Quote Originally Posted by 2ndChildhood
Well at this point money-wise, nothing. :cry:

Eventually, depends on what I can afford.
I'm still not sure really, I want to go quality.
On the low dollar end I'm not sure - mac? What else?
Uzi's have a certain cachet for the midrange.
I'm not sure on the high end: DIAS/m16, or something a bit exotic, but quality.
Probably won't have the $ to go into the $20k range in this lifetime.
Suggestions are welcome for all my realistic price ranges.
2C
For the money, an Uzi SMG spec registered receiver is the way to go. Like a M10 or M11, it's pretty versatile. Most people prefer Uzis to Macs, but there are always exceptions. Slowfire kits and an explosion of aftermarket accessories for both platforms have made them more multi-dimensional.

Uzi's have aftermarket goodies like topcovers with rails, forgrips with rails, long, short, wood, laminate and plastic stocks - and of course, folders. Besides caliber conversions, there are colored grips (http://www.uzigrips.com/)

I got a chance to tour Vector Arms (http://www.vectorarms.com/) in North Salt Lake last Saturday and visit with the owner, Ralph Merrill. They really are the place to go for all things Uzi and also make reasonably good HK clones and Kalishnikov rifles. Here's a scoop: Vector is diversifying beyond guns and is about to announce a line of custom made off-road rock crawlers that are simply exceptional.

Back to Uzis. stay away from the slotted bolt conversions if you want caliber change versatility. You will be stuck with the caliber that the slotted bolt was made for (i.e. 9mm).

Besides 9mm, you can get .22 and .45ACP kits from Vector and on the net. The .22's kits always take some tweaking. There is a guy at KCR that sells .40 conversions and is working on a FA closed bolt system. Barrels, in spite of the import ban, are still dirt cheap. 3 lug MP5 style adaptors are available for people who want to move their tri-lug cans between MP5's and the Uzi. There are also dedicated Uzi cans that screw onto the barrel nut threads (Phil Dater and Kel demoed the new Mossad cans at the UziTalk shoot in SLC last weekend. All I can say is "wow!".).

There are also drop-in subcaliber barrels available for shooting the Swedish '9mm" practice ammo that used to be so cheap (around 3 cents a round). Unfortunately, that is starting to dry up as people have hoarded it or tossed the ammo and sold the metal clips to people with the C3 rapid loaders.

Look out for hot deals on Uzis that aren't what they seem. A FA Vector Uzi gun can still be had for around $6K. Slotted bolt guns fetch about $1K less. There is a raging controversy about the legality of registered receiver, SMG spec guns that were originally registered with a slotted bolt and have subsequently have the bolt destroyed and the blocking bar removed. There are FTB opinions issued by the ATF that these are effectively illegal. I'd stay really clear of any non-Vector SMG spec gun unless I could verify with the manufacturer in writing that the gun was registered before May 19, 1986 without the blocking bar.

Hope this helps.