The OriÃÂa is a 9ÃÂ19mm Parabellum submachine gun that was manufactured in Romania during World War II and for several years afterwards. It was named after Captain Marin OriÃÂa (Military Technical Corps, Romanian Army), who is credited in Romania with its design. (Other sources describe the OriÃÂa as a joint Czech-Romanian project; the Czech Leopold Jaà ¡ek and the Romanian Nicolae Sterca are also considered to have contributed to its design).
The design of the OriÃÂa uses an open bolt firing mechanism which has a floating firing pin and lever system instead of a fixed firing pin. The rifling of the barrel is six-groove right-handed. In 1948, several changes were made to the design: the manual safety was replaced with a grip safety lever, a reinforced metal wrist was added to the stock and the semi-automatic selector was removed with the gun remaining at fully automatic only.
Mass production was made by CMC Uzinele Metalurgice CopÃÂa MicÃÂ and Cugir. With a production rate of 666 pieces per month as of October 1942, 6,000 were produced until October 1943.
The first version, Model 1941, entered operational service with the Romanian Army in 1943. Two later improved models were the Model 1948, with a fixed wooden stock, and the rare paratrooper Model 1949, with a folding metal stock. It remained in service with the Romanian Army until it was replaced in the 1960s by the more powerful Pistol MitralierÃÂ model 1963/1965, a Romanian version of the AKM assault rifle. The OriÃÂa remained in service with the Patriotic Guards ("GÃÂrzile Patriotice") until the 1970s. A small quantity of these Romanian weapons was also used by the Wehrmacht during the last two years of the Second World War.
During the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army was supplied with OriÃÂa submachine guns by Romania. The Vietnamese continued using the OriÃÂa in the Sino-Vietnamese war of 1979 as well.
A carbine version of the OriÃÂa was designed, chambered in 9ÃÂ23mm Steyr. Only one prototype was built; it is preserved in the National Military Museum in Bucharest.