The Uzi's magazine well is located in the grip assembly - a desirable feature as it leaves the point of balance directly above the grip, provides a firm support for the magazine and aids in rapid magazine changes, using the well-known principle of "hand finds hand." 

The Uzi has two safety systems, independent of each other. The first is controlled by the fire selector, located on the left side of the receiver above the grip assembly. When it is placed in the rearward position, marked "S," the piece is locked. The second is a grip safety at the rear of the grip assembly. 

Although using Stampings and high-impact plastics extensively - as do most modern military small arms - the Uzi exhibits quality in design and manufacture. As an example, long, narrow ridges stamped into the sides of the receiver act effectively as dirt traps, ensuring reliable operation under the most extreme conditions of debris and sand. 

A wooden stock can be supplied for either version and, though certainly sacrificing compactness, there can be little argument that it is generally easier to score effective hits with wooden-stocked submachine guns. 

In the hands of terrorists, overseas as a police weapon where no stigma against its use as such exists, and in highly specialized military ops, we shall continue to see the submachine gun for quite some time. But, despite these exceptions, the use of the submachine gun as a major infantry weapon, which began in the waning days of WWI and crested in WWII, is proving to be one of the shortest-lived in military history.