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Uzi Recommendations


Rekraps
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Guys, I contemplating a purchase of an Uzi and would like some feedback from anyone who already owns one. The unit I am considering is a Vector Uzi, full rig (gun/both stocks/mags etc.) in new condition. I have heard that the Vector units are supposed to be the most reliable and functional, but what do I know.

 

Comments appreciated. Price range: $19K

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Linked below is an article on Vector Uzis. I bought one directly from Vector when they were first offered for $2,700. The .22 conversion kit works great, but the 25 round magazine is empty in a long instant. I did not purchase the .45 kit. Vector had most other original IMI and South African accessories at one time, including wooden detachable butt stocks and plastic grips in green.

 

The Vector Uzi: History, Evaluation and Test (smallarmsreview.com)

 

Edit: I was introduced to the Vector Uzi when I attended a free one-day submachinegun course at Front Sight in Pahrump, Nevada. I was surprised to find that the gun I was using was brand new. Front sight had bought a number of new Uzis for use in their courses. I ordered one over the phone the day I got back home and have been well pleased since.

Edited by TSMGguy
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All vectors are out of spec and warped. Many dont run well. You may get one that runs great or a pos. My group Uzi went to 4 smiths and never ran correctly. My back plate cracked. Every smith said the previous smith did the trunion alignment wrong. And each time I waited 10 Months to get it back it ran worse than 10 months before . I finally gave up and sold it for junk gun price. I have a imi rr now. What I like about a semi imi conversion is at least the receiver is true and in spec. Anything else can be fixed more easily. Of the 5 vectors Ive shot or seen shot only 1 ran without an occasional jam. My Wilson imi runs flawless.

 

Best advice. Make sure you get a function guarantee on it. Shoot 300+ rounds through it and if it has issues get it fixed.

 

Im a big fan of Wilson guns. Ive yet to hear of any of his conversions that dont run perfectly. I own a few and seek them outb

Edited by huggytree
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All vectors are out of spec and warped. Many dont run well. You may get one that runs great or a pos. My group Uzi went to 4 smiths and never ran correctly. My back plate cracked. Every smith said the previous smith did the trunion alignment wrong. And each time I waited 10 Months to get it back it ran worse than 10 months before . I finally gave up and sold it for junk gun price. I have a imi rr now. What I like about a semi imi conversion is at least the receiver is true and in spec. Anything else can be fixed more easily. Of the 5 vectors Ive shot or seen shot only 1 ran without an occasional jam. My Wilson imi runs flawless.

 

Best advice. Make sure you get a function guarantee on it. Shoot 300+ rounds through it and if it has issues get it fixed.

 

Im a big fan of Wilson guns. Ive yet to hear of any of his conversions that dont run perfectly. I own a few and seek them outbHuggytree went through hell with his.Get an IMI conversion and dont look back.

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Maybe you got lucky.

 

You never hear of a imi gun that cracked the back plate. Bwe told me that GI had a bad welder and theres a batch that crack.

 

A smith held up a straight edge across a vector and you could see how warped it was. Some run fine, maybe not warped as bad.

Edited by huggytree
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I wouldnt take much buggy has to say as damn near every gun hes bought has had issues and its always someone elses fault. I know of several Group/Vector Guns locally that run flawlessly so we all didnt just get lucky

 

I know of more IMI conversion guns that have had the feed ramp need to be welded back in due to it not being right from the start.

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Gun smiths are booked out 1-2 years for a reason. Lots of Nfa guns dont run well

 

Bwe was booked 1.5 years and almost all he did was Uzis. He made a hobby job out of fixing vector and group uzis and never ran out of ones to fix.

Edited by huggytree
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Guess I was lucky. I am the only owner on my GI Uzi. Purchased it new. One of the original 200 Group Industries guns. Nothing ever broke to have to fix.

