Before I die, I want to shoot a full-auto Thompson machine gun, for one simple reason: Warren Zevon’s song Roland the Headless Thompson gunner. The line “Roland aimed his Thompson gun, he didn’t say a word” gets me every time. I’d also like to shoot a genuine Civil War Henry rifle. What’s on your firearms bucket list?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

123 COMMENTS

  1. I’d like an AK-47. I don’t need one, but I like the idea that Dianne Feinstein flinches every time a US citizen legally acquires an AK-47. Something about that 30-round banana clip…

    • At this very moment we’re seeing the beginning of an AR-15esque AK Renaissance. For decades, the AK market has relied entirely on Cold War milsurp goodies, waiting to see what bullet-hose babies the soviet stork will bring over on the next boat. In addition to a healthy supply of newly manufactured rifles from Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia and Serbia, US gun makers are finally starting to realize how awesome the rifle and it’s calibers are. There’s now a small selection of 100% U.S. made AKs on the market. Unfortunately global conflict is keeping the bottom from falling out on prices like it has for ARs. The next 5 years are going to be fun.

  3. BAR

    Might as well throw in the M249 and a P90 for kicks.

    Already got to shoot a Thompson. That was a lot of expensive fun!

    • P90 was the second gun I ever fired, and it was a lot of fun.

      My bucket list includes;
      – BAR
      – AUG
      – Tavor
      – M14
      – M2
      – AK74U
      – M60

    • My Infantry training at Camp Geiger included firing the BAR from the hip. We were trained to aim low-left, and let the weapon pretty much do what it wanted. The result was the first few rounds kicking up a lot of dust, then the shots traced across a silhouette at an angle of about 45 degrees.

    • The M249 is OK, but what you really want to fire is her bigger, more well-endowed sister, the 240.

      Before I die, I’d like to find the people that popularized that stupid term, “bucket list,” and throw them out of a six-story window.

      • I also hate the phrase “bucket list”.

        Now the additional guns I’d like to buy include:

        AR15 (even though I’m more of an AK guy)
        Lever action rifle 30-30 or .357/.44 mag
        Pocket 9 (Shield or Glock 43 to rotate w my J-frame and .380)
        30-06 or .270 hunting rifle (probably Savage 110)
        Ruger Charger pistol .22

        if I get more ambitious and more cash

        .308 semiauto (maybe Zastava or M1A/FAL)
        7.62x54R VEPR Semiauto
        Tavor
        Sub-2000
        GP100
        SKS
        Ruger 10/22 (already have Marlin 60 and 795 so this is a low priority)
        5.56 Ruger American Predator
        LCR

        Hope my wife doesn’t see these lists. She already thinks I have way too many guns.

        • Also a EVO3 Skorpion w shoulder brace and Zastava M92 PAP w shoulder brace. Then lets throw in a Garand, an M1 carbine and a 5.45 AK.

          That should suffice

          Oh, and a Ruger Mark 2 pistol or three

        • 7.62x54R VEPR Semiauto: Literally just ordered one today!
          Tavor: Got one.
          Sub-2000: Had one, sold it.
          SKS: Got one.
          Ruger 10/22: Got three.

          I’m not bragging, I’m just impressed that I apparently have decent taste.

        • Timmy!

          Similar tastes to me, does not necessarily indicate “good taste”!

          Congrats on the great gun collection!

        • I share in your taste as well. I had over half of your list before “theboatingaccident”.

          I’d also recommend a PSL if the VEPR is difficult… I love mine.

          The GP100 is also an amazing wheelgun, you’ll love it.

  4. I’ve shot glock 17s with the auto sear but am longing to shoot a true glock 18. Also the 17 had a stock both times and a suppressor once.

    • ^^This^^.
      And a Thompson. I got to play with the Ma Deuce and the M60. Fortunately I wasn’t paying for the ammo.

      Unfortunately the familiarization was cut short due to dry conditions on the range. We were starting fires with the tracers.

      • Ditto. That bird was my son’s favorite airframe. He always said it was like flying a top fuel dragster, with teeth.

  6. Full auto Thompson for me as well, but because my grandfather loved his (he did some horse trading to get it, wasn’t supposed to have it, modified the Garand scabbard on his jeep to keep it in). After that, probably an M2.

    To own, broomhandle Mauser. And a .32 PPK. An HSC would be nice, but that probably isn’t too far off on the horizon.

