New to UZI, need help

[Chosinsteve]

I'm new to Uzi's. I bought a deluxe parts kit from RTG. I've been trying to without luck to find someone to send it off to complete and bring back to life as a semi auto rifle. I did talk to BWE earlier today and he's not accepting any new work right now but he did say his price is about $2,500 for the build. That seems pretty steep since I could just buy a pre-ban Model A for a little less. Any help or recommendations are appreciated. Thank you.

 

[gman552]

Welcome to UziTalk!

You might try John Andrewski, although he specializes in full-auto guns.

Contact info here: http://johnandrewski.com/

He did a great job refurbishing the Uzi host gun for my registered bolt.

Is there a particular reason you want to have a kit built up instead of buying a pre-ban semi-auto Uzi?

 

[Chosinsteve]

I was thinking it might be a little cheaper than getting a pre-ban. Plus I was wanting to have all those IDF markings on it. The build itself seems pretty straight forward, so I'm really not understanding why it's so expensive. I've had AK kits built, an FAL and a Cetme C built and seem more labor intensive.

 

[David Hineline]

Go buy a used Corvette, then cut it to pieces with a torch, then ask a professional how much it would cost to put it all back together with new pieces and make it nice again. Common sense says something built by hand manually is always more expensive that a mass production shop designed to make a thousand pieces a day.

 

[BWE Firearms]

Go buy a used Corvette, then cut it to pieces with a torch, then ask a professional how much it would cost to put it all back together with new pieces and make it nice again. Common sense says something built by hand manually is always more expensive that a mass production shop designed to make a thousand pieces a day.

Well said.

OP wants a semi auto Uzi welded up from a parts kit for $400. I don't think he is going to get a very good Uzi for that price.

 

[ktk120]

dump the kit and spend the money on an MP5 MP5K variant. The uzi in my opinion in semi auto is very blah. That or dump the kit and buy the model B at least its worth what you paid or more. Like AKs a kit is a kit build no matter who does it and very little to no market on resale. $3000 in kit rebuild worth less than half even if you can find a buyer my 2 cents

 

[nklf]

If you really want the kit build, buy a jig and repair section. Then sign up for a welding class at your local community college and build the receiver as part of your class project.

 

[slimshady]

Yep, the only way to save money on a kit build is to do it yourself with free labor. Skilled trades labor is not cheap.

 

[RoverDave]

Even doing it yourself, building an UZI has never been a money saver. Guys do it for the fun of it, not to save money.

 

[Seven Clicks Up]

I agree with the above posts.
There's not much you can use with a smg parts kit anyway.
The extra parts needed for a semi will cost you much, much more in the long run. I understand what you are trying to do,
but in my opinion, it's just not worth the cost and hassle.
Buy yourself a nice semi and be done with it.
You will still need a semi bolt, striker assembly, semi buffer and a proper semi grip assembly.
Add up those costs plus labor, and you could have bought a nice semi with a lot of extras like mags, ammo, maybe a top cover with a rail to mount an optic.

 

[root]

Even doing it yourself, building an UZI has never been a money saver. Guys do it for the fun of it, not to save money.

THIS^^^

Only way to save money is do it yourself and you need to convert the bolt to semi, mill your own feed ramp, buy a barrel, and convert the grip to semi, weld in the repair section, and a piece of scrap to make a blocking bar.

You don't need a jig you can use the top cover to get your OAL.

Now that's about 400 bux
.

250 for the kit 100 for the barrel and 50 in scrap metal and consumables unless you have to buy them.
None of it is hard but you need at the least a lathe with a milling attachment or a mill.

If you have to buy the tools and the machines then you need BWE since your going to come out cheaper then buying machines and learning how to use them.

Check out weaponsguild for a ton of info on building guns.

You can build your uzi with nothing but a welder and files but you will need a 300 semi bolt.

HERE ..... http://www.uzitalk.com/reference/pages/buildminiuzi.htm miniuzi build

AND HERE http://www.uzitalk.com/reference/pages/builduzi.htm weld up on the UZI

These links are right on the main page.

Rich

 

[fortyfive1911a1]

As others have said, building an Uzi from a parts kit or even a stripped new receiver should be a passion project that you do yourself. And it still won’t be cost effective.

There really are no “cheap” Uzis out there. Even Vector semi autos seem to be going for $1500 these days on Gunbroker. I was lucky to get a Vector semi for $995 before they disappeared a few years ago - even considering all the issues I had to correct.

Probably the cheapest option in 2020 is waiting for the Atlantic sponsored Uzis to come back in stock.

https://www.atlanticfirearms.com/products/aam-rmuz-09

 

[PDXsparky]

I was thinking it might be a little cheaper than getting a pre-ban. Plus I was wanting to have all those IDF markings on it. The build itself seems pretty straight forward, so I'm really not understanding why it's so expensive. I've had AK kits built, an FAL and a Cetme C built and seem more labor intensive.

