I know there's a finite number of them out there. I came across one today that was within my means and got to thinking if this would be a good use of money. I might take it out 2-3x per year to run some rounds through it. No need or intent to sell for a profit, but am wondering if this is a good place to park some money in a toy I can also enjoy once in a while.

Depends on what it is and details. http://machinegunpriceguide.com/ tracks them generally.

I'd suggest that many of my pre-ban semi-auto guns have appreciated mor YOY than my transferrables.

That was a good read. The one I'm looking at has a nice upward trending price slope in one of those graphs. But do these ever top out? I'm not wild about going on the NFA registry. But even some of the entry level FA guns seem to be doing better than stainless steel Rolexes.

Specific answers to vague questions are hard. Which version of which transferable are you looking at? Value on these is hyper-specific to make/model/maker/details of the actual gun. Think of it as a classic car (e.g. Hemi Cuda) that's been maintained/restored by a known master of a shop.

It's an MK760. I don't know what all it comes with and I don't know much about these, but have been reading a lot in the last day. I may go back today and look more closely.

So an MK760 vs a S&W? I was just looking at values on them a month ago. Seems $12-13k is the low side of fair. Extra mags helps as they’re increasingly hard to find

Went back today. It's $12.5k and comes with two mags. Meh. I found a way better deal on an NFA forum, cleaner gun, lower price, more mags, probably no sales tax, etc. I'm going to be doing something in this area soon, just have to find the right deal. No hurry at all in getting the gun in my hands. Just want to lock in on price.

When it comes to transferables a little here or there is not as important as dealing with a trustworthy seller or SOT. You'll be waiting quite some time and it's a used car in value in play.

That MK760 must be the one at Scottsdale Gun Club. That one was on the market back in when they first opened in 2004. I think it sold for about $6 K. Talked to one of the guys there about 2 weeks ago. He said that the owner just decided to sell it off.

Yes, that's the one. But it's a total beater compared to a few others for less $$ I'm looking at. I don't think I want to spend what it costs to get to the next level of machine gun and I really didn't care for the Mac 11 I shot long ago.

Well, I bought one, way cleaner and cheaper than the one at SGC. I'd love to discuss this stuff more, but am not sure where this thread belongs. Now the long wait begins.

Congrats!

Yeah, the closest match is the Suppressed Weapons subforum. That's where most of the NFA discussion is taking place.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
Well, I bought one, way cleaner and cheaper than the one at SGC. I'd love to discuss this stuff more, but am not sure where this thread belongs. Now the long wait begins.

Pics? I know you don't have it yet, but did you take Pics? It may not have happened...

I could only copy them from the ad, but the gun is paid for and will be shipping to my SOT soon.

Rick - You are going to LOVE this MG….I owned one for 10 years (my stupid a** sold it many years back) and the best way to describe this MG is - It runs like a top of the line sewing machine….Without question, IMO, the closest MG in quality for the price that you can get to an HK…..Mine ate anything I fed it and the only extras I had were extra mags and a second barrel. Also - no recoil either….

Congratulations on your investment and purchase. I still kick myself almost weekly for selling my MK760 and my AC556.

That looks super clean. Nice score!

Looks sweet!

Some interesting history on the S&W Model 76. Created as a near-copy of the Carl Gustav Model 1945 (frequently called the Swedish K model) 9mm SMG. Very simple and relatively inexpensive to manufacture, simple blow-back recoil operation firing from an open bolt, excellent reliability.

US Special Forces units and some clandestine US forces in Vietnam (1960s and early 1970s) liked the Swedish K and purchased quite a few of them. The Swedish government strongly opposed US involvement in Vietnam and ordered shipments to stop.

Smith & Wesson (then owned by the Bangor Punta Corporation) stepped into the arena with a nearly identical product, although relatively few ever made it to US military units. The S&W Model 76 remained catalogued in the S&W Law Enforcement Products line until about the early 1980s, sales generally limited to law enforcement agencies. Sales were not great and the product was dropped, probably at or near the time of the suspension of all full-auto sales to civilians during the Reagan administration.

The Kennedy family was a large shareholder in Bangor Punta Corporation, and Senator Ted Kennedy's personal bodyguards were reportedly found in possession of S&W Model 76 SMGs while in or near the US Capitol.

I recall seeing the S&W 76 in the catalog at a LE price of under $400 about 1988 or so, apparently clearing out remaining stock on hand. Offered only on LE purchase order, departments only (no individual officer purchases).

My understanding is that the MK-760 was a later "clone" produced by another manufacturer.

Here in Pueblo, Colorado (known as the Home of Heroes due to a relatively large proportion of US Medal of Honor recipients having been born here) there is a bronze statue of one of the Medal of Honor holders armed with a Swedish K model.

During my service in Vietnam (1969-70 and 1971) I personally saw several of the Swedish K models in the hands of US MAC-SOG special forces advisors, as well as a few guys in non-standard uniforms with no identifying insignia or markings.

M1 Thompsons were relatively common in Vietnam. We provided those to Ho Chi Minh's forces during WW2 while they were fighting Japanese occupation forces. Saw a lot of US M3 SMGs also, which were still being issued to US armored vehicle crews, and a lot of those also went to South Vietnamese forces. Of course, plenty of French weapons from the Colonial years, and rivers of Chinese, Russian, Polish, and other Commie bloc weapons.

I guess I should have updated this thread. I went to shoot it the day after it arrived at the FFL, did all the paperwork on the SilencerShop app and, well, had to buy a beat up P239 they also had there. I went back a few days later when their gunsmith was there, as the gun was not running real well. He took it apart and we saw the recoil spring was kinked. The bets known gunsmith and parts maker for these passed away earlier this year, so it's been a chore to get some parts. But they should be in the mail from a different gunsmith and I'll try to go install them and run some more rounds through it in the next week or two. I'd like to have it running perfectly in time for my dad to come shoot with me when the folks visit for the holidays.

As to whether NFA items are a "good investment", here is my admittedly non-expert take on that question.

As things stand, with strict control/registration via NFA 34 and the population of full auto guns fixed at roughly 1986 levels thanks to the Hughes Amendment to the McClure-Volkmer act of 1986 (AKA Firearms Owners Protection Act), supply and demand principles prevail. Further, the $200 transfer tax has never been indexed for inflation. Two hundred 1934 dollars are worth more than $4,000 today, so the financial barrier to demand that NFA 34 and the $200 tax imposed has been steadily declining for decades and is less of a barrier to demand than ever. Prices will increase, perhaps dramatically, as demand increases while the supply is fixed at 1986 levels. Your investment is secure.

What happens if, and this is a really, REALLY BIG if, one or more post Bruen court decisions overturn key parts of NFA 34? We can dream, right? What if new full auto firearms are allowed to enter the marketplace? Supply increases, perhaps dramatically, prices fall. That well used, beat up $50k full auto you thought was a good investment, might turn out to worth just a few thousand dollars in a freer, more open marketplace. How likely is this? Wish I knew. But I don't think it's an impossible scenario.

I'm going to guess that suppressors are more likely to leave NFA/BATFE control to some extent or another. Should that happen, I'm going to further speculate that the population of suppressors will grow exponentially. Suppressors are easy to make. Should the regulatory hassle and criminal risk associated with making suppressors be substantially reduced or go away entirely, every machine shop with lathe will be turning out suppressors. Should all this come to pass, the real bottleneck will likely turn out to be threaded barrels, which are a little more difficult to make than suppressors.

Anyway, food for thought. Bottom line: regulatory control of NFA items, and the court cases that might affect that control, will have a huge effect on the value of your investment.