I am looking to get into the class 3 NFA weapons.  Unfortunately, I am very low on cash...  This necessitates the sell of of post and pre bans of various types:-(  I am out of play money, but have a number of duplicates that I could sell off.  The higher the price, the more guns I'll need to sell...

With this said, I am curious which type of gun you would recommend and why?  Any personal experience with these?

The idea of spending less points me to the sub machine guns, ie MAC's, M-2 carbines, UZI, etc...  But I sure like the idea of having a rifle caliber like the M-16, AK's, M-14's, etc...

What should I do?  I need help!!!

Thanks,

fuatos

OK--

Realistically, how many guns are you willing to sell to get a full auto?  2,3,4,5,6, etc to get one gun?  

Price guide-

$1000 for an M11/9 or MAC 10 in 9mm or .45
$1500 for a Stemple 76/.45
$2500 for an M-2 Carbine
$3000 for an UZI
$4000 for an FNC or a "bottom rung" M-16
$5000 for a non-Colt M-16
$6000 for a Colt M-16
$6500 for an AK-47
$7500 for an HK MP-5 sear gun
$8000 for a 1919 belt fed.

Any of those are good guns with parts reasonably available.  There are a few others not mentioned (Ruger AC-556, Reising, etc.).  

Before you sell, make sure you can get the CLEO sign-off on your form 4.  

You have to decide what it is worth to you to sell to get the full auto you want.

If you can get to the $3000 level, the UZI is probably the best as a "starter" gun.  The M11 can be customized to a great extent (kind of like a 1911 pistol).  The Stemple should have conversion kits (9mm) available soon.

AFARR

if u can afford it get a m16 or a just a registered auto sear. add a upper boom sub gun add a conversion kit boom 22 add another upper boom diffrent caliber  mg etc etc

Save your money! there ok just really high priced toys to worry about. BTW i have a M10
P.S. SMG this gun is awsome little shooter but i cannot afford 45 acp at this time eats 20$ in about a minute or so.

can i ask when your saying boom is the gun exploding or what! [:D]

Get the M16.  You may have the mags in your collection. A plus, any additional money you can save on accessories is good for you.  You are probably are familar with the ARs hencefore, easy to troubleshot problems that may occur during full-auto.  The platform is flexiable to accept different configurations of uppers for the future.  And last, spare parts are easy to get.

We got a Ruger AC556f, it's short, light, small, has a flash suppressor...to bad it doesn't have a bayonet lug, the govt. is afraid of spears...

There's lots of excellent choices in full auto, and now is a good time to buy - prices have dipped a bit lately.  The question though is really how much are you prepared to sell off and spend?  An M16 is a great 'system' but to get into an off brand rceiver gun, you're going to have to spend about $4500.  Is that too much?  An ACC556 is a nice gun for about $3k, but doesn't have nearly the versatility of an M16 - is that a trade-off you're willing to make?  For about $1k, an SWD M11, is a great little subgun, but there's almost no caliber convertability, and to make it anything more than a fun bullet-hose, you're going to have to do some work to it and add some accessories and modifications (which cost more money).

So what features are you after, and whats your budget like?  You can get something to fit with your needs and your financial limits, but you have to know what your needs and limits are first.

If money is the first consideration, the m2 30 cal carbine is an excellent shooter...very reliable, light weight, inexpensive to shoot and a lot of fun. You can find a very nice one for somewhere between $1800 and $2500

nah i meant bom like it poof and it happened

I too second the noimination for the UZI as best bang for the money.

But if you can afford the extra couple grand, go for the M16 or FNC. Both are excellent choices.

I've been toying at the idea of an American 180, but at the last shoot I saw Shaggy and one other person have a bit of trouble with them.  Makes me wonder if 5k on it is worth the $.  Might be time for me to buy some cans.

Btw, M16 should be your first weapon.  IMHO.

If you can get the extra money get the M16. Plently of parts, accessories and mags at reasonable price. And you can always switch uppers easily since your barrel will not last as long as semi-auto.

7 -

AM180's are great little guns, but you have to keep in mind, they're spitting out nearly 30rds/sec - its a finely tuned piece of machinery.  Last weekend was only the 2nd time Mike had his out, so he's still learning the quirks of his gun.  I think his problem was his ammo though.  Mine had one or two stoppages, but they were on the very last round in the drum.  Probably an extra 1/8th of a turn on the winder would fix it.  Once you figure out the particular quirks and idiosyncracies of your particular AM180, you can get them to run like a top. You have to remember there's a lot of things that will cause an AM180 to jam up - they run extremely fast, and use a particularly dirty little cartridge.  If you don't know what to look for, you may never figure it out.  They can be very finnicky about ammo (mine will only run cheap 40gr Federal HV) - some guns wil run other types of ammo, others won't.  It all depends on your particular gun.  The winding mechanisim must be properly wound - too much or too little tension and the gun simply will not run.  The feedblock must be properly seated against the receiver.  If it isn't, the gun is useless.  There's a lot of other things to look for, but those are the basics.  If you really have problems with them and can't figure it out, Val Cooper at E&L Manufacturing is the absolute guru on AM180's and can get ANY Am180 to run.  Send it off to Val, and the gun will come back running like a champ.  Last summer at a line shoot, I put almost 2500rds through mine without cleaning. It had a few jams, but it only developed reliability problems after it passed the 2000rd mark.  Try getting 2000rds through an M16 without a jam ...and without cleaning it.

I love mine, but I wouldn't recommend one to someone for a first NFA gun, unless they really knew what they were getting into first.  If you go in knowing there's a bit of a learning curve with AM180's, and can accept that fact, you'll be fine and you'll have a gun that will very quickly become your favorite toy.