Replies

I think they were converted SKS's. At any rate a little marksmanship on behalf of PD would have shortened the whole ordeal.

They may have HAD an SKS, but if I recall correctly, most of the shooting was done with H&K 93A's.

Also, weren't all these guns smuggled in from Mexico? I seem to remember a Mexican connection......

They were illegally converted. Those guys had been picked up previously on weapons charges.

Factory full auto AK fire control parts are readily available. Converting an AK is a little involved but not too hard. I don't believe for a second that they used "hand made parts" in the sense that they machined an autosear out in the garage and welded a trip on the bolt carrier. They probably got all the neccessary parts then modified the receiver for the autosear and slapped it together.
One of the other weapons used was an HK91 which was also illegally converted. It fires a more powerful round and is more readily converted but is less controllable on auto and the magazines are usually of lower capacity. A G3 (military HK91) will rearrange your dental work. You've got to put some ass behind it to keep it under control.

The SKS was never designed as anything other than a semi-automatic infantry rifle. Originally they came with a 10 round semi/mostly-internal magazine loaded from the top by stripper clips like a '98 Mauser or '03 Springfield. Frequently they are modified with junky 30 round mags that usually don't work well.
The AK and SKS are very different rifles. Converting an SKS to work in semi AND full auto is pretty involved and not practical. The Chinese have produced factory examples of such rifles but not in large numbers.
Hacking nearly any semi-auto firearm to fire full auto is well within the capabilities of most idiots. The usefulness of automatic fire is an entirely different discussion.

I agree that a greater degree marksmanship probably would have ended things more quickly. I watched the TV coverage live and was pretty amazed at police rounds impacting six feet from the apparent targets.

Every single time you hear a talking head on TV say anything firearms related you are quite safe in assuming that they are completely wrong, ignorant and possibly being intentionally misleading. This is more frequently the case when a reporter utters the sounds "AK", "SKS", "machinegun", "assault rifle" and the word "automatic" in any relation to the subject of firearms.
Reporturds and scared witnesses frequently mistake an SKS for an AK.

"A little marksmanship"?
The LAPD was armed with handguns, the robbers with rifles!

"Outgunned" is the operative word here.