Brügger & Thomet APC9

Brügger & Thomet APC9 (Advanced Police Carbine 9mm) is a Sub-Machine Gun produced and manufactured by Brügger & Thomet of Switzerland. Announced in 2011, the weapon uses standard 9mm and .45 ACP rounds. The APC 9 is offered in several different variants. The standard variant with a barrel length of 175mm (≈ 7 inches) and a polymer stock very similar to an H&K UMP's which folds to the right side, the assault variant with an adjustable B & T Foldable Visor Helmet stock and the carbine variant with a 406mm (16 inch) barrel for the civilian market.

History
The APC is an original B&T design. The inspiration for this came from Karl Brügger himself who saw the need for this type of weapon from the success B&T has experienced with the MP9. “We noticed that that the market is not yet filled.” Mr. Brügger explained, “In spite of the introduction of new calibers such as the 5.7x28mm and 4.6x30mm, many users still demand the 9x19mm. As a matter of fact some are even asking for the .45 ACP…”.B&T also was able to hire some great engineering minds to work on the project, men that have many years experience in the small arms field. The final reason was that the B&T management team thought it would be a fun exercise to make an interesting new product.

From a marketing point of view B&T set out from the beginning to create a high quality, modern, price competitive submachine gun in the 9mm caliber with the potential for other calibers. It needed to have full modularity and flexibility to accept all types of 9mm ammunition.

Design
APC uses straight blowback function. It fires from the closed bolt and features a bolt lock-back mechanism thus facilitating quick reloads. This overcomes one of the major issues with the H&K MP5 family of weapons, which do not have a bolt lock-back mechanism (though H&K's UMP series does).

The trigger mechanism for the semi-automatic version of the APC is adapted from the AR-15 family, which allows greater versatility for after-market accessories/changes. All controls are ambidextrous and the charging handle can be switched to either side like the Beretta ARX-160. After firing the last bullet, the bolt is held in the rear position by a latch.

The weapon comes complete with an Aimpoint TL1 Optic, single point sling, cleaning kit and quick detachable vertical handgrip. The top of the weapon has an aluminum NAR (NATO Accessory Rail) integrated into the top receiver. There are NAR rails on the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions. The lower rail is machined aluminum while the lateral rails are made of the same polymer material as the trigger housing. The reason for this is that it is more likely that the rail in the 6 o’clock position will be used with a sighting device such as a laser, whereas the side rails will probably be used of illumination devices which do not require maintaining zero.