  7. Got to cross shooting the 1927 Thompson off my list in ’92.
    What a thrill. Only full auto I’ve ever fired. Love to have one. Also on the ownership bucket list:
    1. A H&K P7M8
    2. A Philippine Police contract S&W Model 25 w/4-inch bbl and round butt.
    3. A Luger
    4. A M1 Garand in 7.62

    • ^^This^^

      Specifically, an AK-47. All mine have been broken by the ATF so they only fired 1 round per trigger pull :^(

  9. That wasnt a WW2 model. I have an uncle that carried a Thompson in Korea. He was a big guy but said it was a bitch to carry and the ammo was worse but there was no other weapon he’d rather carry to war. He said when he was surrounded in Korea and he cut down ob the commies they all hit the dirt and no one looked up to see where the fire was coming from.

  11. I recently got to cross off shooting an MG-42, so now I figure a BAR or Thompson would be a good next choice.

  13. Minigun and Ma Deuce.
    (Tracking Point and MP5SD were also on my list, but got to shoot both of them at TIFF last year!)

  14. My goal is to eventually own an example of the definitive guns throughout US history.

    Up next is likely a Garand, unless I happen on a smoking deal for something from a previous war. Joining the usual suspects would be an AK because of the role the Soviets played during the American Golden Era.

    • “My goal is to eventually own an example of the definitive guns throughout US history.”

      Oh, yeah, you’re a lawyer. That goal is actually obtainable for you…

      Don’t forget us little people when you go to the range, I’ll happily clean full-auto toys for the chance to shoot one…

      🙂

      • I said it was a goal, not that it has any chance of ever happening. I suspect that an AR with milspec furniture will be the closest I ever get to an M-16.

        Part of the problem is that there are too many decisions to make in deciding which conflicts merit collection and whether a replica or original would be best. Making matters worse are the early conflicts when men brought their own weapons – what is the quintessential Revolutionary musket? And if I really wanted to get honest, I’d pick up some lead and a cast.

        • I actually prefer re-furb, repro, non-matching or battle worn pieces for multiple reasons. I can afford more of them, i can actually shoot them without feeling bad or risking my investment and I can handle them without kid gloves.

          Cars don’t deserve to spend their lives on trailers and guns don’t deserve a life behind glass.

  17. Shot a P90 , FA Krink, FA AK, FA Thompson. Fun but expensive. FA M14 might be fun…..BAR….. anything shoulder fired with a giggle switch.

  19. To shoot, or to own?

    Someday, I hope to own a Sphinx 3000, and a Sig P210 – while rare in the US, they’re at least attainable.

    Just to shoot? A minigun. I know there are places that rent full auto machine guns up to an M2, but I don’t know of anyplace that rents a minigun.

    • Battlefield Vegas rents miniguns. And probably anything else you would want to play with. I wish I could go. 🙁 it’s like adult Disneyland. Where you don’t catch something nasty…

  21. Had a chance to crank off some rounds in a Gatling gun for $20. I passed and I’ve been kicking myself since. A Dillon mini gun would be a blast as well.

  23. M2HB (maybe M3 aircraft), Hughes Heligun, PTR91, some kind of .50 BMG upper receiver, Howa AR-180, Saiga 12, M249, 1911 in 10mm, Yugo M53 in .308… A few “normal” AK-47s, as all I have are Saigas in NATO chambers…

  26. Not Done – TIE: Quad 50 versus M5 Stuart Tank. Oklahoma has a healthy NFA culture, there’s a big shoot every June. Some of the owners are kind enough to rent their pieces. One guy brings a Quad Fifty (not 1, not 2, but 4 M2HB .50’s!!), another an M5 Stuart light tank w/functional 37mm main gun. Can’t decide which….
    Done: M1A1 Thompson, MP40, Sten MkIII, M3A1, Walther MPL, Uzi, MAC-10 .45 (suppressed), M45 Swedish K, Sterling Mk5, MP5, MP5SD, M2 carbine (auto), Steyr AUG (auto), FN-FAL (auto), G3 (auto), AKM, AK74, RPK, M1918A2 BAR, PKM, MG3 – yeah, a little bit of bragging, but this is a site for people who like guns, right? 🙂

  28. In 1973, as a student at The Basic School in Quantico, I was assigned to teach a class to satisfy the “Techniques of Military Instruction” requirement. The FBI Academy was just up the road, so I drove over and asked the armorer if I could check out a bunch of older predessors of the then-current M-16 to support a class on the development of the assault rifle (yes, we used that term back then).

