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PAWS ZX-7: An American Sterling in .45 ACP

http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons https://www.floatplane.com/channel/ForgottenWeapons/home Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! http://shop.forgottenweapons.com An American entrepreneur named Bob Imel found the Sterling SMG particularly interesting, and wanted to import them into the United States. He reached out to Sterling in 1967, but was unable to work out a deal before the 1968 Gun Control Act prohibited importation of machine guns. So instead, Imel decided to make them in the US. He tried to arrange a license with Sterling to do this, and finally gave up in the mid 1970s. Instead, he began making his own copy instead, under the company Police Automatic Weapons Systems (PAWS). Imel made a number of simplifications to the design, and also offered it in .45ACP (as the ZX-7, using M3 Grease Gun magazines) as well as 9mm Parabellum ( as the ZX-5, with variations using several different magazines, including Sten and Uzi). Imel's work was again cut short in 1986, when the Hughes Amendment closed the machine gun registry in the US. He again shifted, this time to closed-bolt semiauto models (the ZX-6 in 9mm and the ZX-8 in .45). In total, he made about 1200 guns; 400 transferrable machine guns, 300 machine guns for export and police sales, and 500 semi autos. Today, we are looking at the very first ZX-7 made... Contact: Forgotten Weapons 6281 N. Oracle 36270 Tucson, AZ 85740

Comments

Anonymous

Thanks , Enjoyed the history/info, I looked at an internally suppressed one a few years ago, in 2015 they were around 7k , But being a lefty also ,I bought the Stemple 76/45 instead.

ViejoLobo

Those magic words: "I'm really curious how this actually shoots." And so are we. Technical question: was the grease gun mag used because it lacks the rear reinforcing rib, thus simplifying the mag well and mag catch? Otherwise, why not the double column, double feed Thompson mags?

Kenneth Marshall

I had a chance to buy one (9mm) in mint shape as my first SMG, but hesitated and ended up getting a Powder SPrings MAC which with the aftermarket support was a good choice but I really like the PAWS for being a more affordable SMG clone of Sterling. THe one I looked at ran well with "good" Sten mags.

ForgottenWeapons

I don't have any direct account of why, but I suspect it was indeed just the inconvenience of building a magazine well to fit the Thompson mag.

Joseph W Cupp (edited)

Comment edits

2021-11-11 03:20:28 Thanks for taking another one for the team Ian, can't think of anyone else that would subject themselves to having to fire all of these extremely cool weapons and get paid for it. Seriously though, thanks for bringing all of these tidbits to us and sharing your knowledge and the fun of shooting them when you get the chance. And doggone, I'm starting to twitch waiting for my copy of "Pistols of The Warlords", I know you're doing all you can to get it to us asap, but this has been an interest of mine since the late 70's when I first learned of the Shanxi .45 acp copy of the Mauser C-96. Almost bought one for $450, but that was just about a month's pay in those days for a young Sgt E-5 with a wife & baby, so it got passed by.
2021-10-29 15:34:21 Thanks for taking another one for the team Ian, can't think of anyone else that would subject themselves to having to fire all of these extremely cool weapons and get paid for it. Seriously though, thanks for bringing all of these tidbits to us and sharing your knowledge and the fun of shooting them when you get the chance. And doggone, I'm starting to twitch waiting for my copy of "Pistols of The Warlords", I know you're doing all you can to get it to us asap, but this has been an interest of mine since the late 70's when I first learned of the Shanxi .45 acp copy of the Mauser C-96. Almost bought one for $450, but that was just about a month's pay in those days for a young Sgt E-5 with a wife & baby, so it got passed by.

Thanks for taking another one for the team Ian, can't think of anyone else that would subject themselves to having to fire all of these extremely cool weapons and get paid for it. Seriously though, thanks for bringing all of these tidbits to us and sharing your knowledge and the fun of shooting them when you get the chance. And doggone, I'm starting to twitch waiting for my copy of "Pistols of The Warlords", I know you're doing all you can to get it to us asap, but this has been an interest of mine since the late 70's when I first learned of the Shanxi .45 acp copy of the Mauser C-96. Almost bought one for $450, but that was just about a month's pay in those days for a young Sgt E-5 with a wife & baby, so it got passed by.

Guido Schriewer

looks great to me. sterlings are pretty far up there anyways IMO 45 does not hurt a bit. damn sure would like to try that, too!