LF-57 Available from Morphys here:
https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/_N__MARS_EQUIPMENT_CORP_FRANCHI_M1962_MACHINE_GUN_-LOT667044.aspx
Today John Keene and I are comparing and contrasting a pair of quite different submachine guns. One is a Franchi LF-57, a rare second generation stamped Italian design very similar to the Walther MPL/MPK. The other is twenty years later, a Colt SMG – a closed-bolt third generation design based on the AR15/M16 platform. The question is, if you could have either one, which would you take? It’s a question of collecting interest and uniqueness versus practicality and shootability. Which would be your choice?
Sounds like the mp5 is the one to have.
Collectability and uniqueness are frequently determined by the relative success of the design. A great design copied by everybody isn’t going to be unique or rare. A marginal design plagued by issues is therefore going to become more rare. So I know what I got in my HiPoint .45.
…suspect that if I were to once I put the sling on this, I can throw this on my back and it will be easier on me than this one will because of the side mounting sling swivels…
Observe that, on other hand Colt is noticeable lighter, which might be important if you plan carry it lot when foot-slogging.
Regarding LF-57 advantages I would point lack of manual safety (it does have safety below trigger guard which one would press when gripping grip, without thinking about that).
They say longer guns are easier to carry then short bulky ones. So, better to spread the weight on long package
Franchi or Walter, somebody fired both to tell? Pros and cons
The hippo in the room is that the Colt lower receiver is easily converted to multiple calibers and barrel styles.
Also if the Franchi breaks, good luck with getting it running again.
The Colt wins just on the grounds that repair and maintenance are a Hell of a lot easier for a weapon that’s still in production, as opposed to one that last was noticeable when Rock Hudson was waving it around playing Col. John Wilder in the NBC miniseries of Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles in 1978.
The fact that you can switch-in uppers for anything from 5.56 NATO to .450 Bushmaster or even .50 Beowulf is just a bonus.
About the only SMG as such from the 1950s to 1970s that’s still worth fiddling with today is probably the MP5. But I still maintain that anything it can do, the M1/M2 Carbine (which is also still in production) can do better.
clear ether
eon
“(…)anything it can do(…)M2 Carbine (which is also still in production) can do better.”
Wait… what about suppressing said fire-arm?
SOE and OSS had suppressed M1 Carbines in 1943.
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fsuppressed-m1-carbine-when-v0-txo8gz9ofceg1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D828%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3Dee0167dbf465faa0ee8a806d37b59f88649bed93
The M3 with IR sniperscope was also issued with an integral suppressor.
Muzzle velocity was only slightly reduced, so there was still a ballistic “crack” as the bullet left the muzzle at supersonic velocity. Hence this was a suppressed weapon, not a “silenced” one.
cheers
eon
Like Indians and cowboys, cowboys are there to win…
The Indians aren’t? I am not being sarcastic but I am not clear about youe point
There are pictures of Congo mercenaries using the Franchi in the Congo Wars of the 1960s