Firearm of the Day: MAC-10

The MAC-10 is a unique firearm with a high rate of fire. It dates back to 1964, the year it was developed by its inventor Gordon Ingram. The weapon was very popular with Hollywood between 1970 and 1990 and its image really took off when it was used by John Wayne in the film ‘McQ' from 1974.

_{John Wayne in 'McQ' with a MAC-10}

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The first striking feature is its small size. The gun is a machine pistol that looks quite a bit like the classical and world famous UZI. The magazine is fed into the pistol grip and a simple metal stock can be folded out for extra shoulder support when firing.

_{The MAC-10 in its most compact configuration. Source}

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A dedicated suppressor was created for the MAC-10 to lower the noise and reduce some of the recoil on full automatic fire, but this reduces the compactness of the gun significantly. The weapon is chambered either in .45 ACP or 9mm parabellum.

_{The MAC-10 with stock unfolded and silencer is about as large as an AK-47. Source}

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When you look at the MAC-10 you see simplicity by design. It looks like a brick with grip attached to it. The gun is largely made of steel stampings, uses blowblack operation and fires from an open bolt. It's not that hard of a gun to build yourself, but buying an original MAC-10 on the civilian market is not as cheap as you might expect and most go well over a $1000.

The downside of the MAC-10 is really its super high rate of fire, which is over a 1000 rounds a minute. On full auto, the 30 or 32 round magazine can be emptied in around 2 seconds depending on the model, and it's practically impossible to create good groupings at longer distances because of this. Its effective firing range on semi-auto is about 100 yards top.

The MAC-10 is still in use in primarily South American countries by special military or police forces, but it was never really that widely adopted for long. Other submachine guns quickly surpassed it on all fronts.

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That's it for this edition of Firearm of the Day. If you enjoyed it, consider upvoting and following!