[Tijeras_Slim]

No way you’re going to find any Class III weapon for less than multiple thousands.

[al baby]

Buy it on the down low no paper trail !!!!

[RC one]

buy a book on firearms first so you can learn what the difference is between an automatic rifle and any other rifle.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Perhaps you meant SEMI automatic?

[Sylvester McMonkey McBean]

If you really mean automatic and not semi-automatic, $1000.00 will get you lots of ammunition, but nary a single automatic pistol, rifle, or shotgun. :(

[Bryanw92]

Less than $1000?? Move to a third world country. In the US, you are looking at a minimum of $5k for the cheapest Class III weapon you can find (if you can find one right now).

[umgud]

What will you use it for? Self defense, hunting, multi-purpose?

[driftdiver]

Unless you have a class III federal license you can’t buy an “automatic” weapon. Even then you’d need about $25,000 to buy a decent one.

If you mean semi-automatic then you can look around. I have a Bushmaster ar-15.

Either way $1000 isn’t enough for the rifle and a ‘decent’ amount of ammo. Depends what you mean by decent. Generally its about $400-$600 per 1000 rounds for quality ammo.

[jwalsh07]

John, is your real name Holder?

[yarddog]

I am guessing you mean semi-auto. I have noticed Wal-Mart has the Ruger mini-14 or whatever version it is, for around $600.00

It is not the most accurate rifle around but is accurate enough plus it is reliable. Get several high capacity mags of good quality and then buy name brand ammo whenever you can find it at a good price.

[RobinOfKingston]

John —

You will probably get a bunch of wise asses sniping at you because you wrote “automatic” instead of “semi-automatic.” It would be quicker for them to be helpful than to talk down to you, but, you know, they need to look superior.

A good place for you to start looking is at your local sporting goods store. A very basic AR type can be had for $500 and up. You will pretty quickly discover you want to acquire some add-on for it, extra magazines, scope, etc.

Another suggestion is to stop by gun shows. This is especially good because you can often avoid the old paper trail.

Good luck in your quest, and don’t let the snipers get you down.

[Errant]

They're getting harder to find for some reason: http://www.proguns.com/fullyautomatic-machineguns.asp

I recommend the M-60!

[volunbeer]

You need to be more specific -

Protection or hunting - urban or rural environment? You want it with or without optics and does that include ammunition? A little more information on your end will greatly change the recommendations on ours.

[King Moonracer]

I need a small thermo nuclear weapon. Any advice? Do Ineed any special permits, or a bass boat to haul it around in?

[tacticalogic]

They’re not “automatic”, they’re just mechanically promiscuous. “Automatic” is discrimatory, and judgemental.

[mylife]

For 1K you can get any number of nice AR 15 platforms, but they are semi auto.

You wont get an auto for less than 20K

[Cyber Liberty]

I thought this was a thread about fully-automatic gins. Sorry.

[mylife]

Walmart is now selling AR 15s.

http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=AR+15&ic=16_0&Find=Find&search_constraint=4125

I understand the scoped Sig Sauer M400 will be on sale on Black Friday for $800

[FreedomForce]

AK with a bumpfire stock is probably about as close as you can get to an auto for around $1000. But you probably just meant semi-auto, right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_SWefYWKw0

[makersmk2013]

The first question is what brand of rifle do you prefer,do you know?A good place to start is slickgunsdotcom .They have user submitted deals from everywhere on every brand you can think of.They start at around 620 for the ones in stock,with the choice of DPMS or S&W and have it sent to your local FFL usually for about $25.At that price you can then go over to Natchezshooterssupply and pick up 1000 rds of federal American eagle ammo for $349.That keeps you just under your dollar target and “loaded for bear”.