    The armorer thought it was a great idea and helped load up the Fiat 124 Spider’s trunk with a dozen automatic weapons, the oldest of which was a Thompson. That was a Thursday. My class was Friday. He told me to return them Monday.

    I have no idea whether any of this was legal per se, but things were different then, and I was an entitled, ballsy 2dLt. So I spent Saturday shooting it at a dump site off base, and Sunday cleaning it. Monday they were all returned (and I was invited to shoot Hogan’s Alley, but that’s another story). The Tommy Gun was fun, but HEAVY! So that’s not on my list.

    M-60s, M-85s, M-76s, etc., been there-got the tattoo. My bucket list does include commissioning revolvers from John Linebaugh and/or Hamilton Bowen. I want a .50 caliber five-shooter.

  29. I’ve fired the M-16, M-14, M-1, and the Springfield ’03. I always wanted to go back one more step in that list of United States Rifles and fire a Krag. The way I heard the story, the old-timers wanted to keep the Springfield ’03 when the M-1 first appeared, and the same faction swore the Krag was more accurate than the Springfield when the ’03 was first issued.

    • I’d like to fire the M14 with live ammo. I’ve put thousands of blanks through them, and became the impromptu armorer (the “experts” knew nothing about them, yet I managed, with one other guy helping, to get our honor guard’s safe from being half unusable to having four inoperable rifles without spending a dime) yet have never fired a live round. A full auto mag dump from my favorite battle rifle would be pretty satisfying.

    • I have shot .30-40 Krag with an 1895 Winchester lever action rifle. It was a pleasant gun to shoot and the recoil was fairly mild.

  32. Although I spent many long hours behind an M2, along with many more cleaning it…. I wouldn’t mind spending a little more time with one before I die.

    I’d like to get my hands on an S-18/1000 Solothurn, L39 Lahti, or an StG-44

    But since that’ll never happen, I’d settle for an SVT-40, AG-42 Ljungman, or a CZ ZH-29.

    Ah, hell…… that’ll never happen, either. Guess I’ll just have to be happy with what I got.

  33. My bucket list gun was the SIG P-210. I managed to scratch that itch a few years ago when I found a 210-6 in terrific condition at a time when I had the money.

  34. Rifles: A Sturmgewehr, an M2 Carbine (the one with a selector switch), a full-auto M16, P90, and KRISS Vector
    Pistols: Sig P210, a Colt Python, “Red 9” M96 Mauser, a .32 Walther PP, and a vintage WWII 1911A1.

    More than shooting anything particularly fancy and rare, I’d really like to be able to shoot common stuff extremely well. Like my beloved P226. Hence why I relish any chance to attend competition.

  35. I would like to shoot the guns Dad played with in WWII. BAR, Thompson, Ma Deuce, M36 Slugger Tank Destroyer with 90mm gun, 60mm mortar. As a bonus I would like to shoot a 155mm howitzer which Grandfather was in charge of in WWI.

  36. I’ve managed to use (all in FA) a Tommy gun, Glock 17, m1918, Stg-44, MP-5, an AR-15 with 6″ or 7″ barrel, and maybe one or two others that I can’t remember right now. I would like to use a Bren and a MG-42.

  38. M256A1 120 mm smoothbore gun in an Abrams while going fast at moving targets. All while blaring “Ride of the Valkyries” or maybe “Thunderstruck.”

  40. Legally teach a class with a concealed firearm. Ideally to students who also have that choice.
    Legally visit a Post Office (without parking on the street) and leaving any gun I might be carrying behind.
    Go to Cabela’s and have the choice of full-auto or three round burst.
    Not be punished because some gangbangers a thousand miles away killed each other.
    Etc.

  41. I was fortunate enough to be chosen to attend a Special Forces foreign weapons course in 1981 while stationed at Schofield Barracks. It was the greatest week of my 3 year Army career. We got schooled in and shot the following:
    AK47
    FN FAL
    MP5
    Silenced Sten gun
    Sterling
    An M14 for comparisons sake

    The AK was not yet available commercially. We used Egyptian ammo.

