Sanna 77
- Category
- Carbine
- Barrel
- 290 mm
- Weight, empty
- 2.80 kg
- Introduced
- 1977
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Sanna 77 is a South African semi-automatic carbine chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum. It is an unlicensed civilian-market derivative of the Czechoslovak Sa 25 submachine gun, itself influenced by the Israeli Uzi. Built from tooling originally created in Rhodesia, the design replaced the Czech original's folding metal stock with a single polymer stock and removed the automatic fire mode, restricting it to single-shot semi-automatic fire. It uses a blowback action and feeds from a 40-round detachable box magazine. Production ran from 1977 to around 1983, with several hundred made primarily for civilian self-defence and security buyers in South Africa, where it earned a poor reputation for reliability.
The Sanna 77's lineage traces from the Israeli Uzi to the Czechoslovak Sa 25, whose tooling was carried into Rhodesia and then relocated to South Africa, where Dan Pienaar Enterprise turned the wartime submachine gun into a civilian semi-automatic carbine.
Restricting the weapon to semi-automatic fire and its perceived lack of advantage over a large pistol limited sales. Most surviving examples in South Africa have broken polymer stocks and a poor reputation for reliability.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Dan Pienaar Enterprise Limited
- Category
- Carbine
- Country
- South Africa
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1977 to 1983
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 290 mm
- Overall length
- 650 mm
- Weight, empty
- 2.80 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Blowback
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single action
- Capacity
- 40
- Magazine
- Detachable box
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Polymer
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 366 m/s
- Effective range
- 76 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Folding stock- Semi automatic only
Iron sights
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 62 9x19mm Parabellum carbines | 2.80 kg | 2.78 kg | Near the median |
| Overall lengthAmong 56 9x19mm Parabellum carbines | 650 mm | 820 mm | Shorter than about 80% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 64 9x19mm Parabellum carbines | 290 mm | 406 mm | Shorter than about 80% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 64 9x19mm Parabellum carbines | 40 | 24 | Holds more rounds than about 90% |
Answers
Questions about the Sanna 77
How much does the Sanna 77 weigh?
The Sanna 77 weighs 2.80 kg (6.17 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Sanna 77?
The Sanna 77 is chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum.
How many rounds does the Sanna 77 hold?
The Sanna 77 holds 40 rounds, fed from a detachable box magazine.
How long is the Sanna 77?
The Sanna 77 is 650 mm (25.6 in) long overall, with a 290 mm (11.42 in) barrel.
Who makes the Sanna 77?
The Sanna 77 is made by Dan Pienaar Enterprise Limited (South Africa). It was designed by Dan Pienaar.
When was the Sanna 77 introduced?
The Sanna 77 was introduced in 1977 and discontinued in 1983.
How does the Sanna 77 operate?
The Sanna 77 uses a blowback action, and its firing mechanism is hammer fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- South African civilian and private security market
- 1977
Provenance
Confidence in this record
74%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/rhino' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "rhino", "name": "Sanna 77", "manufacturer": { "id": "dan-pienaar-enterprise", "name": "Dan Pienaar Enterprise Limited", "countryCode": "ZA", "foundedYear": null, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "updatedAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "version": "d8c81410d2125fc6d44c012c1319338073577f4bf23f0fb80e6b3e833583c985" }, "category": { "id": "carbine", "name": "Carbine", "description": "Shortened rifles for close-quarters use" }, "country_of_origin": "ZA", "year_introduced": 1977, "barrel_length_mm": 290, "weight_empty_g": 2800, "action_type": "blowback"}