MAC-10
Military Armament Corporation1970–1973Late Cold War
Also known as M10, Ingram MAC-10
Image credit
- Title
- File:MAC10.jpg
- Author
- Mcumpston at English Wikipedia ( Original text: Mike Cumpston )
- Licence
- Public domain
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MAC10.jpg
How Muzzle energy is calculated
E = ½ · m · v²
Inputs
- m14.90 g230.0 grverifiedsource230 gr as published, converted at 1 gr = 0.06479891 g.
- v271.3 m/s890.0 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 127 mm barrel, not this arm's 146 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Muzzle velocity is calculated
nearest sourced barrel length — no extrapolation (SPEC.md §8.2)
Inputs
- v at 127 mm271.3 m/s890.0 fpsverifiedsource890 ft/s as published, converted at 1 ft/s = 0.3048 m/s.
Assumptions
- This figure belongs to a 127 mm barrel. It is shown because it is the closest measurement that exists, not because it applies here.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
How Loaded mass is calculated
m_loaded = m_empty + m_magazine + n · m_cartridge
Not calculated: m_magazine has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- One magazine, filled to the stated capacity. Spare magazines, optics, slings and lights are the owner’s, not the arm’s.
2 of 4 inputs link to their source.
How Free recoil is calculated
E_recoil = ½ · m_firearm · v_recoil²
Inputs
- m_firearm2.84 kg6.261 lbverifiedsourceEmpty and without a suppressor.
- v_recoil1.424 m/s4.671 fpsestimated
Assumptions
- Propellant gas momentum is excluded: ARMAG does not record charge weights (SPEC.md §14). This is therefore a lower bound on the real free recoil, consistent between entries but smaller than a figure that includes the gas term.
- Free recoil: the arm is unrestrained. Stock design, muzzle devices, stance and shooter mass are not modelled, because none of them is a property of the arm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Capacity is calculated
as published for the primary chambering
Inputs
- capacity30verifiedsourceDetachable box magazine.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
Derived figures
Computed from the sourced values above. Open ƒ on any figure for the formula, its inputs, and the assumptions it makes.
How Momentum is calculated
p = m · v
Inputs
- m14.90 g230.0 grverifiedsource230 gr as published, converted at 1 gr = 0.06479891 g.
- v271.3 m/s890.0 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 127 mm barrel, not this arm's 146 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sectional density is calculated
SD = mass(gr) / (7000 · diameter(in)²)
Inputs
- mass14.90 g230.0 grverifiedsource230 gr as published, converted at 1 gr = 0.06479891 g.
- diameter11.48 mm0.4520 inverifiedsourceC.I.P. G1, maximum bullet diameter.
Assumptions
- Reported in the conventional lb/in² so it is directly comparable with published figures.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Power factor is calculated
PF = mass(gr) · velocity(fps) / 1000
Inputs
- mass14.90 g230.0 grverifiedsource230 gr as published, converted at 1 gr = 0.06479891 g.
- velocity271.3 m/s890.0 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 127 mm barrel, not this arm's 146 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
Assumptions
- A competition classification defined by the IPSC and USPSA rulebooks, stated in their units. It describes a scoring category, not an effect.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Magazine dump is calculated
t = (n − 1) / (rpm / 60)
Not calculated: rpm has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Cyclic rate held for the whole magazine, no stoppages, trigger held down. A theoretical figure for comparing mechanisms, not a measured one.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sight error at 1 mm is calculated
θ = atan(misalignment / sight radius)
Not calculated: sight radius has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Shows what a stated aiming error costs. The misalignment is the reader’s figure; the site does not claim how well anyone aims.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
Specifications
Every row here is generated from the schema, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table — and the same rows, read the same way, are what the comparison shows.
Identity
- Type
- Submachine gun
- Action
- Self-loading
- Fire modes
- Semi-automatic
- Fully automatic
- Operating system
- Blowback, simple
- Roles
- Designed in
- United States
- Produced in
- Introduced
- 1970
- Production
- 1970–1973
Dimensions and mass
Sights and rifling
- Sight radius
- not recorded
- Sight height over bore
- not recorded
- Rifling twist
- not recorded
- Twist direction
- not recorded
- Grooves
- not recorded
- Sight graduation
- not recorded
Operation
- Cyclic rate
- not recorded
- Trigger pull
- not recorded
- Effective range
- not recorded
- Units produced
- not recorded
- Launch price
- not recorded
Chamberings
- .45 ACPprimary30 rounds
Scale
A to-scale outline against family siblings. The dimensions are sourced; the shape is a representative outline for the type, and says so.
Representative outline — the dimensions are sourced, the shape is not. Overall length, and barrel length where recorded, are drawn from this entry's own figures; the profile is a generic one for the firearm type and says nothing about this arm's actual contours.
Not drawn: MAC-10 (no sourced overall length).
Detail
Gordon Ingram’s design is an exercise in making a firearm out of as little as possible. The receiver is two stamped steel shells welded together; the bolt is a hollow cylinder that wraps forward around the barrel so the weapon can be short without the bolt being light; the whole thing fires from an open bolt with a fixed firing pin. There are very few parts and none of them is difficult to make.
The cost is the rate of fire. A short, light bolt over a 146 mm barrel cycles at something over a thousand rounds a minute, and a magazine empties in well under two seconds. That is why almost every photograph of one shows a suppressor fitted: Mitchell WerBell’s suppressor was not an accessory but part of the sales proposition, adding length and mass at the muzzle where both were badly needed.
The Army did not buy it and the company that existed to sell it lasted three years. What survives is a pattern of cheap, compact, open-bolt weapons that other makers have been building ever since.
This entry has no overall length, no published cyclic rate and no unloaded weight with a magazine fitted: the encyclopedia’s infobox gives none of them, and no free manufacturer document exists for a company dissolved in 1975.
References
This entry's own bibliography. Every citation key on this page resolves into this list.
- MAC-10 · Wikipedia · 1370808707 · read 2026-08-31 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Last verified 2026-08-31 · review status: agent-populated