 

My one negative comment is that the original barrel from GI had a much larger than normal tapered area on the back of the chamber, probably so it would feed HP and flat nosed bullets. This caused an unsupported area at the base of the brass, and the empties would look like mushrooms. Not something to ever be reloaded. Immediately replaced the barrel with an IMI barrel, and never any more problems. Only run round nosed bullets and primarily shoot 9mm reloads.

 

99% of my use is with a Gemtech Mossad II suppressor. Using the X-treme bullets 165gr RN plated bullets. Have a lot of spare parts for the UZI but have never needed any of them. Everything except the receiver is readily available.

 

Dave H.

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Lots of NFA dont run well yeah thats the way to walk that one back.....face it-you made some blanket statements that we the people have evidence to debunk that. Now was your gun an issue-very possible but lets also look at facts-

 

guns that are 35 years old

beat on

shot to shit

little in the way of general maintenance

worn out parts being replaced with sub par parts

 

So with those facts in mind, its a wonder anything works at all!! By your experience I should be screaming from the mountain top that my $35.5k Fleming sear is JUNK and it wasnt done right as it works in my one host but the sear trip lever is causing the bolt to bind when the gun is empty....sorry that dog dont hunt...its knowing that something needs tweaked/tuned.

 

Again by your reasoning, my Vector Uzi should have been junk as I couldnt put a drop in 22lr SubGun Ord conversion in it and get it to work. Gun ran 100% in 9mm and the kit ran in other guys Vector or group RR guns, but my kit in my gun was a no go. I ended up removing roughly .060 from the feed ramp on the 22lr barrel and reshaped it. I also tuned a recoil spring assembly to it too. Once I put the work in, it ran great but again by the argument made here my gun was junk.

 

You do know know that when you try to weld on a weld or continue to keep welding the same metal that it becomes very brittle and will keep breaking? You also know what lead to back plates bowing out on Uzis? Guys running 45acp kits in them. The gun is a very piss poor design for 45acp. 45 was an afterthought for the US market cuz we love our 45s. The Uzi was developed for the 9mm NATO cartidge and does very well in that.

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Maybe you got lucky.

 

You never hear of a imi gun that cracked the back plate. Bwe told me that GI had a bad welder and theres a batch that crack.

 

A smith held up a straight edge across a vector and you could see how warped it was. Some run fine, maybe not warped as bad.

 

All Vector full auto guns are group industries guns that were flats made and registered by GI, then sold at auction to Vector so the above statements are confusing to most guys. Group industries made a lot of guns before they were forced to liquidate at auction. Thus all Vector guns are Group guns, but not all Group guns are Vector. Vector then finished the registered flats off (some fine, some not so fine) by bending the flats and completing them. The numbers back in the day were pretty bad and a lot of them got sent back to vector to be fixed, generally with success. The initial failure rate was pretty high, but by now I'd guess 99% have been fixed one way or another. That all happened in the early 2000's so being at the 20 yr. mark you'd think most everything got fixed by now?

 

There was no welding problem at Group in Louisville, but there certainly was at Vector since they had multiple employees doing the work, some great, some not so good.

 

I don't recall huggytree ever posting about a gun he got that did actually work, or those that did, he broke soon after he got it? Could be a coincidence or ?

Back in the day the vectors were entry level guns priced at $2000 or less so some guys bought them and shot the crap out of them, so there are a number of guns with pretty high round counts, been refinished multiple times, welded up, and look good but are near the end of their lifespan. Buyer beware.

 

Hopefully that clears up, what to me, looks like a lot of confusion by some posts in the thread. Or it's just me?

No for sure not you. HuggyTree is one of the most clueless and opinionated individuals that thinks he is right 100% of the time. You hit it on the head every gun he has owned has had some kind issue even magazines I have watched him at the Subgun matches and he is clueless spewing mis-information. I used his original Uzi and no issues for me but when he used it limp wrists the grip safety causing all kinds of jambs. Now he is a big time dealer oh boy

Edited by arch stanton
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