uzi was pretty much not used by the army, and Galil was on it's way out. But somebody definitely saw a marketing opportunity and went for it. It ended up being short lived, as people realized those are not exactly the greatest guns for the money. I'm pretty sure there are still truckloads of surplus Uzis and Galils stored somewhere.
a great cool very interesting video and sag Mr.GJ.have a good one.do you have any information about the Serbian small arms from the 1990s?have a good one.
I was issued one in the army back in 95, the barrel was made in Israel(so we have been told), niether one barrel was not matching number with rest of the gun.
I had an ERO in the Navy in Croatia,, and it's not quite as much of a UZI copy as it says in this video, maybe a better ALKA.The biggest feature of the ERO/(ALKA)rifle is that it repeater is on the top of the rifle so it's great for left-handers and right-handers while the UZI had a repeater on the right side that's is a problem if you are left-handed. It was the best rifle for close combat and we carried them on ships as the infantry carried AK47, the ERO was short and strong, with a little training it was a miracle🎉🎉❤🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷.
The bolt and charging handle are also on the top of the Uzi. As shown in the video, the first ERO is virtually a 1:1 copy. The only Uzi with a side charging handle is the Uzi Pro.
They more or less must have some advanced drawings of the gun. My guess would be IMI and Knesset have given their. Unofficieal Ok for this and IMI have given a lot of seacreat assistans.
@@Nagria2112 sell this kind of things to a country at war. It´s kind of sensetiv stuff. If I remember right Croatia wasn´t even recogniced as a country at this time.
2:18 explaining a conspiracy theory without actually calling it a conspiracy theory. We'll just file this one under "coincidences" to avoid upsetting anyone ;)
If it just looked a lot like or worked just like an Israel Uzi, I would argue the design is simple enough to set up in that amount of time. That does not look like or work like an Israel Uzi, that IS an Israel Uzi, just made in Croatian. Clearly some help from the Israelis. Not a bad option. They do seem to know their weapons over there.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Fire selector switch markings in Croatian:
R: ‘Rafalno’, meaning ‘burst’, for full-automatic.
P: ‘Pojedinačno’, for single-shot.
Z: ‘Zaključan’, meaning ‘locked’, for safe.
Kaj nije da se puška zakoči ne zaključa
This was necessary, thank you!
@@engineer1941 what is a " better" translation ?
@@JustAnotherJarhead The literal translation would be "seized up" or "under brakes"
@@engineer1941 pitaj zavod za lingvistiku
Tags: Ero, handholding, automatic
Fastest way to get permabanned. I mean what reasonable platform would allow handholding content?
Premarital handholding? How scandalous!
Handh*lding 🤮
@@enricopaolocoronado2511Is it premarital handholding if you don't get married?
Lmao
The name of the opera was "Ero sa Onoga Svijeta". (Ero from the *other* world)
It's about a wealthy man who wants to find a wife, but everyone wants him for his money. So he becomes a tramp and tells people he was sent down from the heavens. Comedic hijinks ensue.
It's an excellent opera. The finale song (što na nebu sja visoko / sivi sokol) is well-known in the Croatian repertoire, even if IMO "Arija Mlinara Sime" was better :)
interesting thank you. I was actually going to Google what the mentioned opera was about
"Ero *s onog svijeta" je 🤓
@@marten6578 *onoga. E jebiga. Kultura se u međuvrimenu prominila. U to doba je opera bila za nas seljake, sad je za elitu. Ne bi zno zašt.
Ero the Joker
Ero Hercegovac napravili Hercegovci oružje 😂😂😂😂😂
I'm heading to Zagreb at the end of the month. Thanks Ian for the video. Will be adding this to the itinerary.
if you want the best burek of your life go to the bakery "dafina", big portions, best taste for low price if you fancy some bbq go to "tvornica pljeskavica"
Weird anecdote: as a child I had an uzi-shaped water-gun, molded plastic. The (non-functional) grip-safety and all as a solid piece. I always wondered what that awkward block was on the back of the grip.
It's the accelerator, it makes the gun shoot faster when you squeeze it
@@johndoe-ro5hsreally?I thought it is a grip safety
@@Randomly_Browsingbiometric palm scanner you rtard
@@Randomly_Browsing ssshhhhh! Let's go with accelerator, its a much better story when you are 9 years old.
@@JustAnotherJarhead I would like that idea,but in reality it's simply impossible
That is most definitely some " lost " tooling that fell off the back of a truck. It happens to have fallen off the same time as a few machinist came up missing as well.
