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It’ll knock the “well, some types of guns should be illegal” right outta you!

 

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70 COMMENTS

  1. The desire to shoot full auto left my body once I finally shot full auto.

    Maybe a quality select-fire with 3-rd burst…maybe. But full auto, nope.

    • Haz,

      Much to unpack, in your comment. In general, I absolutely agree with you – full auto is a silly way to lose accuracy with your weapon, and p*** away gigatons of money on ammunition, to little or no good end.

      OTOH, there is a reason they call it “the giggle switch”. If you have the money to p*** away that much money . . . it’s YOUR money. And it’s fun as hell.

      Reaching deeper – if the government has ’em, I should have ’em. There is NO Constitutional basis for excluding classes of weapons (and yes, I DO include nukes, chemical weapons, and bioweapons). “Are you INSANE, Lamp??? OF COURSE we have to restrict access to ‘weapons of mass destruction’!!” Have fun with that fantasy, but it isn’t the real world.

      There are ABSOLUTELY a ton of people I would prefer NOT have “weapons of mass destruction”. Now, tell me how you plan to accomplish that. I can, personally, with some effort, and relatively modest amounts of money, create explosives, incendiaries, chemical weapons, and bio-weapons. Any idiot with the brains to pour p*** out of a boot can make a giggle switch. The engineering on a simple fission nuke is within the grasp of a freshman chem/physics student, and the plans have been publicly available for years. Sure, getting the fissionable material is a barrier – for dumb and/or poor people. Money and/or brains and talent can overcome that barrier.

      Prohibitions against classes of weapons limit the slow, stupid, and poor. The quick, smart, and resourceful can (and DO) get around them. As I mentioned above, any MORON with even mediocre skills can fashion a “full auto” firearm. Making improvised explosives is literally child’s play; a friend of mine and I did it when I was 9. I can walk into any grocery store and garden supply store with a benjy and come out with materials to make a nerve agent and/or chemical agent. Incendiaries (specifically, napalm or thermite) are absurdly easy and cheap to manufacture.

      “Ban” anything you want; you’re “banning” the slow, stupid, and poor. Anyone who has a clue laughs at that. Knowledge cannot be stopped.

      So, if we KNOW that (i) the government has these weapons, and (ii) anyone sufficiently determined, reasonably intelligent, and possessing even modest resources can make “field expedient” variations . . . why are we hyperventilating about this? All the laws in the world won’t prevent terrorists from doing it (IF they feel it suits their purposes). But depriving ordinary, law-abiding citizens access to these weapons is . . . inviting them to emulate the terrorists.

      Ban whatever you want, just don’t delude yourself into thinking that “ban” is going to significantly hinder the REAL “bad guys”.

      As far as me owning an AR-15 with a “giggle switch”?? If I wanted one, I could make one tomorrow. I’d be the only person that knew about it. The materials I can acquire almost anywhere, the knowledge I already have. It requires some work (and I’m not the most facile gunsmith or mechanic in the world), but it is within my capabilities. ‘Splain to me, Lucy, how you’re going to “ban” that???

      • Oh yeah! I remember quite fondly making primitive black powder in the chemistry lab and napalm in a friends parents garage.

        • Yeah, for me and a buddy, it involved hand filing a magnesium casting we “acquired” for the better part of three afternoons, a “burnproof” container on his dads new concrete driveway, and a garden hose.
          Followed by swearing, a long grounding, learning how to do concrete repair, and a newfound appreciation of chemical reaction

        • Say, I’ve got that t-shirt too!

          Remember seeing the movie frontier guy make a trail of black power leading to pile of powder kegs, and then shooting or otherwise lighting the “fuse” and blowing up the bad guys? Sparks and smoke and a bit of fire snaking along the ground, and then a big boom? Well, real life is a bit different. I began making black powder as a pre-teen. The pharmacist looked at me kinda sideways when I bought a few plastic bottles of stuff, but it wasn’t illegal. I made the mistake of igniting the trail with a magnifying glass. Took an hour to clean all the smoke residue off the glass, but seeing the new shape of the formerly flat bottomed pan that covered the charge was pretty cool.

        • repubs are never going to support full-auto for everyone…just the way it is…of course you never know what the supremes might do

      • Crimson, pb_fan, haweye, and SWMontana,

        A couple years after our first experiment, we got really ambitious, and messed around with ammonium iodide. Now THAT s*** requires some care and concentration. Black powder is easy, as is ANFO.

