Shot a full auto today!

[Patrick L]

I realize this might not be such a big deal for those of you who live in free states, but I live in upstate NY. We are visiting our son, who is stationed in Texas . He didn't have today off, so we were on our own to do some sightseeing and exploring. Of course I googled "gun shops near me" and found a few. One turned out to be a shooting range that also rents full autos.

You would have done it. I sure as heck did!

I chose a 9mm HK MP5. I figured since I had no experience, it would be easier and more controllable than something bigger. And there were definitely bigger ones available.

Gob bless Texas!

[M-Tecs]

They are fun on the range, but they are a lot more fun when Uncle Sam is paying for the ammo.

[Texas by God]

Full auto sounds like even more fun indoors in the AC!
My only experience with full auto was through a friends friend.( Class3 guy)
I shot a suppressed Mac 10? .45 sub,an M2 .30 Carbine, and an M14 at his ranch.
What a blast it was.
Enjoy your stay!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bedbugbilly]

Sounds like fun and good you had the opportunity to do it! I have a friend who lives in Texas and he took advantage of it as well and greatly enjoyed it.

I have never had the chance to do it - the closest I have ever come to shooting full auto was over 50 years ago when I fired an original Gatling gun that a friend owned during a demonstration at a N-SSA shoot. A big thrill and rapid fire but not full auto as it's hand cranked.

Enjoy your visit with your son!

[charlie b]

It is fun, especially when no one is shooting back :) I think everyone should have a chance to do it at least once. FYI, there is a shop in Albuquerque that rents full auto at their indoor range.

[Mk42gunner]

They are fun on the range, but they are a lot more fun when Uncle Sam is paying for the ammo.

This ^^^ is true. It becomes even more true when you start talking about belt-fed versions.

Robert

[metricmonkeywrench]

It’s a great time till you have to clean them…. of course anything that will effectively work is banned by the military and you get to scrub with gallons of CLP, though the C part is quite dubious.

[challenger_i]

New York. Interesting place. My platoon sergeant at my unit, when I was at Fort Hood, was from New York.
As I was looking at being at Fort Hood for a while, and they had an excellent 1000m range for casual shooting,
I figured I would keep my Lil' Sweetie in the arms room, close at hand for weekend fun.
Went to my PS to fill out the paperwork to keep a personal weapon in the unit arms room. He dug in his file cabinet
and pulled out a sheaf of forms. I sat filling the forms, and he began asking what I had. Told him I had a 1915 BSA
Lewis. He looked a bit confused and said "never heard of that. What is it?" I explained that it was a First World War
squad automatic weapon used by the British infantry, and was a flexible gun on Allied aircraft. At this, he said "you mean,
a MACHINE GUN?" I said yes. He then jumped into a heated diatribe as to how I couldn't keep it in the arms room, as it
was illegal to own it. I explained I had paid for my tax stamp and all the paperwork to show proper chain of possession.
He still argued that no private citizen could own a full automatic weapon. At this, I thanked him for his time, gathered the
paperwork and went upstairs to the First Sergeant's office. Gained access to Top's Inner Sanctum, and he asked what I needed.
I explained I wanted to put in the papers to keep a personal weapon in the arms room. At this, he pointed out that my PS could
handle that. I explained the my PS had very forcefully stated I could not keep my particular arm on Post. Top looked a bit
curious and asked "just what do you have?" I stated that I had a Lewis Gun, with 4 drums and the armorer's kit. Top's response?
"Aw! COOL! You gonna let me shoot it?!"
Kept my Sweetie in the arms room until they shipped me back to Korea, 3 years later.

Yah, the Authorities in that state do have a tendency to give New Yorkers a bit of bad information...

[Patrick L]

Basically it was $35 for a magazine for the mag fed guns, $70 a belt or drum for those guns. I picked the MP5 only because I felt I stood half a chance of not totally embarrassing myself. If I did it again, I might choose the BAR, Uzi, perhaps even the MG34.