    My favorite by far was the M14. I felt like I could hit anything I could see.
    It was a great time. Lots of extra push-ups for wrong answers.

    Now? I would really love to give an MG42 a try.

  43. Firearms bucket list = Never have to use one in self defense before i die.

    Everything else is icing on the cake.

    • Agreed, though I’d prefer to have the right to needlessly carry whatever ‘useless’ hunk of metal that might tickle my fantasy in the period of time between when I pull up pants and decide what to have for breakfast.

  45. A Girandoni air rifle and a .600 NE double rifle.
    I’ve been fortunate to shoot just about everything.

  46. Have shot a variety of full auto weapons (I have interesting friends).

    But what I really, really want is to own a BAR. And maybe a duffel bag volume of loaded magazines.

  49. I’m 62 and had a .50AE Desert Eagle on my list for a few years. I Bought one about 8 months ago, I’ve got a huge smile on my face every time I pull the trigger. Life is worth living. 🙂

  51. I’ve got some cool ones under my belt, Thompson, M249, M240B, Mk19.

    What I really want to shoot is an M60E4 or E6, standing.

  53. Save your pennies up and go to the machine gun shoot in Kentucky. I see damn near everything mentioned on reruns of “GUNTUCKY”…Fully auto shotgun sounds like lots of fun…FPS Russia’s most viewed video I presume…

  55. Most fun I’ve ever had was being a Bradley Gunner and unleashing the M242 25mm Bushmaster. My pants got tight every time. M320 was a fun replacement for the M203. Liked that I could carry it on a sling or on my M4.

  57. All of that.
    My life is almost over.
    20 yrs past expiration date.
    Want to teach grand son and daughter to shoot using my grandfathers Remington 1880 pump 22 short

  58. MG42, assuming of course a man portable minigun is available outside of the movies and i’d actually have the strength to hold it (which i wouldn’t)

  59. I want to shoot a .50-caliber rifle. An M82A1 preferably but anything in .50 BMG will do.
    I also want to shoot a fully-automatic rifle. AK, M16, M249, Thompson, I’m not as picky here.
    I’d love to get my mitts on a minigun, just once. The idea of having control over a bullet hose sounds like a ton of fun.

    I’d also like to light off an old Civil War-era cannon. And a rocket launcher (AT4, TOW, Stinger, RPG-7, again not picky)

  60. If I can just have the bucket of firearms, I promise not to be too picky about the details.

  61. I only have 2 on my list of shooting wants right now. Unsurprisingly one of those, the m1, was already mentioned. I was really surprised that the other, p08 luger, wasn’t mentioned at all. I think the p08 would have to be at the top of the list since they’ll never reproduce those again and m1’s are still being made. Now that. I think about I should add the m1a (not m14 although having the giggle switch on my AK would be cool).

    • If I ever find one for sale, I’ll let you know so we can split the cost; I wouldn’t mind sharing custody of a Solothurn. 😉

  63. I want to own someday, in no particular order:
    .50ae Dessert Eagle
    Webley Fosbery semi-auto revolver
    Dragunov
    Steyr AUG
    Luger P08
    Chauchat
    Aaaaaand… a few more I can’t think of off the top of my head.

  64. I’ve shot the M16, Ak47, Thompson, M249, M240, MP5, Mk19, and M2 .50

    I’ve shot the Mk153 SMAW, AT-4, thrown the M67 frag and detonated numerous claymore, and various explosive charges.
    It ceased being “fun” years ago for me. I don’t really care about full auto weapons anymore, but would love for my state to allow SBRs and suppressors.

  65. I’m surprised I haven’t seen it listed already!
    What’s on my bucket list?
    A bucket, of course! A good stainless steel bucket, with tight fitting lid!
    It’s the shits to have had cancer in the lower track!

    Oh, what guns on my list, a model 1903 Mannlicher Schoenauer carbine.

  66. Here we go ;
    1. Noreen Bad News 338 Lapua Magnum
    2. Israeli M240 L 7.62 Machine Gun
    3. Ruger Bowen .500 maximum
    4. 2 Jericho 45 caliber pistols
    5. Israeli x95
    6. 3000 rounds of M855 A1 ammo
    7. M240L 7.6 Machine gun
    8. NG7 machine gun
    9. 2 M1A1 Abrams
    10. Tavor GTAR
    11. Green Eyed Laser using the CROWS technology
    12. another KelTek CMR 30

  68. I’ve shot a SAW, quad 50, MP5-SD, AK-47, M16, M82A1, GE gatling gun, and a FA GLOCK. Right now, a shoulder fired rocket is the only thing I would love to shoot before I die.

