Q&A 27: Machine Guns with John Keene
1h 24m
For today's Q&A, I am joined by John Keene, retired US Army Master Sergeant and NFA specialist for the Morphy auction company (and for the James D Julia company before their acquisition by Morphy's). John has a tremendous knowledge of machine guns, the machine gun collecting community, and the legal issues surrounding it. We have some great questions from Patrons, and I think you will really enjoy the show today! Timestamps for questions:
0:00:52 - Favorite WW2 machine gun to handle or shoot?
0:02:28 - What transferrable MG is the best investment?
0:03:47 - What delayed development of large-caliber heavy MGs like the M2?
0:05:20 - If the NFA registry for machine guns was reopened, would you be happy?
0:10:14 - US copy of the MG42 in .30-06
0:15:40 - Is the Browning M2 still made or are the guns all WW2 vintage?
0:16:51 - What MG deserved more attention than it got?
0:20:42 - Opinion on Soviet MGs?
0:23:39 - Why did the Germans have high rates of fire on the MG34 and MG42 and why did the US not do the same?
0:25:58 - What was the most important development in early MGs?
0:28:08 - Converting PPSh or PPS to 9x19mm
0:30:58 - Why did the US not adopt the MG3?
0:33:14 - How common are rewelded/reactivated machine guns?
0:35:50 - What are good options for the introductory machine gun collector on a budget?
0:42:15 - Why did Germany continue to produce the MG34 after the introduction of the MG42?
0:44:15 - What factors determine machine gun value, and do some obscure guns fall through the cracks?
0:50:27 - What are some examples of transferrable guns the you wouldn't expect to exist in the registry?
0:52:56 - What are the strangest machine guns that came through Julia and Morphy's?
0:55:29 - What is the process for moving to a different state with NFA items?
0:56:20 - If you had to pick just one type of MG belt to use.
0:58:01 - NFA fakes?
1:01:15 - How do you know how many guns of a particular type are in the registry?
1:06:20 - Why did the US stick with the M1918A2 BAR as a light machine gun in WW2?
1:15:06 - How many machine guns came back with US GIs after WW2?
1:21:05 - Did the bump stock ban impact machine gun prices?