[405grain]

I qualified on the M60 when I was a petty officer in the Navy. Ah yes, fond memories of shooting the "pig" while we were out on the water. Always needed to shoot the whole belt so we wouldn't have to lug all that heavy stuff back to the armory. :bigsmyl2:

[challenger_i]

Go with the BAR first, for familiarization. Then, definitely take the MG34 for a turn! I bet you will want "one more belt, please!" :)

[elmacgyver0]

I have a MP-40, but it just shoots BBs
Does that count?

[challenger_i]

Butterflies and soda cans FEAR you! Yah, those are fun! I'd give my eye teeth for one of those Tommy guns they had at the carnivals!

[1Hawkeye]

For a short time I had a part time job for a couple of guys that had a class 3 shop and they worked me pretty hard trying to set the hook to fund some of there full auto toys. They went so far as to set up a full auto shoot with some of there other suckers er I mean customers it was quite the set up. A browning 1917 watercooled. 1918 BAR, reising model 50 M2 carbine 3 mg34's and a mg42 one of the customers brought his M1 thompson and M2 carbine. It was kinda cool cutting a hot water heater in half from top to bottom with an mg34 and a couple of belts but these guys wern't trustworthy when it came to sales so we parted ways. The straw that broke the camels back was when they tried to sell me a mg 34 that was a post 86 dealer sample but didn't tell me the post 86 part my 1600.00 bucks would have gotten them another 34 and a rebuilt mp 40 to boot fortunatly I called the dealer who had the 34 to find out the shipping info and he spilled the beans about their deal. Saved me a lot of money for a gun I'd never be able to bring home.

[CastingFool]

I turned down an opportunity to shoot a 50 cal machine gun, because they said if you shoot it, you clean it.

[45workhorse]

I turned down an opportunity to shoot a 50 cal machine gun, because they said if you shoot it, you clean it.

Big parts easy to clean!

[gc45]

shot several different full autos in my Army days, both training and then combat. The best fun was many years later I got to fire several belts thru the German MG34, what a hoot that was spraying 8mm ammo all over the range as it was one tough rifle to hold straight. The bipod make it steady I thought until pulling the trigger that fired both semi or full auto.

[Lloyd Smale]

shot many in and out of the service. its fun but you can about buy a car for what one will set you back. add to that you sign papers that allow the batf to come in your home any time they please. for 350 bucks i can buy a binary trigger and have 90% of the fun without the cost or hassle.

[pworley1]

Congratulations. Full auto is a different world.

[FISH4BUGS]

I was lucky - I caught the full auto bug in the late 70's and early 80's before the prices went out of control due the GCA of '86.
Been shooting full auto all my (alleged) adult life.
Living in the country in NH, we can shoot outdoors on private ranges or some indoor ranges.
My philosophy is that if you are going to shoot, then SHOOT!
Live Free or Die (our State motto)!
No restrictions here!

[georgerkahn]

I realize this might not be such a big deal for those of you who live in free states, but I live in upstate NY. We are visiting our son, who is stationed in Texas . He didn't have today off, so we were on our own to do some sightseeing and exploring. Of course I googled "gun shops near me" and found a few. One turned out to be a shooting range that also rents full autos.

You would have done it. I sure as heck did!

I chose a 9mm HK MP5. I figured since I had no experience, it would be easier and more controllable than something bigger. And there were definitely bigger ones available.

Gob bless Texas!

