Posted on 08/06/2020 7:05:21 AM PDT by w1n1
With its military background and 'Cocaine Wars' reputation, the MAC-10 has quite a history and is still a hoot to shoot – 'as long as someone else is paying for the ammo.'
Certain guns conjure up images related to the times they were used. The 1894 Winchester lever- action is the classic cowboy gun of the Old West. Thee M1 Garand is seen as the rifle that won World War II and the M1911A1 as the sidearm of choice for soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen.
Not all weapons have a positive image connected to them, though. The MAC-10 submachinegun is most often associated with bad guys, such as drug dealers. Remember the infamous “chainsaw” scene in Scarface? The weapon used by the Colombian drug dealers is this bullet-spitting bruiser. When most people think of MAC-10s, they envision drug dealers and gang members spraying rival criminals.
Despite those negative images, the weapon actually predates the "Cocaine Wars" of the 1970s and '80s in Miami. It dates back to 1964, and was designed by Gordon Ingram and Mitchell WerBell's Military Armament Corporation. Besides drug dealers, the MAC-10 has been used by Special Operations units in Vietnam, Grenada and elsewhere, along with armies and terrorist groups in other countries. It was also produced in South Africa and saw service in the Rhodesian wars.
I RECENTLY HAD the opportunity to test and evaluate a MAC-10 chambered in .45 caliber. For anyone used to modern firearms built to high tolerances, the initial impression is that the weapon is cheaply produced. It is made mainly from steel stampings. It’s a big chunk of plate steel built around a barrel and firing mechanism.
It's a simple blowback design. It fires from an open bolt and there is no need to cock it. Basically, you insert the exceptionally long magazine (with the bolt in the rear position), take the weapon off safe, and pull the trigger. That's where things get interesting.
The MAC-10 has an extremely high rate of fire. It spits out .45 slugs at 1,090 rounds per minute. Its smaller cousin, the MAC-11 in .380, fires at a blistering 1,380 rpm! Be forewarned, if you do get a chance to fire one, be prepared for excessive muzzle rise.
I was surprised at how quickly the barrel climbs when fired on full-auto. Care has to be taken not to unleash a dozen rounds over a berm at a range. Things that aid in controlling full-auto weapons are longer barrels, a sturdy stock that can be locked into the shoulder, and the weight of the weapon itself. A MAC-10 has none of these features. Read the rest of MAC-10.
Designed so the average Joe can make one in the garage.
I had one in 9mm. It was semi only.
Basically a piece of junk. Well not completely. It was accurate and reliable. With every shot, the trigger slapped my finger really hard.
I had a Browning Hi-Power at the same time. The Browning was svelte with a perfect grip. Well balanced and smooth functioning, every thing the Ingram was not.
I’ve shot a MAC-11. I can’t see much use for it. The mag was dumped in a second.
I shot a .45 version once. Semi-only until it decided to self convert to Class 3 on it’s own. Fortunately the magazine was almost empty. The first two shots were on target, but the rest went somewhere else.
Daddy would have gotten us Uzis...
Given its high rate of fire, which would quickly deplete a soldier’s basic load, coupled with controllability issues, I don’t see it being a suitable long arm for infantry use...this weapon would excel is as a personal defense weapon used by an operator in a vehicle where extra magazines are readily accessible. A vehicle-mounted executive protection team could use a couple of MACs to lay down a flurry of suppressive fire when trying to break contact from a threat, as long as accounting for the ultimate destination of fired rounds isn’t a major consideration.So it sounds like the perfect weapon to clear the street of antifa. It would be good to have in your car for that special occasion when antifa surrounds your car and starts pounding on it with bats "asking" you to come out and play.
Ping to our resident Mac-10 expert.
“So it sounds like the perfect weapon to clear the street of antifa. It would be good to have in your car for that special occasion when antifa surrounds your car and starts pounding on it with bats “asking” you to come out and play.”
An M-134 minigun appeals to me a bit more.
Night of the Comet - 1984
Made back 3X the $$ I spent on buying it when I sold it.
The line from NIGHT OF THE COMET comes to mind.
“Daddy would have gotten us Uzis.”
https://decider.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/nightofthecomet_machineguns1.gif?w=618&h=344&crop=1
The only one I ever saw was in 9mm. The only sound it made was the working of the action. I wonder if the .45s are louder.
That graphic is excellent!! Lol!
It worked okay when you had the Sionic suppressor to keep the muzzle down.
By itself, no way.
Yeah, whoever saw the original footage and thought, “hmm, needs a pair of MAC 10s” - genius!
That poor little girl would get such a barrel rise it would blow her head off after a few rounds.
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