Group Industries conversion

[Truman]

Hi everybody! New (about to be in 7 or 8 months) UZI owner here.

I came across an IMI SA 9mm UZI which had the "Group Industries" conversion to FA done on it before 86.

After reading almost everything on this site, and still a bit confused, I have a couple of questions:

Were the Group Industries conversions "good"? In other words, were most of them full conversions so that I can get SMG parts for it later?

If it is a full conversion, is it also legal to put in the .22 or .45 bolts from an SMG kit, or just spare parts for 9mm?

I'll also point out that I did get to shoot it, and it seemed to be fine, but this was my first FA demo! I didn't take pictures, but from what I can remember, the bolt spring did not have the piece with the two feet at the end.

Thanks,
- Truman

[RoverDave]

Hi Truman. Welcome to UZI Talk! I'm glad to hear we have another member with an UZI on the way.

I know that Group Industries did FA conversion prior to building their own receivers but I don't know how their conversions were configured. Maybe someone here knows. Chances are they did a variety of configurations, possibly determined by how much the customer was willing to pay.

The first thing to figure out is if it's a registered receiver or a registered bolt. You need to see what part has the registered serial number. Even if the receiver is registered, it's possible that the blocking bar is still in the receiver, in which case a slotted bolt was used and would be married to the gun. If it's a registered bolt or if the bolt is married to the gun, you cannot remove the bolt and do a caliber conversion. If it's a straight registered receiver, you can drop in other bolts for a caliber conversion.

The end of the recoil spring is an indication of whether it's an open or closed bolt gun. That alone won't tell you what part is registered.

[Truman]

Thanks for the reply. I forgot to put this in my original post:

It is a registered receiver, and it is open bolt. I just didn't know what to look for on the inside, but he did take it apart for me before I shot it. It has one recoil spring in the bolt, but I don't remember seeing the part on the end of the spring with the two "feet".

- Truman

[RoverDave]

Okay, that's good news that it's a registered receiver. There's still the potential problem that there might be a bolt married to it. You can tell by looking at the side of the bolt - even with the gun fully assembled. If the bolt has a wide slot in the side (like one of the semi auto bolts), then that bolt is married to the receiver if the bolt itself is not registered. You should also take a look inside the receiver to see if the original blocking bar (a horizontal bar welded inside the right side of the receiver) is still there. Hopefully you do not have a blocking bar and it uses an unslotted bolt. If so, then you's be free to switch bolts for a caliber conversion. You should call your dealer and ask him to check it for you.

Something is needed to hold the back end of the recoil spring. Normally on an open bolt setup it's the redish pad attached to the end of the recoil spring. If your recoil spring didn't have that, it's possible that a separate recoil buffer was made (a lot of guys cut down the semi buffers) and inserted in the back of the receiver. That would hold the spring in place and would stay in the gun when the dealer pulled out the bolt. Your dealer could verify that as well though it's not critical. It would be easy to replace if you wanted to and does not affect your legal options like a slotted bolt would.

[Truman]

My form was approved last week, but it's lost between here and there... :(

Anyway, here's a pic of me holding the new toy back in February.
I'll be bringing it to Vegas next year, too.

[RoverDave]

Originally posted by Truman
My form was approved last week, but it's lost between here and there... :(

Anyway, here's a pic of me holding the new toy back in February.
I'll be bringing it to Vegas next year, too.

Okay, we're going to hold you to that!

Good news on the approval. How long has it been "lost"? It's not uncommon for it to take a couple of weeks past the approval date to get to your dealer.

[Truman]

It was approved on the 27th. Not all that long by itself, but the funny thing is this - I sold one, and that one was approved on the 28th (a day later than the Uzi), mailed on the 30th, and I got it yesterday.

They were different examiners, but don't they all use the same outbox?

[RoverDave]

If it was approved on April 27th, then I wouldn't worry yet. Don't assume you can apply any logic or pattern to their process. I've seen many of them take 2 weeks after approval to arrive.