Sadly I join you as a (legal residence) New Yorker, and the best I've done was years back when I semi-auto fired a burst. After I changed my shorts... (just kidding -- but to say I was startled would be an understatement!)
I was going to post a query re your cost, but you had :) posted this -- thirty-five bucks for a magazine? I recall (???) a MP5 is a thirty-round 9mm mag -- so to get/shoot 30 rounds for $35.00 USD seems to me to be a super-super bargain! I have seen 9mm L&P ammo going for as low as 30-cents a round; that's $9.00 for the ammo, and ONLY $26.00 for the use/shooting?
Imho, you got a $$$-deal; and I truly envy your going to said range and having this experience! That you had a visit with your son -- too -- enchanced the experience!
geo

[Digital Dan]

Many years ago I was issued a brand new M16A1. Had never fired one before. Got my purple heart before I had a chance to shoot it. A short while later I turned it in after cleaning it the first time. Somewhere around 35K rounds fired, all on full auto. First half of the barrel had no rifling left, but it still shot good enough for my purposes.

Sometimes my fun was interrupted by the need to shoot a minigun. Praise be unto the Lord that my uncle provided the ammo.

The years passed and I discovered there was no substitute for precision placement of a single shot. Whitefeather is one of my heroes.

[Patrick L]

Actually it was a 25 round mag, or they only gave you 25 rounds?? No matter, it was worth every penny!

[charlie b]

One of the bennies of a cadet was the West Point Museum folks. Military history classes were augmented by those folks as they would dress the parts and demonstrate historical weapons, from bow and pike to modern stuff. Probably don't do it anymore (this was in the early 70's) but once a year they would put on a shoot where the cadets could come out and shoot some of the weapons. Matchlocks to full auto stuff. Not many would take the time on a Sat afternoon to go to the range, but, it was fun.

Later on I fell in love with my favorite guns, 105 and 120mm tank cannons :)

I never minded cleaning any of the guns (still don't). When I 'managed' the arms room I used to enjoy helping the armorer clean the unassigned weapons. FWIW, I considered the M16 the hardest to get clean enough for an IG inspection. The cannons were 'easy' but took a crew to push the bore brush :) The M85 .50cal I cleaned myself. They were easy to screw up but simple to clean.

All of this is great fun...until someone shoots back at you :)

[Lloyd Smale]

I was lucky - I caught the full auto bug in the late 70's and early 80's before the prices went out of control due the GCA of '86.
Been shooting full auto all my (alleged) adult life.
Living in the country in NH, we can shoot outdoors on private ranges or some indoor ranges.
My philosophy is that if you are going to shoot, then SHOOT!
Live Free or Die (our State motto)!
No restrictions here!

i agree with you there. i chuckle when guys say they have no use for them or there a waste of money. i shoot to have fun and if a mag dump doesnt make you smile then imo your just not a gun guy. 2 bother in laws and a bunch of nephews got together at camp for a shoot last month. i brought 3 ar 556 pistols and my little smith ar22 out there for them to shoot. the 22 had a binary trigger (i knew better then to take my binary trigger 556's out there) they piddled a bit with the 556 gun but fought over the 22. i brought a thousand rounds and they shot that and every bit of 22 ammo that was at camp. they had a ball and THAT is what shooting is about.

[WRideout]

In my time in uniform (army that is) I was fortunate to shoot full-auto M16s, the original version. Also M3 Grease Guns, M60 machine gun and M2 50 cal Browning machine gun. Later, a Tennessee deputy sheriff I met let me shoot his suppressed 9mm MP5. The most fun was the 50 cal. When you are shooting armor piercing incendiary tracers, they look like roman candles going downrange.

Wayne

[jimb16]

I used to have a registered M2 carbine but I had to sell it. When it turned into a teenager, I couldn't afford to feed it anymore! At $25 for a 2.2 second 30 round mag empty, it would be VERY expensive to feed. (750 rpm)

[Larry Gibson]

Over my longjevity in the Army I've fired a bajillion plus rounds through about all of out own US full auto capable weapons and many foreign weapons also. It was the nature of my military profession. Note the weapon I'm holding in my avatar......

