Class III Dealers??

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Cohiba

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I use to deal with David Spiwak but now he's a co-owner of his business and moved to Florida. His business is smaller than what it use to be...

Bottom line who have you used to purchase Class III guns from? No suppressors, no short barrel, ...etc. No bolt guns nor dias, or sears...a straight class III guns.

I've had Macs, M-11, Uzi, a Ruger AC556 and almost a Browning BAR. Somewhat looking for a nice Thompson. Not 100 percent because of my travel life.

So...who do you recommend I use...either go to their business and look at items OR a business-website I can go to.

Thanks!!!
 
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I've dealt with Ruben, he is a good guy and honest to his word, however he gets a bad rap because his prices are at the top end of the scale and then his prices drive the market upwards.

ETA: Read FullAuto's post below regarding Midwest Tactical - I didn't realize that was the same person so I've deleted my comment calling Midwest Tactical a reputable dealer. Mea Culpa.

Both cater to the investment crowd rather than the shooter crowd. I've never dealt with them though, so I don't know if the owner is the same guy that advertises theirs on gunbroker with hopium prices.

The best deals I have found recently are on the classifieds of sturmgewehr.com (the old subguns.com) or the machinegun specific forums. However, when something good with a reasonable price gets listed, it gets scooped pretty quick.

If you are interested in the Thompson, go to the Thompson specific forum at machinegunboards.com and get yourself educated. There are a number of different models, makers and eras, all at wildly different price levels. A correct 1921 Colt will set you back a bunch, while a West Hurley will be much, much cheaper. In between are the Lend Lease guns, the wartime production guns, police guns, commercial models, and lots of them have had parts changed, leaving mismatched parts in an attempt to make them more desirable. I am in the middle of going down the rabbit hole and getting educated myself.

And there are no "great deals" in the machine gun world. If they are listing there, they know what they have. Check the history and verify the images. If it sounds too good to be true, it most certainly is a scam. Good luck.
 
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Cohiba

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I've dealt with Ruben, he is a good guy and honest to his word, however he gets a bad rap because his prices are at the top end of the scale and then his prices drive the market upwards.

Midwest tactical is a reputable dealer in MGs, but same thing with prices. Both cater to the investment crowd rather than the shooter crowd. I've never dealt with them though, so I don't know if the owner is the same guy that advertises theirs on gunbroker with hopium prices.

The best deals I have found recently are on the classifieds of sturmgewehr.com (the old subguns.com) or the machinegun specific forums. However, when something good with a reasonable price gets listed, it gets scooped pretty quick.

If you are interested in the Thompson, go to the Thompson specific forum at machinegunboards.com and get yourself educated. There are a number of different models, makers and eras, all at wildly different price levels. A correct 1921 Colt will set you back a bunch, while a West Hurley will be much, much cheaper. In between are the Lend Lease guns, the wartime production guns, police guns, commercial models, and lots of them have had parts changed, leaving mismatched parts in an attempt to make them more desirable. I am in the middle of going down the rabbit hole and getting educated myself.

And there are no "great deals" in the machine gun world. If they are listing there, they know what they have. Check the history and verify the images. If it sounds too good to be true, it most certainly is a scam. Good luck.
Yes....West Hurley. I'd never shoot a Colt Thompson, I have a buddy who owns five Colt Thompson and they are beautiful. I really enjoyed my Uzi and the Ruger AC 556, but if I go back into Class III, I want a West Hurley. Thanks.
 

FullAuto

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I've bought a few from David Spiwak and always had great dealing with him. I've talked to Ruben a few times. I've never purchased from him, but almost sold him several. He ended up with the 2nd highest bid, so I didn't do business with him. Ruben has always been known to be the highest price and he is the guy that sets that market, but that's because he's honest and always actually has the items. If you do a deal with Ruben, you will get your gun.

I sold 6 transferables to Only The Best Firearms in FL (including a West Hurley Thompson 1928). It was the only transaction I've had with them, but it went through without any problems. He even mailed me the hard cases and boxes with shipping labels to send him the guns after the forms approved.

No way would I do business with Frank at Midwest Tactical. He has 30+ years reputation of being a scammer. He changed his business name to Midwest Tactical because his reputation was so poor. He's been a punchline in the business for decades. There are TONS of stories of people not getting their items. He lists items as if he has them when they are really consignments that aren't in his possession. Then after you buy it, the actual owner may have already sold it or Frank can't complete the deal for some other reason. Ruben and Spiwak always owned what they were selling. If you bought something from Frank and actually received it, consider yourself lucky.

The rest of my guns I bought local. I bought my Uzi from Brandon at Machine Guns Plus back when it was ran out of his house in Piedmont and several others from the Fred Baker estate (Outdoor America).
 
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No way would I do business with Frank at Midwest Tactical. He has 30+ years reputation of being a scammer. He changed his business name to Midwest Tactical because his reputation was so poor.

Ooh, that Frank.... yes, stay away from him unless you like to gamble. I didn't realize that he rebranded to Midwest Tactical, so thanks fullauto, now I know.

I've bought and sold through Ruben and his customer service is excellent. When we sold him an M2HB and an Uzi, he sent boxes with fitted foam and arranged all the fedex shipping. When I bought from him, it was always as described and shipped quickly once the form was approved.

The first machine gun I bought was through a dealer in Edmond, he had a military name like general or colonel whatever. I was not impressed, as my form was approved and he never let me know until I finally called him to ask on status. I grew up around my father purchasing class III stuff and one of his friends was a dealer, so I respected the unspoken rule of don't call and bother the dealer, as it will be a long time and when it finally gets in, the dealer would call ASAP. However, by this time our dealer was in poor health and had relinquished his license, so I had to go through someone new.
 

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Ooh, that Frank.... yes, stay away from him unless you like to gamble. I didn't realize that he rebranded to Midwest Tactical, so thanks fullauto, now I know.

I've bought and sold through Ruben and his customer service is excellent. When we sold him an M2HB and an Uzi, he sent boxes with fitted foam and arranged all the fedex shipping. When I bought from him, it was always as described and shipped quickly once the form was approved.

The first machine gun I bought was through a dealer in Edmond, he had a military name like general or colonel whatever. I was not impressed, as my form was approved and he never let me know until I finally called him to ask on status. I grew up around my father purchasing class III stuff and one of his friends was a dealer, so I respected the unspoken rule of don't call and bother the dealer, as it will be a long time and when it finally gets in, the dealer would call ASAP. However, by this time our dealer was in poor health and had relinquished his license, so I had to go through someone new.
Major Malfunction!

That's a name I haven't thought of in a long time
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@Cohiba I might know a guy but I don't know if he's selling or just hoarding as an SOT, I'll ask him tomorrow, I know you said you didn't wanna know but I've done a bunch of standard stamps thru him
 

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