After reading our founder’s article, “What would you buy, if there were no restrictions whatsoever”, I’ve really thought a lot about one of his questions:

Would Glock start designing fully automatic machine pistols? Would people start buying machine pistols for self-defense rather than just for fun at the range?

It is technically legal to carry full-auto or select fire firearms for self-defense in my area (I’ve personally known those that do), yet highly impractical due to the cost and rarity of such pieces. Were there no restrictions, however, I certainly would carry a select-fire machine pistol.  The only problem is that as of right now, most have cyclic rates of fire that are very rapid.

I’ve found submachine guns such as the MP5K, P90, and the PPSH to be comically controllable at high cyclic rates of 900-1000rpm, but I’ve come to conclusion that for a machine pistol, my ideal rate of fire would be in the 350-400 rounds per minute range a la the M3 submachine gun. That’s about as rapidly as I can fire while still aiming my shots and retaining a sight picture with a handgun.  Given that I can’t think of any such handgun that exists as of yet, I’d probably settle for a Stechkin APS which has a rate of fire of 750rpm due to a rate reducer.  How about you, readers?  Political/legal implications aside, would you use full-auto for everyday carry, home defense, or sports?  If so, what would your ideal rate of fire be?