But as was mentioned earlier in this thread, I also came quickly to better appreciate hits on target than just shooting "rock 'n roll". Thus, I learned that with subguns and automatic rifles short burst of 2 -3 shots on target then moving to other targets is much preferred to a "magazine dump". I will admit to many "magazine dumps" myself as they are, indeed, fun but of little tactical value regardless of what we see in the movies. . With belt fed MGs, especially if shot from a bipod, tripod or vehicle mount then 6 - 10 round bursts do the trick. That is, unless you are firing the FLPF [Final Line of Protective Fire].....then it's "game on" with the trigger held back and your assistant gunner linking belts together as fast as he can (if he's not done that already.....). What a good time.......

[Walter Laich]

They are fun on the range, but they are a lot more fun when Uncle Sam is paying for the ammo.

"interesting" more than fun when folks are shooting back

[popper]

Not on my bucket list but did see a Marine sergent dump a mag of 30-06 BAR full auto from the hip AND hit the target at ~30 yds. And he wasn't a real big guy either. Torry pines base. I'm sure he practiced a bunch.

[Rockindaddy]

Glad you got to shoot a speed gun Patrick! They are a lot of fun. They just burn a lot of ammo! Back in 1979 I would travel to Athens Georgia and visit an importer of military parts. Bob Johnson would sell me 20 MP-40 parts sets. The receivers were cut up so just the parts arrived. Part sets were $40 ~ $75 depending on condition. I would buy 20 parts sets at a time and travel north to SW Pennsylvania where I had a shop set up. My Manufacturers License an 07 and Special Occupational Tax allowed me to manufacture NFA firearms (machine guns). MP-40 receivers were stamped out of flat stock by the Germans and rolled into a tube. The outside of the tube had flutes. I ground up a set of cutters and machined flutes into mechanical tubing to simulate a real stamped MP-40 receiver. Had to attach a front boss to hold the barrel and machine a cocking slot, magazine well, ejection port and cocking slot. All finished the tool marks were polished out, test fired and blued. File the Federal Form 2 that registered it on the National Firearms Registry. I sold them for $450 plus the Form 4 cost a $200 transfer tax. Transfers took about 2~3 months then. Up until 1986 when Ronald Regan shut everything down, I had made over 500 MP-40's, a bunch of MP-38's, and some MP-41's. Also turned out some belt feds: Maxim, Vickers, Brownings, and M-60's. They are scattered out over the whole country now in the possession of collectors and shooters. Was a lot of work and a lot of fun. Burned up a pile of ammo too!

[Iowa Fox]

I turned down an opportunity to shoot a 50 cal machine gun, because they said if you shoot it, you clean it.

Believe me you didn't miss anything.

[atr]

while in the service: M3A1, M60 and M14with the full auto attachment. could not keep the muzzle of the M14 down on full auto. The M3A1 was easiest to control but loading that 30rd magazine was a pain. Can't say I had any "fun" with full auto.

[Larry Gibson]

"interesting" more than fun when folks are shooting back

Indeed! Quite "interesting".......

[dondiego]

Glad you got to shoot a speed gun Patrick! They are a lot of fun. They just burn a lot of ammo! Back in 1979 I would travel to Athens Georgia and visit an importer of military parts. Bob Johnson would sell me 20 MP-40 parts sets. The receivers were cut up so just the parts arrived. Part sets were $40 ~ $75 depending on condition. I would buy 20 parts sets at a time and travel north to SW Pennsylvania where I had a shop set up. My Manufacturers License an 07 and Special Occupational Tax allowed me to manufacture NFA firearms (machine guns). MP-40 receivers were stamped out of flat stock by the Germans and rolled into a tube. The outside of the tube had flutes. I ground up a set of cutters and machined flutes into mechanical tubing to simulate a real stamped MP-40 receiver. Had to attach a front boss to hold the barrel and machine a cocking slot, magazine well, ejection port and cocking slot. All finished the tool marks were polished out, test fired and blued. File the Federal Form 2 that registered it on the National Firearms Registry. I sold them for $450 plus the Form 4 cost a $200 transfer tax. Transfers took about 2~3 months then. Up until 1986 when Ronald Regan shut everything down, I had made over 500 MP-40's, a bunch of MP-38's, and some MP-41's. Also turned out some belt feds: Maxim, Vickers, Brownings, and M-60's. They are scattered out over the whole country now in the possession of collectors and shooters. Was a lot of work and a lot of fun. Burned up a pile of ammo too!