And first batche’s were ”assebled” and just labeled on the way to the air port😂
😂🤣😂😂
Definitely this. Those copies are literally perfect.
my father told me he carried one of these during the war and apparently liked it a lot.
Which war
@@lindboknifeandtool You know which war.
@@TheTrueNorth11 Korean War? Bosnian? Iraq? I don’t know which war, that’s why I’m asking bucko
@@lindboknifeandtoolsince this video is about the Croatian ERO used in the Croatian Homeland War, that was a pretty stupid question can’t you see that?
@@lindboknifeandtool Yeah I was just bein’ silly man, relax.
That is one of the nicest uzi copies I’ve seen on your channel.
I kind of think this is a rebadged UZI. It´s a bit to good.
Not a copy at this point. Secretly given technical package?
@@exploatores It's a totally-not-licenced domestic production that by pure coincidence happen to be 99.9% parts interchangeable (sans the rear sight bolt and nut), so obviously it can't be a rebadged UZI. That one part difference is in no way, shape or form a plausible deniability feature. And since there are no grind marks to remove the original badges, it's clear as daylight that these were locally produced. So obviously the Croats just "obtained enough UZI's to be able to work out the tolerances themselves and decided to copy everything exactly as to not introduce any new kinks". Whether or not the guy tasked with working out the measurements happened to have an uncle in Isreal, that he would casually phone while working the calipers, is anyone's guess and hence ultimately just conjecture and speculation.
@@andersjjensen I think you missed what rebadged is. It´s when something is sold and manufactured under another name. But it´s the same product. you got a lot of cars. that are sold under many badges and names.
@@exploatores I think you missed the "Israeli foreign policy" joke in my statement :P
This is obviously a "Uh, sanctions we don't want to get in trouble with are a bitch, so here are the exact blue prints of both the gun, the processes and the tool line"-move by Tel Aviv. Any decent existing manufacturer of industrial electrical components can carbon-copy an UZI pretty damn rapidly if they get that kind of help. If they got help down to the specific feeds and speeds for the milled parts it's no wonder they did it in 12 months.
While I agree Uzi's a sexy gun, naming it Ero is a bit too conspicuous
Serbia no More . Ustasa + Jew 😂
😂😂😅😅😅
My UZI in the Dutch army was made by FN. And it looked identical to this one, other than that cheapo nut on the rear sight. So that technical data package got around.
And my Dutch army UZI did not have that reddish plastic(?) plate at the back of the recoil spring. As far as I can remember..
You have now a technical toy Uzi 6mms BB replica from Northeast company. It is even made of stamped sheet metal, with a sort of a greenish finish. You will like it!!!
Hi! This video is very informative as all Ian makes!! I also had an Uzi in the army as they still do here in Portugal. We had them since our ex colonial war, but I do not know now since when exactly they came. Back to my service military days in 1985/6, they were like this one, but I know we had them with the wood stock too. What a gun!!
Excellent Work , Ian !
Best new year’s vid .
Very nice way of start the day
I was issued one in the army back in '99, the barrel was so badly fitted it was visually off-kilter, and the point of impact was half a meter to the right and above point of aim at 50 meters. :)
@@oskng nije valjda da ih MUP RH i dalje drzi u upotrebi?
To je do održavanja a ne do kvalitete
@@almavranesic1256 Ne vjerujem, toliki odmak je definitivno konstrukcijska greska. Cijev je vidljivo ukoso stajala u kucistu, bez tragova ostecenja koje bi mozda objasnilo iskrivljenost.
KONČAR - Elektroindunstrja d.d. Founded in 1919 as Elektra. Formally registered in 1921. Became a SIEMENS subsidiary the same year. After WWII it was renamed in honor of Rade Končar, a Croatian Serb and the Yugoslav partisan. Later, the company's name was shortened to Končar. It was a SFRY's equivalent to that of SIEMENS.
Nice piece of information. Thank you.
I think almost every elevator or piece of pre-90s heavy duty machinery I saw in my childhood was from Končar, that's how big it was
Also any landline, transformator, power supply, tram power line had a metal plate with Končar punched out in it, iirc
@@Intestine_Ballin-ism Yes, it was.
Also doing substations, hydro power plants, solar plants, windturbine parks, trains, trams etc.