How many hours do you think it might take to make an Uzi from a parts kit? How much per hour do you think a highly skilled specialist gunsmith will charge? Multiply those 2 numbers will give you the answer as to what it should realistically cost. Keep in mind that if a smith is good and has many months of backlog work to do isn't likely to be discounting his services.

 

[root]

Just welding it together would be 5 hrs for me another 3 or so to clean/blend the seems.

Convert the bolt 3 days 24 hrs to anneal and two days worth of setup & mill time to convert

Modify PG to semi and mill a feed ramp another 3 hrs

Fab a semi striker about a day for setup weld and fitment

Order springs for the semi stuff about a week to come in.

Parkerize another 1/2 day probably longer as I always do a big pile of mags parts and sometimes guns too.

I've done 1 miniuzi 5 FS uzi's and have a micro parts kit waiting for me to finish a few other builds.

I charge 32 a hr for the parts, tools and security devices I make for repo lots

so BWE is probably cheaper and I can't build a gun for someone else anyways I'm not a 07.

Build it because you want it not because it's cheaper.

You will have the pride of saying I made this.

It's also the only way you will come in at under 4- 600 bux, 1000 if you buy a lot of already converted parts.

Rich

PS: it will have no resale value as mentioned above.

I had a friend try to sell one we put together he was offered 300 at the LGS owner said "ya its a UZI but not a IMI so it has no collectable value."
He still has it.

 

[tacdrivrnc]

It looks like McKay has uzi FS receivers back in stock. You could maybe ask for one papered as a "pistol" or "other" and then use your parts kit to build it up. Buy a brace adapter for the back and run a pistol brace on it. Have the parts kit barrel breech turned down by a machine shop to fit the barrel ring. You'll also need a semi auto bolt, striker/firing pin assembly, and maybe trigger grip assembly. The existing assembly could be modified but you'll need to weld a block in so the safety can't go forward to the FA position. Also you'll need a front sling mount and rivet. That may require a gunsmith or shop to install. And then refinish. You could probably trade off the parts you can't use, like the bolt, to help with the cost. But I'd say budget about $1000 to cover the receiver, semi bolt and striker assembly, brace adapter and brace, small parts, turning the barrel to fit, and refinish. It isn't too bad to build one up this way. It's just that parts are more expensive than 10 years ago. And you have an option for a pistol brace, which wasn't available 10 years ago.

 

[Machines]

Regarding buying an Uzi, what people are asking on Gunbroker and what people are actually getting are two different things. Most sellers ask over $2K and never find a buyer. It's always been that way. Right now an Action Arms import should run you about $1300-1800 depending on accessories and who you're bidding against. Vector probably $1000-1300, Norinco less.

 

[dustindu4]

I'll give you 100 for that parts kit

 

[travinh]

The total cost for my 1st Uzi was ~$990 ($325 Mckay bolt + $325 Mckay rec + $95 barrel + $150 part kit).

On my second Uzi, I plan to learn how to weld it myself. It will cost me $565 ($80 rec section + $50 grips + $300 mod B bolt + $50 misc parts + $85 barrel), plus $399 for the tig weld machine.

I sold my SMG bolt to a member on AKfiles for $62 bucks to recoup some money.

I found this great deal ($1050) on AR forum. You may want to check it out.
https://www.ar15.com/forums/Equipment-Exchange/Vector-uzi-unfired/93-1965099/

 

[Chosinsteve]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and replies. I went ahead and bought a McKay receiver, and semi bolt assembly. I'm lucky that my neighbor down the road has welding equipment and can weld in the block to prevent the selector from moving into the FA position. I'm also going to see about having him install the sling swivel. If it is not salvageable, I guess I can just get the parts from BWE. Now what I'm really trying to source is a semi auto sear. Do a lot of these Uzi parts just come in batches and if so is it best to just order a few things here and there?

 

[Waterluvr]

Regarding buying an Uzi, what people are asking on Gunbroker and what people are actually getting are two different things. Most sellers ask over $2K and never find a buyer. It's always been that way. Right now an Action Arms import should run you about $1300-1800 depending on accessories and who you're bidding against. Vector probably $1000-1300, Norinco less.

In the last 48 hours I have watched 2 GB auctions close on IMI model B's complete with the case, manual, sling, both barrels etc. as imported one sold 2K and other 1995.00 ~Lot's of us were making the first mortgage payments and having little ones when these were new on the shelf for a couple hundred bucks and life got in the way of making that a reality.

Here we are 35 years later and there's lots of us finally ready to scratch that old itch and you can bet the market is going to reflect that on pre-ban IMI's going forward. I just bought my first IMI locally and spent similar $ to make it happen.

The clones just aren't that appealing to those of us that remember these when they were new on the shelf at LGS's, it haunted many a collector they didn't get in the game for cheap when it was an option.