The MAC-10 is not a hero gun.<\/p>\n
Sure, it might, for a brief moment end up in the hero\u2019s hand and serve as a deus ex machina, but it\u2019s not the gun that offs the villain, nor saves the girl. On a rare occasion it\u2019s wielded by a rogue cop, but mostly it\u2019s the gun of a henchman, a thug, a terrorist. He who carries the MAC-10 is cannon fodder.<\/p>\n
A boxy, mostly stamped metal .45 caliber submachine pistol that spits a lot of lead in a short amount of time, the MAC-10 went into production in 1970 by Military Armament Corporation with hopes of selling it for military use.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the MAC-10 seemed to be the bridesmaid to the military, sexy and fun for a time, but not the one you take home to mom. The sturdy and durable MAC-10 lacks in accuracy what it offers in rate of fire, with an effective range of only about 50 yards while firing off more than 1,000 rounds\/minute.<\/p>\n The U.S. military considered replacing the M1911 with it before choosing the Beretta M-9. The United Kingdom\u2019s Special Air Service Special Projects Team looked at the MAC-10 before choosing the Heckler & Koch MP5. The MP5 and the similarly tasked Uzi<\/a> have about a 100-yard range, while getting off about 800 rounds\/minute and 600 rounds\/minute, respectively.<\/p>\n The police didn\u2019t take the MAC-10 seriously either. One law enforcement official deemed it \u201cfit only for combat in a phone booth.\u201d<\/p>\n By 1976, Military Armament Corporation was out of business. And speaking of bad business, we have to touch on the fact that in reality, the MAC-10 was a gun of the drug war and extremism. It was used in a hit on a drug kingpin in Miami in 1979, and the assassination of a Denver radio talk show host by a neo-Nazi in 1984. As the 70s ended, South Florida cops came to call the MAC-10 the \u201cMiami chopper.\u201d<\/p>\n As the 80s began, the MAC-10\u2019s movie career was about to bust out. The gun was used in 15 films in the 70s, but more than twice that in the 80s. The MAC-10\u2019s compactness was easy to frame and photogenic as its holder threw lead in all directions, making it the \u201cgun that made the 80s roar.\u201d<\/p>\n It also offered a bit of reality for a time. The MAC-10 was used in 1983\u2019s \u201cScarface\u201d and frequently on television\u2019s \u201cMiami Vice,\u201d as a nod to the cocaine cowboys of south Florida. SWD, the maker of the MAC-10 in the 1980s, also made the Street Sweeper<\/a>, a revolving drum shotgun, that made its way into 80s action films.<\/p>\n Sure it was used by Columbian drug lords, but the MAC-10 was on the trigger finger of people on every side of the law, from Chinese hitmen to the A-Team, from anti-hero Snake Plissken, to vigilantes like Chuck Norris\u2019s J.J. McQuade and Charles Bronson\u2019s Paul Kersey. Even cops, spies, and soldiers.<\/p>\n When a movie called for a big shooting set piece, the MAC-10 was there. It was never a weapon of subtlety, mostly used to spray a room, like in \u201cScarface,\u201d \u201cDeath Wish 4,\u201d and \u201cRaw Deal.\u201d<\/p>\n The MAC-10 even found its way into comedy. Bill Murray and crew used it to bust out their fellow GIs in Yugoslavia \u2014 \u201cIt\u2019s like going to Wisconsin\u2026\u201d \u2014 in \u201cStripes,\u201d while the least-menacing movie couple of Dan Aykroyd and Donna Douglas let loose with the lead in \u201cSpies like Us.\u201d<\/p>\n The gun was already a Hollywood icon before it found its way into the movies of Hong Kong moviemaker John Woo and into the hands of Chow Yun-Fat, the epitome of action movie cool. When Chow wasn\u2019t firing dual Beretta 92Fs, he was mag dumping lead into bad guys in \u201cA Better Tomorrow 2.\u201d<\/p>\n Back in Hollywood, perhaps the MAC-10 had jumped the shark. By the end of the 1980s, the gun was only part of the supporting cast. Sure, the gun occasionally got called upon for heroics with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis in \u201cTrue Lies\u201d and Eddie Murphy\u2019s Axel Foley in \u201cBeverly Hills Cop III,\u201d but in the 1990s it found itself relegated to bit parts, used by thugs, gang members, and mobsters. More recently, in AMC’s \u201cThe Walking Dead<\/a>\u201d, the MAC-10 makes an appearance in the hands of the nefarious Negan.