Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
MAC-10
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==Design== The MAC-10 is built predominantly from steel stampings. A notched cocking handle protrudes from the top of the [[receiver (firearms)|receiver]], and turning the handle 90Β°, locks the bolt, and acts as an indicator the weapon is unable to fire. The MAC-10 has a [[telescoping bolt]], which wraps around the rear face of the barrel. This allows a more compact weapon and balances the weight of the weapon over the pistol grip, where the magazine is located. The MAC-10 fires from an [[open bolt]], and the light weight of the bolt results in a rapid rate of fire. In addition, this design incorporates a built-in feed ramp as part of the trigger guard (a new concept at the time) and, to save on cost, the magazine design was recycled from the [[M3 submachine gun|M3 Grease Gun]]. The barrel is threaded to accept a [[suppressor]], which works by reducing the discharge's sound without attempting to reduce the speed of the [[bullet]]. The .45 ACP models are well-suited for this, as most .45 loads are naturally subsonic, as opposed to the specialized subsonic loads usually required for suppressed 9mm weapons. At the suggestion of the [[United States Army]], the suppressor also acts as a foregrip to inhibit [[muzzle rise]] when fired. Ingram added a small bracket with a small strap beneath the muzzle to aid in controlling recoil during [[fully automatic]] fire. The original rate of fire for the MAC-10 in .45 ACP is approximately 1090 rounds per minute.{{cn|date=May 2024}} That of the 9mm is approximately 1250, and that of the smaller [[MAC-11]] in [[.380 ACP]] is 1500 rounds per minute.<ref name="McNab2011">{{cite book|last=McNab|first=Chris|title=The Uzi Submachine Gun|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aWbTl02k5jYC&pg=PA69|date=20 November 2011|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-84908-906-7|page=69}}</ref> Noting the weapon's poor accuracy, in the 1970s, International Association of Police Chiefs weapons researcher David Steele described the MAC series as "fit only for combat in a phone booth".<ref name="Lewis2011">{{cite book|author=Jack Lewis|title=Assault Weapons|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s2AbzqChZBYC&pg=PA79|date=28 February 2011|publisher=Gun Digest Books|isbn=978-1-4402-2400-3|pages=79β}}</ref> ===Suppressor=== The primary reason for the original M10 finding recognition was its revolutionary sound suppressor designed by [[Mitchell WerBell III]] of [[Sionics]]. This suppressor has a two-stage design, with the first stage being larger than the second. This uniquely shaped suppressor gives the MAC-10 a very distinctive look. It is also very quiet, to the point that the bolt can be heard cycling, along with the suppressed report of the weapon's discharge, though only if subsonic rounds are used (standard .45 ACP rounds are subsonic). The suppressor, when used with a [[Nomex]] cover, creates a place to hold the firearm with the secondary hand, making it easier to control. During the 1970s, the United States placed restrictions on the export of suppressors, and a number of countries canceled their orders as the effectiveness of the MAC-10's suppressor was one of its main selling points. This was one factor that led to the bankruptcy of Military Armament Corporation, another being the company's failure to recognize the private market.{{Clarify|reason=|date=January 2021}} The original Sionics suppressor is 11.44{{spaces}}inches in length, 2.13{{spaces}}inches in overall diameter, and weighs 1.20 pounds.<ref name="Walker2012">{{cite book|last=Walker|first=Robert E.|title=Cartridges and Firearm Identification|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJYjP_tJ9_wC&pg=PA210|year=2012|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4665-0206-2|pages=210, 436}}</ref> ===Calibers and variants=== While the original M10 was available chambered for either .45 ACP or 9mm, the M10 is part of a series of machine pistols, the others being the MAC-11/M-11A1, which is a scaled-down version of the M10 chambered in .380 ACP (9Γ17mm); and the M-11/9, which is a modified version of the M-11 with a longer receiver chambered in 9Γ19mm, later made by SWD (Sylvia and Wayne Daniel), [[Cobray Company|Leinad]] and Vulcan Armament. Law enforcement bureaucracies such as the [[Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension]] (BCA) consider MAC-11 variants such as the Leinad PM-11 to be part of the "MAC-10 class pistol".<ref>{{cite news |first1=Lou |last1=Raguse |title=New warrants in Idd's case reveal car search and investigation of possible link to brother's case |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/new-warrants-in-idds-case-reveal-car-search-and-investigation-of-possible-link-to-brothers-case/ar-BB1cJoAX |access-date=14 January 2021 |work=MSN News |agency=Kare 11 |date=14 January 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210114073440/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/new-warrants-in-idds-case-reveal-car-search-and-investigation-of-possible-link-to-brothers-case/ar-BB1cJoAX |archive-date=14 January 2021 |quote=And they found a backpack on the passenger side that had ammunition and "Leinad PM-11 high capacity pistol." The BCA calls it "a MAC-10 class pistol," |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the United States, machine guns are [[National Firearms Act]] items. As the Military Armament Corporation was in bankruptcy, a large number of incomplete sheet metal frame flats were given serial numbers and then bought by a new company, RPB Industries. Some of the previously completed guns, which were already stamped with MAC, were then stamped with RPB on the reverse side, making it a "double stamp" gun.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} RPB Industries made many open-bolt semi-automatic and sub-machine guns before the [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives]] (BATFE) seized roughly 200 open-bolt semi-autos during the drug wars of 1981.<ref>https://www.firearmsnews.com/editorial/m10-full-auto-for-sale-rare/491652</ref> The BATFE insisted that all future semi-automatic firearms were to be manufactured with a closed-bolt design as the open-bolt semi-automatics were considered too easy to illegally convert to full automatic operation.<ref name="Walker2012"/> A semi-automatic variant, the MkIII/IV/V was marketed to South American countries where "military" calibers were forbidden for civilian sales were chambered in .30/.41/.50 Ingram and available as semi-automatic pistols/carbines.<ref>https://werewolf0001.livejournal.com/717328.html</ref><ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/ForgottenWeapons/comments/wk42zb/does_anybody_have_any_information_on_this_ive/</ref>{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} Wayne Daniel, a former RPB machine operator, purchased much of their remaining inventory and formed SWD, designing a new weapon which was more balanced, available either fully or semi-automatic with his new BATFE-approved closed bolt design.<ref name="Larson2011">{{cite book|last=Larson|first=Erik|author-link=Erik Larson (author)|title=Lethal Passage: The Story of a Gun|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FzV82AD3GlQC&pg=PA253|date=27 July 2011|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-80331-3|page=253}}</ref> There are several carbine versions of the M-11/9 and Cobray and SWD manufactured a smaller version chambered in .380 ACP as a semiautomatic pistol called the M-12.<ref name="Shideler2011">{{cite book|last=Shideler|first=Dan|title=Gun Digest 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HEjWeu2XJlEC&pg=PA54|year=2011|publisher=Gun Digest Books|location=Iola, Wisconsin|isbn=978-1-4402-1447-9|page=54}}</ref> Today, while the civilian manufacture, sale and possession of post-1986 select-fire MAC-10 and variants is prohibited, it is still legal to sell templates, tooling and manuals to complete such conversions. These items are typically marketed as being "post-sample" materials for use by Federal Firearm Licensees for manufacturing/distributing select-fire variants of the MAC-10 to law enforcement, military and overseas customers.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.fullautoguns.com | title = Select-Fire (Fully Automatic) conversion information | access-date = 2020-10-07 | archive-date = 2015-06-20 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150620123116/http://www.fullautoguns.com/ | url-status = dead }}</ref>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)