I may own one of your MP-40's! I paid more than $450 though.

[Larry Gibson]

while in the service: M3A1, M60 and M14with the full auto attachment. could not keep the muzzle of the M14 down on full auto. The M3A1 was easiest to control but loading that 30rd magazine was a pain. Can't say I had any "fun" with full auto.

The M14 was not intended for "full auto" as in dumping the mag. It was intended for 2-3 shot bursts. In that role with a bit of practice using a proper position, even a standard rack grade M14 can be held on an E silhouette target at 100 meters for at least the first 2 rounds. With the M14E1/A1 which was heavier, had a better stock for the purpose, a muzzle brake and a bipod keeping 3 shots on the E target is a piece of cake.

[dondiego]

I was not impressed shooting an AR 10 full auto. The recoil was hurting me. The M-14 was not nearly as bad.

[haak48]

The M14 was not intended for "full auto" as in dumping the mag. It was intended for 2-3 shot bursts. In that role with a bit of practice using a proper position, even a standard rack grade M14 can be held on an E silhouette target at 100 meters for at least the first 2 rounds. With the M14E1/A1 which was heavier, had a better stock for the purpose, a muzzle brake and a bipod keeping 3 shots on the E target is a piece of cake.

I used to switch my M14 back and forth from the standard stock to E2 (complete with bi-pod, brake, and sling) but as Larry says above, it's no contest when fitted with the E2 components to keep short bursts on target. It stays in the E2 configuration all the time now. Regards, JH

[lx2008]

Fun...isn`t it! but the "mystique" wears off quickly. mine just sit now waiting for the day if i ever need the $ for them.

[Moleman-]

It's more affordable when the government is paying for the ammo, but still fun when I'm shelling out the bucks. Legal to own where I live, but cheaper to rent. I'll usually check if there is a full auto rental nearby when planning a family vacation and make a reservation if the timing works out.

[GregLaROCHE]

I’ve never fired full auto except with an M60, just to qualify that I could use one when in the military. It must be a hoot to shoot one without a bipod or something to stabilize you. I don’t think I would use full auto for home defense, if I had it except maybe for the psychological effect.

A friend once filled down the sear pin on a 222 Bushmaster, but I never got the chance to try it.
Glad you enjoyed it. If I could, I would do the same.

[oger]

The Ma 2 was the best as long as you didn't have to move it or a lot of it's ammo. I was a 60 gunner so not much interested in shooting one again. They all are easier when there are no POP UP SHOOT BACK TARGETS.

[WRideout]

I’ve never fired full auto except with an M60, just to qualify that I could use one when in the military. It must be a hoot to shoot one without a bipod or something to stabilize you. I don’t think I would use full auto for home defense, if I had it except maybe for the psychological effect.

A friend once filled down the sear pin on a 222 Bushmaster, but I never got the chance to try it.
Glad you enjoyed it. If I could, I would do the same.

In the design of full-auto firearms, it is essential to provide an interruptor to stop the weapon from cycling when the trigger is released. Otherwise, every shot will be a mag dump.

Wayne

[mexicanjoe]

Ive carried a Thompson M1A, Ruger mini 14 with a factory folding stock, a Steyr AUG and a Madesen carbine on patrol .all fun guns

[vmthtr]

I shot a lot in the service. When we took kids to Disney, there was a shop in Orlando that hadd gthem. Took the kid and picked the MP5 also. Guy was explaining how to load and fire, kept looking at me, I'm like, the boy is gonna shoot it. The guy was like,"im not sure thats a good idea", I explained that he shot 600 prairie dogs this summer, guy said "good enough for me" and let the boy shoot it, he was 11.