Producing many equipment on ther own. Many people in Croatia dont know that. They know Koncar for elevators and kitchen aparatus…😅
This was an interesting and enjoyable video. Thanks, Ian.
I think you also reviewed another iconic weapon--the Tawain-made M14 rifle. Quite a few other weapons designed and fielded by one nation have been produced in other nations. It's always interesting to see technology transfers versus reverse engineering.
Alternate source could be the German MP-2 uzi.
A lot of expats were in germany long before the war and a lot of black market gun stuff came from germany, including some of the nicest DDR AKs.
And Germany was very sympathetic to Croatia and very likely supported Croatia during the Balkan Wars, at least indirectly.
I remember a Danish officer noting that Croatian artillery suddenly got very good and followed procedures and tactics that seemed straight out of the Bundeswehr artillery training manuals and exercises, and he definitely thought that German personnel was unofficially training the Croatian army.
Given Germany’s strong and good relations with Israel as well, it doesn’t seem implausible to me that there could’ve been some sort of German involvement with this gun too. Either with Germany acting as a go-between to connect the Croatians with the Israelis, or as an outright backer with the Israelis providing an extra layer of plausible deniability for the Germans.
i'm not sure but iirc german MP-2s where not german produced but dutch produced... back when the bundeswehr was looking into the uzi Israel was still not happy about giving gemany a data-package enabeling germany to produce the weapons but sanctioned the deal with the dutch producing them in exchange for german Leopard-Tanks
I was thinking the same thing.
The West German Uzi (MP-2A1) has a larger cocking handle/knob, very much like the example that Ian wasin this video, than the standard Israeli Uzi.
Just spit balling an idea.
Believe me this is very good mgun...
It's on a heavier side, but perfect for two hands with a stock, I was caring one in Cro army, I was commander of APV... I really liked it!!!
Do NOT look up “mini ero” you MUST add “pistol” or “SMG”
Exited to see a video on the APS 95!
It was also used by lower ranking officers in airforce and anti aircraft crews. Mobile radar crew had these, conscripts doing secondary things got M70s as usual.
MPs had them as standard.
In early 2000s there where still some new and unused in armory.
As i remeber, it was picky about ammo used, did not run well on low grade Argentinian ammo.
Tank crews had Scorpion or ERO.
@@oskng Nema razloga da ih se ne može obnoviti, npr. zamijeniti cijevi i ponovno ih brunirati. Šteta da odu u talionicu.
Stroj koji hladno kuje cijevi za HS2000 može napraviti cijevi za ERO, bez problema.
U Hr Zrakoplovstvu ih je bio dosta i većina je bila mint, početkom 2000tih.
@@oskng Djelomična obnova ne može koštati više od 30-40% novog oružja.
Mislim da ovdje treba gledati i povijestni aspekt kao prvog masovnog HR oružja.
Tko je odgovoran sada više nije bitno, treba ga obnoviti te promijeniti pravila igre, ti/ja dužiš, ti/ja odgovaraš.
@@oskng Što sad? Treba ići naprijed i poboljšati stvari.
Greetings from Hungary!
After I watched your video, I started to wonder. To put the long story short, there was(is) a bar/restaurant known to be a place of ill-repute in my hometown, in the district where I started to grow up(There are even some urban legends about gangsters ending up buried under certain public buildings, etc.). During primary school, I can't exactly remember, about 2000-2001, we rarely been around the place but one night,I was coming back from a friend and I had to walk right next to this place. And by accident I just looked to my left, looked on the back seat of a black Mercedes. And there was a brown leather holster and within it, was something which awfully looked like an UZI. Not a MAC-10(or 11), not a vz 61, not a Radom SMG, an UZI. After I told this to my parents, my father gently took me aside and said 'you've never been there, you've seen nothing'.
Now I wonder, maybe said weapon wasn't an actual UZI but a Croatian copy.
Number of these probably got "lost" and sold on black market.
Happened with lots of these "emergency" made SMG s.
Nooooo now they're coming for you
Run!!
ero is actually a nickname for Croats from Herzegovina. Herzegovinians often leave out the letter h in their speech, so they say Ercegovac, which is abbreviated as ero. There is also the opera "ero from the other world"
Funny enough,my grandmother who was Herzegovian Croat never said "h" but either dropped it (saying "leb" instead of "hleb"/bread)or turn it into "k" ("kemija" instead of "hemija"/chemistry)
@@Weeboslav Kemija is just the Croatian pronounciation for chemistry, Hemija is the Serbian version
@@Weeboslav "Hljeb" is the name of the shape, not of the product (bread).
