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Posted: 3/1/2026 7:37:12 PM EDT
| Thinking about adding a MAC-10 in 45acp or 9mm or MAC-11 380acp to the collection. Which would you pick? The 45acp is the original caliber, but 45acp is expensive. Good news I already have GG mags. The 9mm is the only double feed mags, plus cheap ammo. The 380acp is very small and light and I don't have a 380acp caliber submachine gun yet. What do you guys think? |
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Originally Posted By timkel: If you pick the M10 45acp you can easily convert it to 9mm. This! I have a Powder Springs MAC-10 in 45 and have an early PS 9mm upper on it more than the 45. Believe it or not, I use Czech VZ26 mags in the 45 acp magwell - No magwell adapter needed just notch it at the correct spot for the mag latch. The mags are made for 7.62x25 but you can run 9mm in them. I have original suppressors for 45 and 9mm - they are fun guns. I learned if you practice with a MAC-10, you can actually hit things with it.  Powder Springs MAC-10 45 with 9mm Upper using Vz26 mags  Powder Springs MAC-10 45 with 9mm Upper using Vz26 mags |
| Having owned both, I’d say the M11a1 .380 with either the large or small mag well, depending on what you plan to do with it. The ergos of the A1 are beyond superior to those of the M10 by a wide margin. And, with Lage’s new VERSA upper, you could probably set it up to shoot .45 with your A1 if you love the caliber. |
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Originally Posted By timkel: If you pick the M10 45acp you can easily convert it to 9mm. And 22LR and 223 and 300blk and 7.62x39 and belt fed (soon) and I'm sure more. Practical Solutions rimfire uppers are shipping. Lage has a multi cal/multi mag well upper, a drum mag fed 9mm upper, 223 upper (which uses AR barrels and bolt so anything AR15 goes) and they have announced a belt fed upper. The 223 upper is just as accurate as the AR barrel you use. The 10.5" that ships with it I can make doubles at 140 yards on 2/3IPSC. On semi I can hit the same target with the Lage 45ACP upper. The Max31 is very soft shooting with a low ROF. |
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Originally Posted By osprey21: I absolutely ♥ this little guy. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/766/5jHLy-1184569_-_Copy-3484457.jpg And of course his big brother. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/766/20220717_234158-2457137-3637546.jpg Wow - Really looks small in the that hand. I like the look of the small mag 380s, Please don't show any more pictures I will have to buy a 380! |
| I have the M10 in 45/9mm. I have the Lage 9mm upper with the drums, and the versa 45 upper with the grease gun mags. My only complaint is with the 9mm mags. I was able to get 6 stick mags for it, but I think they are done making them, and they are hard to load without a loader. The 45 upper slows it down to grease gun speeds. |
 I own 6 different MACs, all are good in various forms. The small magwell M11-A1 380 is very fast. Fantastic suppressed. I have multiple large frame M10s in both 45 and 9, and if you like old school cool, the fat boy in 45acp is a hoot. If you're going to Lage it up, it doesn't really matter what you end up with besides weight. The M11/9 and M11-A1 are much lighter. Speed of any can be adjusted with buffers or Mac jacks. If you only buy one, probably a standard M11/9 for parts availability and reduced mag costs. But as others said, many options out there. |
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Originally Posted By macloud: I have the M10 in 45/9mm. I have the Lage 9mm upper with the drums, and the versa 45 upper with the grease gun mags. My only complaint is with the 9mm mags. I was able to get 6 stick mags for it, but I think they are done making them, and they are hard to load without a loader. The 45 upper slows it down to grease gun speeds. The versa slows it down that much? I have a Lage 45ACP upper, haven't heard from them in weeks on what they found why it won't run. I hope it's less than the OE upper which is something like 1000RPM on my gun. Which 9mm mags? Origionals are modified Walther mags, I believe. |
| I've got an m11/9 and love it. I've got lots of lage uppers and also a 380 upper from Practical Solutions which is a great alternative. I never saw the appeal of the mac-10 frame. It's so big and bulky compared to the m11/9 or the m11 in 380. If you don't plan on shooting 45 out of it, go with one of the smaller frames. |
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Originally Posted By Deerhurst: The versa slows it down that much? I have a Lage 45ACP upper, haven't heard from them in weeks on what they found why it won't run. I hope it's less than the OE upper which is something like 1000RPM on my gun. Which 9mm mags? Origionals are modified Walther mags, I believe. It's significantly slower than the stock upper. If I have time tonight, I'll see if I can measure the rof. I've only shoot a few mags through it. The mags were the modified Z mags Lage was selling. |
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Originally Posted By hoodfu: I've got an m11/9 and love it. I've got lots of lage uppers and also a 380 upper from Practical Solutions which is a great alternative. I never saw the appeal of the mac-10 frame. It's so big and bulky compared to the m11/9 or the m11 in 380. If you don't plan on shooting 45 out of it, go with one of the smaller frames. https://youtu.be/0kU_ciKWOS8?si=laQvGLdJSeWIgMd4 Same setup I have. |
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Basically any decent condition mac would suffice if your planning on running Lage goodies. I ended up selling my other macs and kept my m11a1 as I run it with the ps baby ghost and cfw bolt configuration the most. If going with an m10 id get a 45 acp example as you can still run 9mm and have the 45acp option if you want that. It will be heavier and feel more chunky though. Makes me kind of want another m10 again now that I think about it. |
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Originally Posted By cherenkov: Wow - Really looks small in the that hand. I like the look of the small mag 380s, Please don't show any more pictures I will have to buy a 380! They are smaller than most folks realize. This is my M11A1 with a Glock 17 laid on top of it for comparison. 
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Originally Posted By jbntex: They are smaller than most folks realize. This is my M11A1 with a Glock 17 laid on top of it for comparison. https://i.imgur.com/fwFdfxM.jpg can we see a little video of it running?  |
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Originally Posted By Chas8008: adorable. can we see a little video of it running? I don't have any videos but maybe one of the guys I went to Big Sandy in October has one. (I will have to ask) I do distinctly recall all of us shooting it machine pistol style at the RC airplanes during the night shoot using 33rd mags full of 9mm happy valley tracer and maybe somebody grabbed a video of that given the "star wars" style visual effect. Next time you are back in CenTex send me an email or text and we can see about meeting to let you shoot your old friend in its new config. Its still running open bolt with a CFW bolt but am hoping to find some time later this year to do the closed bolt conversion. |
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I can only speak to the M11/9. I wanted one based off of affordability, aftermarket support and, of all the MAC’s I find it proportionally appealing. Any of them can be turned into a reliable, modern gun. Mines been through about every configuration you could imagine, occasionally I switch it up if I want to have fun dumping mags really quickly  But for the most part it’s in the Lage configuration.Attached FileIt’s a smooth 600 RPM, 30 and 50 round mag dumps at 25 yards I can keep most of them on my 8” plate. Absolute hoot. Just had her out last Saturday. |
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Originally Posted By jbntex: I don't have any videos but maybe one of the guys I went to Big Sandy in October has one. (I will have to ask) I do distinctly recall all of us shooting it machine pistol style at the RC airplanes during the night shoot using 33rd mags full of 9mm happy valley tracer and maybe somebody grabbed a video of that given the "star wars" style visual effect. Next time you are back in CenTex send me an email or text and we can see about meeting to let you shoot your old friend in its new config. Its still running open bolt with a CFW bolt but am hoping to find some time later this year to do the closed bolt conversion. |
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