The SITES Spectre was originally developed by the SITES company (Societa Italiana a Technologie Speciali SPA) of Torino to be the best police and counterterrorist submachine gun on the market. To this end, they studied the other guns on the market and what made a good SMG. The results were rolled into the Spectre design – things like minimal width (about 35mm), no protrusions to the sides, ambidextrous controls, closed-bolt operation, quad-stack magazines, and a double action trigger option in place of a traditional manual safety. The gun went into production in 1985 as the Model 2…but did not garner many sales.
It was shortly updated to the Model 4 with improved sights and stock, and better disassembly procedure. It was also released as a semiautomatic pistol and carbine, in an effort to create some cash flow on the civilian market. The standard version was in 9x19mm, but it was also sold in .40 S&W, 9×21 IMI, and .45 ACP. Importation into the US lasted until 1993, and the guns were never all that popular. As a submachine gun it was a fine design, but simply not better enough than its competition to bring sales in a market crowded with other options. As a semiautomatic pistol, it was heavy and awkward (6.4 pounds / 2.9kg unloaded). SITES went out of business in 1997 and the rights were purchased by Swiss company Greco Sport. They continued to manufacture them until 2001, and went out of business themselves in 2006.
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