Ero is nickname for all Herzegovinians, not just Croats.
Absolute mint condition....Haven't seen one in that good of shape since 1984, when I and a friend got two IMI carbines! Love the Uzi!!
I play SCUM, so now I'm hoping the devs will add in the Ero into the game, since the game takes place in Croatia.
Was in Zagreb last month.. would have visited the museum if I knew about it.. 😅
I plan to be in Vienna soon, maybe I should make a pit stop in Zagreb (as an American who lives on our West Coast, that isn't as big a detour as it might seem to Europeans).
Thanks for video.I was not aware of production of UZI in Croatia.What I am sure of ,is that in Hercegovina (Ero is nick name for those guys),people could manufacture anything.Cigarets,Brandy,Cognac,Money,Car keys,lock braking tools etc.
Guns manufacturing was on top of all and many work shops were running in small villages. Each one producing only one part as secret police of Communist Yugoslavia had eyes everywhere.That was knowledge used and sure not from Israel.
I'm holding out for an Ero...
I NEED AN ERO!
Could it perhaps have been South Africa that helped them? They sold a batch of R4s to the Croats and also manufactured the Uzi at one point.
Possible,since Croatian first attempt at AR rifle,the APS 95 is based on R4
@@Weeboslav AR Rifle?
@@thekraken1173Armalite Rifle
@@AtholAnderson I am pretty sure APS95 or R4 is not an Armalite patern rifle. They are galils.
@@thekraken1173 I meant assault rifle,I made a mistake
The Croats are making some nice guns.🤠🇭🇷🇺🇸
_"With Israeli help?"_
Not at all.
As a matter of fact, Israel refused to sell Galil rifles to the Croatian military in the late 1990s, and then refused to sell them the Tavor in the 2000s, specifically _because_ the local industry was manufacturing the ERO without IMI/IWI license.
That's the reason why Croatia developed two national rifle systems in the span of twenty-five years - first the abortive APS-95, then the VHS and VHS-2 series.
During their war of independence, however, Croatia received weapons and expertise from South Africa through the local Croatian expat community. The presence of LIW/Vektor R4 rifles and LIW-manufactured S1 sub-machineguns (locally-manufactured UZI) in Croatian hands was well known and documented.
ARMA-GRUPA company Končar-Arma d.o.o. reverse-engineered the South African R4 to prototype the APS-95. The same company manufactured the ERO. So they may very well have reverse-engineered the South African UZIs.
@@Paladin1873 The Ustashe, yes. And their political successors were around during the Homeland War.
@@Paladin1873 Might well be South Africa. Or, frankly, a former IMI executive or IDF officer willing to forego questionable history for cold hard cash.
@@pwr2al4 it was a local, well-known South African arms dealer of Croatian desecent. Not the South African govt. itself.
@@Paladin1873 there was a case back in the day of a well known South African arms trafficker of Croatian descent who provided Croatia with South African guns: R4 rifles, LIW-made UZIs, ans MGL grenade launchers.
Before the fall of Apartheid, that guy had a role in helping South Africa bust the sanctions. There is zero reasons why he couldn't have been responsible for exporting the blueprints and all technical packages of the South African made UZI and other S.A.-made weapons to Croatia.
Remember, shortly after the war, the Croatians prototyped the APS-95 (essentially a Galil, like the R4), and the RGB-6, which is a clone of the Milkor MGL that is still being manufactured and offered for sale.
@@Paladin1873 why would he be punished? It was just a decades old sub-machinegun.
Nobody cared except for the manufacturing company that was pissed about their royalties and refused to sell Galil and Tavor rifles to Croatia _after_ the war.
The guy who was allegedly responsible, however, was indeed arrested. In August 1991. By the Serbs. When he mistakenly landed his plane carrying weapons to the Croatians on a strip controlled by the JNA.
He was released in a prisoner exchange in November of the same year.
Google "Anton Kikaš".
Croatian-Canadian. Ferried weapons from South Africa to Croatia during the Homeland War. He was prominently featured in a Washington Post article of February 14, 1993, indicating that he was still in the business of selling South African weapons to the Croatians and that he had direct connections to the then-Minister of Defense of Croatia, Gojko Susak.
To this day, Anton Kikaš is considered a national hero.
She looks like a good time, depending on what end of the barrel you're on.