<\/p>\n As a new century dawned and the sun was setting on the MAC-10 as a movie gun, its purpose changed. It started showing up in new places \u2014 hip hop and video games \u2014 and in new ways. The MAC-10 became a protector and avenger.<\/p>\n Rappers like Nas, Prodigy, and Trippie Redd put the MAC-10 in their flows about \u201cthoughts of an assassin\u201d and \u201cdumping my gun.\u201d Dedrick D\u2019Mon Rolison is best known as Mack 10 and has sold nearly 11 million records between his solo work and work with super group Westside Connection.<\/p>\n Be it Xbox or PlayStation, the MAC-10 has commanded video games since the turn of the century. The gun has appeared in as many games as it did on film in the 70s and 80s, in titles like \u201cCounter-Strike,\u201d \u201cGrand Theft Auto: Vice City,\u201d \u201cFar Cry 2,\u201d and \u201cCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.\u201d<\/p>\n Video games brought the MAC-10 full circle. In films and on television it was put in the hands of those whose life had no meaning to the viewer, an extra, a guest star, or someone down the list of credits. In video games it is no longer the gun of a henchman.<\/p>\n In video games, the protagonist can be hero or anti-hero, like Lara Croft<\/a>, Tommy Vercetti, or Solid Snake. Good or bad, ultimately the gamer is staked to protect themselves, making, for a time, the MAC-10 a star.<\/p>\n The MAC-10 and its smaller cousin, the M11\/Nine harken back to the south Florida drug wars and the rollicking action movies of the 1980s. Three examples of the MAC-10, with its edgy history and the full-auto energy of a Class III firearm, are on offer in the Aug. 26-28 Premier Auction as are six smaller M11\/Nines.<\/p>\n Internet Movie Firearms Database<\/a><\/p>\n MAC 10: The Gun Made Famous by Hip Hop (But Was a Failure)<\/a>, By Peter Suciu<\/p>\n The MAC-10 Was an Over-Hyped Hunk of Junk<\/a>, by Darien Cavanaugh<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/ltgqVJYGwT8\/hqdefault.jpg\"\/)
![\"JW-w-MAC-10\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rockislandauction.com\/ghost\/size\/w1200\/2022\/08\/JW-w-MAC-10.jpg\")
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/span><\/a>Better known for wielding wheelguns, western film legend John Wayne tangled with bad guys using a MAC-10 in 1974’s “McQ.”<\/em><\/p>\nCocaine Cowboys and the Silver Screen<\/h3>\n
![\"Lot-3376-MAC-10\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rockislandauction.com\/ghost\/size\/w1200\/2022\/08\/Lot-3376-MAC-10.jpg\")
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/span><\/a>The MAC-10 is “the gun that made the 80s roar.”<\/em><\/p>\nHong Kong Calls<\/h3>\n
![\"Lot-3382-MAC-10\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rockislandauction.com\/ghost\/size\/w1200\/2022\/08\/Lot-3382-MAC-10.jpg\")
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/span><\/a>The MAC-10 found fame in movies and television, hip hop and video games.<\/em><\/p>\nHip Hop Swagger<\/h3>\n
![\"Lot-351-M11\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rockislandauction.com\/ghost\/size\/w1200\/2022\/08\/Lot-351-M11.jpg\")
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/span><\/a>Lot 351<\/a> is one of six M11\/Nines in the Aug. 26-28 Premier Auction. The M11\/Nine is a sub-compact version of MAC-10 that fires 9mm ammunition.<\/em><\/p>\nGrand Theft Auto and Beyond<\/h3>\n
![\"The-M10-is-one-of-the-heavy-hitters-for-Tomb-Raider-guns.\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.rockislandauction.com\/ghost\/size\/w1200\/2022\/07\/The-M10-is-one-of-the-heavy-hitters-for-Tomb-Raider-guns..jpg\")
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/span><\/a>The MAC-10, a classic pair of guns from the Tomb Raider series.<\/em><\/p>\nSources:<\/h3>\n