[FISH4BUGS]

Fun...isn`t it! but the "mystique" wears off quickly. mine just sit now waiting for the day if i ever need the $ for them.
I sold my M16 and S&W 76 for the down payment for my house. I can never replace them but I like the house better.
Still have enough full auto guns to satisfy the itch, though.

[beagle]

Oh yeah, rock and roll. The first half of the 23 years I was in the Army, I was an Aircraft Armament mechanic. First tour in VN was enlightening as I flew as armorer/door gunner as we couldn't afford the weight of both. M-60 free gun (hung from a bungi cord from the UH-1C ceiling". In a Gun Platoon (armed UH-1s). Sometimes 3-4K rounds a night if heavy contact. Lots of play toys. Full auto M-14s which are fun if your M-60's down. Just lay forend in corner of door, place boot on top and "burp" 20 round mags. Foot on top as otherwise it will climb into blade on a bank. The wooden handguards will burn. Always something new to try. M-16s, M1A1 Thompsons, MAT-49s, Swedish Ks, M-3s and M2 Carbines and M-79s for "plinking" at hooches. AKs and SKs for fooling around.
2nd tour was even more interesting. I was boss of the Armament shop in a Cobra unit. Got to do all the test fires when the aircraft came out of phase maintenance. 7.62 mini guns and 40mm grenade launchers. Only problem was the effort to reload 350 grenades and 4,000 rounds of 7.62mm but I fired my share. Then, I was tasked to support the battalion "Nighthawk". UH-1H with a door mounted mini and a Zeon search light. About once a week I'd rework the gun and feeders and go up and test fire. Mini gun with spade grips is fun, kinda like squirting a fire hose with the tracers as water. Carried two 4,000 round drums on it. I'd take out a new gunner, show him how to fire maybe 1,000 rounds and sit back and watch him work out. Muzzle flash was blinding until we got flash surpressors.
But it was taxpayer ammo and I enjoyed every round of it.
I do regret leaving a mint MG34 behind that I never got to fire.
You can't have it all but I did make it back more or less in one piece and had a lot of experiences./beagle

[TD1886]

Oh yeah, rock and roll. The first half of the 23 years I was in the Army, I was an Aircraft Armament mechanic. First tour in VN was enlightening as I flew as armorer/door gunner as we couldn't afford the weight of both. M-60 free gun (hung from a bungi cord from the UH-1C ceiling". In a Gun Platoon (armed UH-1s). Sometimes 3-4K rounds a night if heavy contact. Lots of play toys. Full auto M-14s which are fun if your M-60's down. Just lay forend in corner of door, place boot on top and "burp" 20 round mags. Foot on top as otherwise it will climb into blade on a bank. The wooden handguards will burn. Always something new to try. M-16s, M1A1 Thompsons, MAT-49s, Swedish Ks, M-3s and M2 Carbines and M-79s for "plinking" at hooches. AKs and SKs for fooling around.
2nd tour was even more interesting. I was boss of the Armament shop in a Cobra unit. Got to do all the test fires when the aircraft came out of phase maintenance. 7.62 mini guns and 40mm grenade launchers. Only problem was the effort to reload 350 grenades and 4,000 rounds of 7.62mm but I fired my share. Then, I was tasked to support the battalion "Nighthawk". UH-1H with a door mounted mini and a Zeon search light. About once a week I'd rework the gun and feeders and go up and test fire. Mini gun with spade grips is fun, kinda like squirting a fire hose with the tracers as water. Carried two 4,000 round drums on it. I'd take out a new gunner, show him how to fire maybe 1,000 rounds and sit back and watch him work out. Muzzle flash was blinding until we got flash surpressors.
But it was taxpayer ammo and I enjoyed every round of it.
I do regret leaving a mint MG34 behind that I never got to fire.
You can't have it all but I did make it back more or less in one piece and had a lot of experiences./beagle

Interesting, glad you made it back and thank you for your service.