In 1954 and 1955, the French company SOFAM (Société de Fabrication d’Armaments) in Paris marketed a system to convert bolt action rifles into submachine guns. The original design is reportedly Spanish, but was marketed through the French company. The design was pretty simple, using the stock and trigger guard of the rifle (in these examples a Mauser 98, but conceivably any type would do) and manufacturing a new receiver, bolt, barrel, and trigger system to go with them. The pitch was that production could be stood up in six months with minimal technological outlay, ideal for less-developed nations looking to upgrade their small arms. However, the cost calculations didn’t appear to make sense, as no buyers were found.
Many thanks to the IRCGN (Institut de Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale) for allowing me access to film these two examples for you!
It doesn’t really make a bolt-action rifle into an SMG. It just recycles the back half of the stock and the trigger guard to put a completely new SMG mechanism on top of.
Which is basically what Erma did with a modified Mp28 stock and Mp38/40 action fifteen years earlier to create the Mp41.
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Presented weapon looks similar to CZ 247 https://modernfirearms.net/en/submachine-guns/czech-republic-submachine-guns/cz-247-eng/ especially considering trigger behavior (short pull = single, long pull = full-auto). Considering Czechoslovak sub-machine gun was briefly manufactured during late 1940s as CZ 247 and sold in noticeable quantities to certain African and South American countries it seems plausible that ARAC was attempt to compete with them.
“(…)pitch was that production could be stood up in six months with minimal technological outlay, ideal for less-developed nations looking to upgrade their small arms.(…)”
Now this sounds like person doing marketing and person doing design understand what they are doing exactly opposite. Observe that elements reused – wooden furniture and trigger guard – are easy to made even with limited industry.