So I was at the range today putting in my time with my lowly G19 and DE .50 when 2 gentleman came in with some impressive firepower. The highlights were a 1920's vintage Thompson machine gun and an HK MP5 full auto. My girlfriend and I were the only others on the range and the guys came to us offering to let us shoot. They were also letting the range officers take turns. He didn't have to ask twice. I'd been watching them tear down targets with full auto for awhile. I've never shot a full auto before so I wasn't sure what to expect.
OMG! It was awesome. I took the Tommy gun first and took a few shots in single fire mode to get used to it. I was amazed at how easy it was to shoot. I wasn't able to sight up because of ear protection but just point shot center of target at 10 yards effortlessly. It shoots a .45auto round so it's basically a 12lb rifle shooting a handgun round so there was no recoil to speak of. I then opened it up to full auto in short bursts then 5-10 second rounds! Pretty easy to hold center but would veer up and right a bit toward the end of a long run. Amazing gun. I went through 500 rounds in the famous round magazine. I can see why Al Capone and the boys liked them so much. His was an original production model and the guy really knew the history of his weapons. My girlfriend shot it and loved it.
Next he offered the HK MP5. It's a short barrel full auto maching gun that shoots 9mm rounds so again the recoil wasn't bad at all. It had a little more horizontal push into the shoulder because of the very short barrel but also very easy to shoot. They were running toward the end of their ammo so I only went through a 50 round mag in 3 round burst mode. Also an amazing gun. I can see why the LE and specops of the world love it.
He also had an MP5 clone and various handguns with compressors/silencers. Never heard one before but it was something like the movies.
All I had to offer for return fire was my mundane Glock 19 and Desert Eagle .50AE. One of the guys had a DE at home and said he loved it. The other hadn't shot one before so he took one.
I have got to get me one of these. All I need is to scrounge about $15-20K for each.
Anybody here keep class 3 machine guns? I know the entry level MG for collectors without unlimited means is usually the MAC 10/11 that are in the $2-3K range then moving up to UZI, etc from there. With a set supply and a constant and growing demand (as long as they are legal) these seem to be a decent alternative investment. What do you think?
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