The Uzi (Hebrew: עוזי‎, officially cased as UZI) pronunciation: /ˈuːzi/ is a family of Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns. Smaller variants are considered to be machine pistols. The Uzi was one of the first weapons to use a telescoping bolt design which allows the magazine to be housed in the pistol grip for a shorter weapon.The first Uzi submachine gun was designed by Major Uziel Gal in the late 1940s. The prototype was finished in 1950.