By now, most of you are probably familiar with YouTube channel DemolitionRanch. Hosted by Matt Carriker, it is the single largest firearms channel on YouTube with 6.8 million subscribers and climbing (as of this post). Matt is a veterinarian by day, but started a fun, gun-based channel in 2011 that has obviously seen massive growth since then. In fact, Matt has started two other YouTube channels as well, just in case YouTube cracks down on his firearms related one. They are a veterinary-based channel called VetRanch and a daily vlog called OffTheRanch.

Rock Island Auction Company’s first video with Demolition Ranch was earlier this year for our 2019 February Regional Auction. Matt went on a shopping spree of sorts and made a video to document his new acquisitions. How many guns? The video’s title should be a clue: “I Bought All Of These Guns In 1 Day!!! New Record!”

The video co-starred Jerry Miculek, holder of multiple world records and shooting championships – an awesome perk we did not know was coming. And while the Regional Auction was fun, Matt had his eyes on bigger prizes when it came to our 2019 May Premier Auction.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Ranch is finally home to a fully automatic weapon. There have been machine guns out there before, but this is Demolition Ranch’s first fully automatic weapon and he picked a great one.

Demolition Ranch’s Uzi

This example was actually manufactured by Group Industries, a company that produced it under the model name “HR4332,” but they also manufactured reproductions of the BAR as well. The HR4332 SMGs were some of the last fully-transferrable, American made machine guns. There were produced prior to the “Firearm Owners Protection Act” of 1986 (also known as House Resolution 4332), a revamp of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which banned the production of new fully automatic firearms. This particular UZI was made using a South African-made Vector Arms UZI as the base.

Uzi History

Uzi submachine guns, of course, date back to their design by Major Uziel Gal after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Subsequently they were adopted in 1951 and first issued to the Israeli Defense Force in 1954. They are instantly recognizable, iconic firearms seen in numerous movies, TV shows, and video games. Though their widespread use was maybe not fully known until several photographs were taken in the aftermath of the assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan. In those photos, some of which are shown below, Secret Service Agent Robert Wanko can be seen manipulating and prepping an UZI that had been concealed in a specially designed briefcase, which can be seen open and discarded in the right of the below photo.

In any case, some of Matt’s most popular firearms, such as his .50 cal Barrett have become staples of the channel. It will be interesting to see whether his followers, A.K.A. the Demolitia, will embrace it just as strongly.