  70. Fired most of the modern stuff in the Army. Never got to do mortars – would have liked that.

    Fired the Thompson at The Gun Shop in Vegas.

    But OWNING one is on the bucket list. Price seems to be around $25k these days. Which is also the value of the jewelry I’d have to buy to get the spouse to authorize the Thompson purchase.

  71. I’d like to to do some 1000 yards shooting with a good precision rifle, for the achievement, and fire a Vickers gun for fun.

    • Noreen make fine long range rifles .
      I am amazed at how many folks don’t yet own an AK 47 there are 3.2 billion of these things out there and even the Egyptian and Chinese ones are usable , personally , I’m not a big fan , mine gather dust .

  72. After the SAW, the M60 and the 50 cal, everything else is just ho-hum.
    Don’t really have a “bucket list” but I do have a small handful on my to buy list.
    M1A, a couple of 1911’s, Browning Buckmark, maybe an XDs. That’s about it.

  73. I’d like to own an original Sharps .50-90. And I’d like to try and recreate the shot Billy Dixon made at Adobe Walls.
    Beyond that, there are dozens of flintlock fowlers and rifles I’d like to shoot or own. Never have enough flinters.

  74. I have no need to own a Thompson, but I’d love to fire one full auto for about 100 rounds worth. I have no desire to own monster caliber rifles or handguns. I’m getting too old & crippled up to deal with heavy recoil that used to be “fun”. My “bucket list” of firearms would be an AR in .308 that would shoot 2″ groups at 100 yards, a bolt action .308 that would shoot under 1″ at 100 yards, a Stoeger .22LR Luger copy that they used to sell about 35 years ago, and a Colt Woodsman National Match pistol in .22 LR (last one I saw was $3000). Oh yeah, and a S&W 659 9mm semi-auto pistol as a companion to my Marlin 9mm Camp Carbine (they use the same mags). I’m thinking that $3500 would get me everything but the Colt Woodsman.

  75. I’ve been fortunate enough to fire a lot of civilian firearms, but I haven’t yet fired anything full-auto. That, along with a Barrett .50 cal rifle, are on my to-shoot list. I may one day spring for a PS90 (a P90 would be even more fabulous!) but Iowa is really tough on SBR’s and the FN space gun just doesn’t look right with a 16″ barrel.

    Several of you mentioned Tavors on your lists. Stop by and I’ll help you scratch that itch. 🙂

  76. 20mm Anti Tank Rifle.
    Gau – 19/B
    MK19
    RPG
    BAR
    MG42 (or modern equivalent)
    Maxim MG
    A Punt Gun! (preferable boat equipped)

  78. Realistically:
    Broomhandle Mauser
    Luger
    1903 springfield
    K-31
    Stainless Deagle
    Trench shotgun/full kit

    Unrealistically(unless Ted Nugent puts me in his will):
    MG-42
    Ma Deuce
    Anything chambered in “.17 Flintstone Super Eyebunger”
    Lahti 20mm
    M240
    An actual sharps carbine

    Pipe dream:
    One of everything

    I’d also pay next to anything for the specific 218 bee rifle my grandfather used to own. I watched him hit running rabbits at 100 yds.(a guess from memory) on more than one occasion. He used that rifle for so long he hardly had to aim. Sadly this was “lost” to my douche bag uncle who saw everything as $$$$$$.

    That rifle was family.

    • A couple more….

      GyroJet
      M1A
      Mateba
      AEK-906 “Nosorog”(original Russian “Rhino”)
      Calico

  79. What’s on my bucket list? To make new manufacture full-auto Thompson’s as easy to obtain as a bolt action rifle. With current gen CNC machining, really they wouldn’t be that expensive.

    • Oh, and everybody in this thread, go to youtube and look up “machine gun tourism” and get your tickets to Vegas. There are a few ranges open there now that rent machine guns. One of them even has a mini-gun.

  82. My list is similar to a lot of people’s. Thompson, minigun, ma deuce. I think battlefield Vegas has all of those. An StG44 would be good too. I’d also be curious about an m14 since I have a semi auto version and I’d be familiar with the platform at least.

Comments are closed.