Ero as in the opera
"Ero s onoga svijeta", by Jakov Gotovac.
Every Mediterranean restaurant: “IT’S NOT PRONOUNCED DJAIRO IT’S ERO!”
I was part of the KFOR peace keeping forces in 99 to 2000, while doing Main Service Road (MSR) patrols we had noting but problems with the Croatian border check points that actually refused to allow us to cross or would keep us held up at check points for several minutes and up to an hour before they would stamp our documents and allow us to pass, the Hungarians set up bypass points that would mark our documents and allow us to reenter, the Croatians were polite and never get rude but would basically drag their feet when it came to letting us through, I'm glad life was able to go on peacefully and their people are now safe, US Military Police 99-2000 KFOR Patrols
Oh, that's just standard Croatian bureaucratic efficiency. Also, what was KFOR patrolling in Croatia for?
@@parazitkolol i think he probably means the Croatian contingent in KFOR running the checkpoints?
@@themeatpopsicle That seems highly unlikely, since Croatia only joined KFOR last year.
Edit: My bad, Croatia joined KFOR in 2008, but that's still too late for op's timescale.
@@parazitkolol because you have go through Croatia to get to Bosnia/Herzegovina from Hungary and half my unit was in Okuchani Croatia and half at Tzar Hungary
You can thank your UN compatriots as they actively smuggled weapons during the war despite the claimed embargo.
Ian hope u good buddy!! Coming back to the channel after a few years buddy u ain’t aged one bit!! 😅
Excellent, thanks for sharing
Croatia is such a beautiful country. I glad they are able to properly defend their land and produce some amazing firearms. I own several of them 🙂
Tribalism is so easily exploited.
@@TK421-53lol yes just look at Israel today!
@@TK421-53 found the dirty serb
@@TK421-53who asked you. Come to Croatia with that mouth if yours. We will give you a warm welcome 🤗
@@TK421-53 As much as I hate tribalism nowadays, I will admit that tribalism is the reason why diversity exists in the first place.
There was a plethora of weaponry around that time, even wartime German stuff turned up with Reich markings. This though? A remarkable "copy".
Happy New Year!
ERO is nickname for Hercegovian Croats, kinda like yankee in US, The reson opera is called ERO is because its happening in Hercegovina
Sooo… it’s a Cruzi?
Crowsy? :)
Cheers Ian
I am a Croatian police officer and we still use it
Nice analysis
Good looking firearm. I figure someone most have known someone and got the tech data for the Uzi like you said.
Yup, just like the IMI Uzis we had @ the IDF. One was briefly issued to me until I got the armory to set me up with a handgun instead (and that one was as unique as the Uzi, a Walther PPK).
Fuck you carried a ppk over the uzi? Badass, if not silly 😂
You swapped out an uzi for a handgun ?
Even a former servicemember of the Canadian Armed Forces I can't understand the logic. The Uzi is already pretty compact. Especially when compared to the C7 with its M203 that was my issue.
I loved the Browning HI Power that was my sidearm but I wouldn't use it as my main weapon. Despite the fact it carried me through two firefights where my dumb ass dropped my rifle.
Sounds like BS.
i was surfing some japanese explicit content and ended up here, any idea guys?
You are better off here with FW. See his other ventures too.
I recommend Gunslinger Girls or Upotte. Neither are explicit, but they're both pretty good in their genres and of course they feature some rather nice gunplay. :)
That's a really interesting submachine gun and I didn't know it was designed in Croatia.
Gotthard Glass late1940’s design+ Cz 23,24,25,26😂
its really funny seeing a gun with the stamp ARMA written in it. as in my native language Arma just means gun.
In portuguese, too!!! 😅
I imagine this is true in quite a few languages.
@@paulo5501 yes i speak portuguese
@@JustAnotherJarhead yep and is always funny seeing a gun written GUN on it
latin root languages...
This looks like a near exact copy of the Uzi. Incredible. Be an advocate for getting a civilian version.
Civilians don't need a different version. We have the right to the military model. You phrased your comment in such a way that I think we agree on this.
The only Croatian I have ever seen or even heard about was a man named Mirko Cro-Cop. I don't think he fights anymore but he was basically one of the baddest men to ever put on a pair of MMA gloves, 2nd only to Fedor.
He doesn't fight anymore, and yes, he is a good fighter and a good man.
He was also a member of the Croatian Special Forces, as well as a member of Croatian Parliament. He has had quite an interesting life.