        The point is that LITERALLY kids can do it. From commonly (and cheaply) available ingredients. In an afternoon, with few, if any specialized lab implements.

        Only morons like MajorStupidity and dacian the demented think such bans are effective. ‘Course, that’s fair for them; I doubt either one is capable of doing what I was doing when I was a pre-teen.

        OTOH, my buddy that I made bang toys with did manage to nearly blow off his thumb when he wasn’t sufficiently careful packing a batch of black powder into a tube. You can do it, but you’ve GOT to be CAREFUL.

      • So did I. The BAR was really a fun shoot. Not so much fun to carry, but certainly a fun shoot. With the bipod and the shoulder brace really accurate too. Many Marines hated to go to the range (why on earth did they join the Marine Corps) on the other hand I loved spending time at the range. Free ammo, someone to pull and mark you targets. What’s not to like about it. Even pulling butts was kinda fun in my list of fun things to do.

        Many don’t realize that with just a little practice the BAR can be fired semi automatic and that’s where its accuracy really showed.

        • buddy of mine’s dad was a seabee…and assigned that weapon…said he hated it…until the stuff hit the fan…then it was an instant love-affair….

    • “OTOH, there is a reason they call it “the giggle switch”.“

      Simple pleasures for simple people.

      And men don’t ‘giggle’.

      • MajorStupidity,

        “And men don’t ‘giggle'”

        And you would know this HOW, exactly???

        I guess it’s like sex . . . you can’t get it, you’ll never have it, so your only response is to TRY to scorn those of us who manage. Be happy in your inadequacy, MajorStupidity; it’s all you’ve got.

    • the sheer power of some of these things is awesome…never got to fire a mini…but my experience with an MG42 was truly memorable…no wonder it scared the hell out of the allies

  2. Wouldn’t mind having full auto on tap as an option, but not even worth the tax stamp much less the price of the full auto bits as inflated as they are. If NFA gets removed then maybe. Maybe. Now post NFA suppressors, oh yeah!

    • “If NFA gets removed then maybe.”

      Re-open the registry again, I wouldn’t mind the 200 dollar tax stamp.

      Even better, re-open the registry and get the tax stamp declared unconstitutional as a tax on the 2A.

      I don’t mind the extensive background check if it keeps at least a few scumbags not being able to legally posses one…

      • probably just as many unregistered as registered guns out there…back in the eighties everyone was seemingly doing it…just like drag-racing at every red light in the sixties….

    • “Now post NFA suppressors, oh yeah!”

      That’s where I’m at too. I have a couple BB guns to scratch my relatively minor full auto itch. While I’d like to see others be able to have machine guns, I’d be much more likely to buy suppressors for myself.

    • Hey possumo…How’s your M1A savings account coming along? If saving pennies is a problem Primary Arms had really good Labor Day prices on Aero Precision stripped M5 .308 receivers. Aero also makes an Enhanced M5 upper receiver, the enhanced versions use a special handguard that mounts rock solid and stay aligned for iron sight use, etc.
      Parts compatibility between the AR-308 versions and Armalite AR-10 is a headache so if unfamiliar with .308 stuff stick with mostly Aero Precision components, A1 and A2 butstock assemblies for the .308 are available at Fulton Armory.

      • I said I was done with this place, but don’t mess with my friend. I just got off the PX with Possum. If he needs an M-1A I’ve got one he can have.

        • Gadsden, my friend!!! Good to see you back again (and I share your disgust with TTAG’s idiot “moderation policy”), but I would miss you if you left permanently.

          Good on you for standing up for possum, but he seems pretty competent at standing up for himself. If I can control my frustration to ignore and power through TTAG’s idiot policies, you can, too.

          Come on in; the water’s fine!

      • Debbie W, as I’ve said before I dont use credit cards or online sales. Cash and carry.
        Big Brother tracks everything, everything.

    • it’s hard not to crack a huge grin when somebody let’s you try their machine gun and use their ammo. Years ago, when we taught classes, somebody would usually bring a machine gun and the ammo came out of the tuition budget (10ish rounds per person). When you’re paying for the ammo, it’s still fun, but not nearly as joyful. There’s a range here that let’s you use a machine gun for free on your birthday and unlimited free rentals for members. The catch is that you have to buy the ammo from them at not bargain prices [other than member discount that basically negates sales tax]. I’ve never taken them up on their offer.

