Would I be better off buying an Olympic Arms 9MM Upper for my Bushmaster or grabbing a Hesse HK94 clone for about $1000?

I can't tell if you are joking or not, although you are a newbie around here.  General consensus is that anything Hesse has a good cahnce of being junk, so not many members are going to reccomend Hesse.  

I do know that Hesse has a reputation of having pretty shitty quality, but I figured I'd ask it anyway. Didn't mean to make an ass of myself.

Didn't mean to make you feel like an ass.  It was a legitimate question.  I'm sorry if it sounded condescending.  

The RRA 9mm is the same system as the Colt's.  The problem with the Colt system is availability of mags.  Good mags are hard to come by, unless you modify Uzi mags to fit.  The problem with that is the bolt won't hold open with the Uzi mags.  

The only real problem with the oly uppers is the paddle release.  I don't like paddle releases.  They are much slower than the AR release and I feel that is the only weak feature of the MP5.  

For the range, the shortcomings of either system are not a big deal.  An Uzi mag that won't hold a bolt open or a slower paddle release won't hurt you at the range, but it might if you were going to use one of these as a defensive weapon.  

I was looking at the HK 94 clones in my FAC catalog (figured if i ordered now, I might have it by 2006 if their usual backorder schedule is in place).  Those are made by Hesse?  Shame if they are...  I was thinking about one, but don't think I need another "project" that I work on for 4 hours so I can shoot 10 rounds, then repeat (if it doesn't just fall apart with the first shot).  anybody else making the '94 clones?

WM69, check out Ohio Rapid Fire (www.ohiorapidfire.com), they're a reputable company who makes excellent products. I know them from the 1919A4 forums and noticed that they have their own HK94 clones. Check em out. They run for about $1500 or so, depends on caliber and such.

If budget is an issue, go with the colt subgun.  If you do decide to go with an HK94, I recommend Ohio Rapid Fire- they have a one year warranty, and Todd Grove, the owner, is very good about responding to questions and problems.  

I should also mention that the HK-94 is damn sexy compared to the frankengun 9mm AR-15!  I got an RF-94 with the 16" barrel, and a barrel shroud from E&L manufacturing...voila, instant suppressed MP5! [:)]

The OH gun works 94 looks pretty sweet.  Now anybody wanna buy me one and get it into my house without the wife catching us?  Seriously, thanks for the replies and I'll wait and see what my Xmas bonus looks like (provided I still have a job then)...

An Uzi 9mm can be picked up for a grand or less depending on the make and condition. Mags are cheap, parts are plentiful and also cheap. Calibers can be switched. They are fun to shoot and dependable plus you can field strip one in less than a minute including the barrel. They make a good, short defensive rifle when equipped with the collapsing stock and red dot. Last, you won't have to wear out your dremel trying to re-slot the Uzi mags for the AR.