What about Stipe Miocic?
@@jimrieder4600 Yes, and he is a good guy overall. He is good to everybody, known and unknown, and helps anybody and anywhere he can. I met him in person (on a street, walking dogs, many times), and he is always friendly. We see him ehlping people in the neighbourhood and animal shelters accross the Croatia.
@@powderskier5547 Maybe he is Japanese, and knows his Pride fighters lol Stipe would not be on the radar.
I enjoyed watching. Thanks and God bless from ISRAEL ❤
Very good, Thanks,enjoyed. David Gabourys book covers it very well , Still good to see one in person, Sortave.
I agree with Ian's theory: gun development is a lenghty proccess, including reverse engiering, and the jewish people do have a reputation of sticking together.
Some jewish-croatian's second cousin's bestfriend's brother-in-law worked for IMI and handed them the technical data package.
eeeeeehhhh as an Israeli of no real importance in this world or knowledge of anything, I think the more notable fact that Israel as far as I know has never commented on any of this to me speaks more of at least tacit official approval
IMI. Makes metal products "Imperial Metal Industries" or some other firm ?
Pity more of us europeans don't stick together ❤
@@urbanarmory I think the US has again helped Out. To be more precise, the FBI. It was a major goal of the US to fight communism indirectly but ofc they couldnt use a weapon model if their Own. It would be too obvious. So they gave access to a model of their closest alliance
@@causewaykayakImperial Metal Industries? Lol, where did you get that from?
I reckon they probably shipped the entire production line that had been mothballed somewhere in Israel. This in addition to the “jewish-croation’s second cousin’s best friend’s brother-in-law”, and a few of his coworkers.
*Ero as in Erotic?*
😂 Ero as man from Herzegovina.
Im Subbed with all alert, and I don't see Any of your videos in my subscription page?
That is RUclips being RUclips.
Ian uploading a Video where he is in a different Country each few Days makes me like to think he's got a Private Jet and spends every Day travelling somewhere else in the World to review a Gun because they want his Opinion on it. Like THE Firearm Expert every Museum and Gouvernment requests as first Choice.
Of course that's not true and he records these all when he's there and then uploads them in a diverse Manner, but i like to imagine it the other way
Prost & Cheers and Happy New Years from Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps
I like to imagine it that other way too! 😆
LoL
Ero(croatian uzi) was mine arms in croatian army.We mine sveeapers were carring them
4:55 back sight bolt+ nutt.
I know one IMI Uzi bought 1994, from European official main Uzi dealer.Bolt is 100% same. Bolt nutt no pentagon shape but just round. And it also has small Cutt’s so it look’s 🌜🌛
Looked at it a minute ago😂
My weapon in the Dutch army (uzi) in 90-91 and this looks a perfect copy indeed
Is the Uzi the mid 20th century replacement for the Sten, just more reliable?
M12 Beretta, MPL Walther, DUX , Carl Gustav, HK 54, Cz 23-26
@@454FatJack If you don't specify the Carl Gustav model number people automatically think of the 84mm recoilless rifle.
Ian, query regarding content release on History of Weapons & War app Vs RUclips. Forgotten Weapons and the other channels release content on RUclips first and then 12-24 hours later on HWW app. Will this be the format going forward in 2024?
Could not find a messaging portal on HWW app. Cheers Martin
PS: still like to see a review on the Sako TRG 42😊
It never ceases to amaze me how people keep redesigning the gun. Why re make the Uzi? Why not just use Uzis?
Because they are like 10 pounds
Because we were under an embargo. Use google
0:54 Thought he'd say "cro-magnon" and had to rewind.
Still a perfectly good weapon..
How much cost to make? $cost to buy in semi -auto,& full -auto?,i say looks good ,😊😊 jf.
Thank you for the video. Commenting for the Algorithm.
Nice
allot nicer quality than Norinco model B uzi
Oh, please, please tell me you can find the APS-95 somewhere!
We're working on it :)
@@ForgottenWeapons any luck with RT20?
@@engineer1941 I have been with Ian for yrs , still waiting for him to get his hands on RT20. I need to hear his review of the cannon.
I carried Ero in Croatian army, as a first or commander of APV Yugoslavian 80 on tracks, I learned to shot on AB 72 or Yugo Kalashnikov, but I also carried ERO, it's ok for that kind of weapon...