    • looks like Knob Creek is history…[gonna’ miss you Kenny]…that was instant orgasm for guys that were into this stuff…remember seeing 400 rds disappear in a few seconds from a mini-gun…

  3. I’d totally get a bullet hose if it was possible. Shot plenty of belt feds in the army which was fun, but I’ve also really enjoyed shooting any SMG I’ve rented. I think if I could get a FA weapon any kind of SMG I’d be pretty pleased with.

  4. Full auto?

    Don’t know much about it; only been a gun owner for 5 years. Heck, I haven’t even fired my shotgun, yet.

    I imagine that the ability to control full-auto is caliber-dependant. Ok, the build of the gun, also.

    Maybe, something to experience, once or twice.

    Not allowed at the Rod and Gun club.

    Getting out there more often, now that my wife is learning to shoot.

    • LIfeSavor,

      1. Absolutely “caliber-dependant”, platform dependent, and shooter dependent – small folks don’t handle full-auto well, even with less energetic calibers. I’ve shot with guys who can handle .45 and 5.56 NATO on full auto. I, personally, can’t hit s*** with 7.62 NATO on full auto, after the first couple of rounds.

      2. “Maybe, something, to experience, once or twice,” As the old line goes, “Try it; you’ll like it!!” Shooting a decent AR-15 with a giggle switch is a hoot (and expensive as hell, especially these days).

      3. I wouldn’t RECOMMEND full auto for anyone (other than possibly SpecOps folks, who actually need the capability). It is expensive, and less then effective. But if your goal is suppressing fire or “shock and awe”, there are few options that beat it.

      My point is different – if the government has it, I want access to it. There is NO justification for the government having weapons that are “banned” for me. I wouldn’t buy a full-auto if they were available on the market, as I don’t perceive any need for it. But if I did? My decision. The Feds can take the NFA, fold it ’til it’s all corners, and stick it where the sun don’t shine.

      • ’86 happened because too many people were getting into it…some guns were cheaper than the transfer tax…you could have one for the price of a good handgun these days…

  5. The Gospel of Joe Biden verse 1:infinity …

    “No one needs full auto in 5.56/.223. Just one of these rounds is the ultimate power in the universe and will instantly destroy whole cities and all the deer with Kevlar vests on every continent will die, just by thinking about firing one round. If you fire 5.56/.223 full auto the very fabric of time-space will rip apart and the universe will be destroyed.”

  6. It isn’t a question of being legal. It’s more that at this time, in this place, for my life…I have no use for full auto. That could change though.

  7. For those crying about ammo cost, I had a bump stock with a lighter trigger on a mp15-.22 back in the day and it was affordable and lots of fun. Cmmg ar-15 bolt .22 LR conversion would be good too.

    • my Ruger MKII will empty out a full mag so fast it’s impossible to count the individual rds…no wonder the mob loves it…

  8. A 10-22 with a binary trigger is a great compromise solution, likely the most fun you can have with your clothes on.
    … on second thought, going naked would alleviate any concern about the hot case down your shirt/shorts/shoes 🤔

  9. Don’t get it. Is this pro fully auto-matic or a very poor attempt at IRONY?? If so pack it up ‘cos Americans just do NOT get Irony. Leave it too us Brits the ‘Masters of Irony and Pointed Sarcasm and the OFFICE, RICK GERVAIS VERSION ONLY.

  10. Just because, I would love to have a legal .50cal. M2. Not that I would break it out more than once or twice a year. Would also like either an FAL or select fire AR. A Thompson would be fun as well. No, I don’t need them. And no I have no practical purpose for a full auto weapon.
    I doubt I will ever be called upon to be fire support for a maneuver squad or to clear a building full of bad guys. But, going full auto is fun if you either have Uncle Sugar or a rich relative covering the cost.
    And there is the thought that if the government can have such wonderful toys, I should be able to as well. The idea being if the worst did occur, such weapons would be useful for militia duty.

  11. was there ever a more seductive weapon than a Thompson SMG in the “21 or ‘ 28 version?…got invited next door…[to the federal reserve one night]…they had about five of them…they were being replaced by MP-5’s and said the powers that be wanted to melt them down for a sculpture…painful just to think about that….

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