The mini has a MAC 10/11 type stock while not being the exact same it is also bigger then a Micro but smaller then a Mini from What I have seen.
I remember in the early 90s SOF magazine ran a story about Israel giving their blessing and technical assistance to the manufacture of this UZI clone.
They mentioned how rare that was.
Any chance you are able to dig that up?
You should do a video on what a "data package" is.
Noticed they've filed the fixed firing pin off. I guess they have to do some sort of deactivation before putting them on display?
Different countries have different rules for that.
Very nice copy of UZi! 😮
Is it possible that (part of) the tooling for production of the Ero was transferred as well?
I was shooting from this in Croat army, I was commander in BVP Armored vehicle
Great Stuff 💯💥💥💥💥💥💥💥
Ero - from Croatia with love 🤣
There's gotta be some interesting back story to this. After the fall of the Soviet empire several former Soviet block countries experimented with Israeli weapons. That was happening around the same time as Israel was switching to AR-15 style rifles across the board. At that point Uzi was pretty much not used by the army, and Galil was on it's way out. But somebody definitely saw a marketing opportunity and went for it. It ended up being short lived, as people realized those are not exactly the greatest guns for the money. I'm pretty sure there are still truckloads of surplus Uzis and Galils stored somewhere.
a great cool very interesting video and sag Mr.GJ.have a good one.do you have any information about the Serbian small arms from the 1990s?have a good one.
Ero is right, Full size Uzi is SEXY AS HELL.
Frickin early gang. Lets go
Why the rear sight is not riveted? Nut and screw is not as secure.
May be the serial numbers are part of the IMI sequence....
That’s Awesome
Today: The Uzi you have at home
I was issued one in the army back in 95, the barrel was made in Israel(so we have been told), niether one barrel was not matching number with rest of the gun.
"They needed any and all arms they could get their hands on."
It's true, hands without arms aren't all that useful.
😂
Ovo sam duzio u Hrvatskom Gardijskom Zboru kao osobno naoruzanje .
Is this "Arma" the same program that have us the Arma MilSim program's parent software?
I had an ERO in the Navy in Croatia,, and it's not quite as much of a UZI copy as it says in this video, maybe a better ALKA.The biggest feature of the ERO/(ALKA)rifle is that it repeater is on the top of the rifle so it's great for left-handers and right-handers while the UZI had a repeater on the right side that's is a problem if you are left-handed. It was the best rifle for close combat and we carried them on ships as the infantry carried AK47, the ERO was short and strong, with a little training it was a miracle🎉🎉❤🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷.
The bolt and charging handle are also on the top of the Uzi. As shown in the video, the first ERO is virtually a 1:1 copy. The only Uzi with a side charging handle is the Uzi Pro.
Just started useing the uzi in cod wz3 then this comes out weird...
if its just an UZI how is this legal?
is there no copyright on a weapon design? if not the mechanism at least the design
They more or less must have some advanced drawings of the gun. My guess would be IMI and Knesset have given their. Unofficieal Ok for this and IMI have given a lot of seacreat assistans.
@@exploatores yeah kinda? but then they are not protecting their own copyrights and loose money. why not sell the right to produce the gun?
@@Nagria2112 sell this kind of things to a country at war. It´s kind of sensetiv stuff. If I remember right Croatia wasn´t even recogniced as a country at this time.
I've seen them when I was deployed in Bosnia in 2001. I was surprised because I thought they were Israeli UZIs...
Hmm this had to have been right before IMI sold the Uzi and part's stockpile to Norinco back before the AWB.
I have a full auto Uzi it’s my favorite gun.
I have always loved the original Uzi, since I was a child.
I have an IMI with over 500,000 rnds thru it since 1983.Been rebuilt twice by Vector in 2004 then by BWE in 2015.
2:18 explaining a conspiracy theory without actually calling it a conspiracy theory. We'll just file this one under "coincidences" to avoid upsetting anyone ;)
If it just looked a lot like or worked just like an Israel Uzi, I would argue the design is simple enough to set up in that amount of time. That does not look like or work like an Israel Uzi, that IS an Israel Uzi, just made in Croatian. Clearly some help from the Israelis. Not a bad option. They do seem to know their weapons over there.
Who built the Uzis used by the German Bundeswehr?
IMI I'm pretty sure.
@@wes11bravo Yep, that's what my research found. They're marked IMI and have an Israeli proof mark, as well as a Bundeswehr one, on their receivers.
IMI.Germans designated it the MP2.