Description

Status: In-Stock / Please Call to Purchase

This Chester County Armory listing is for a rarely seen P.A.W.S. Inc. Model ZX-7 .45acp transferable sub machine gun.

Also known as “The American Sterling”, this rare and uniquely US-made ZX-7 serves as a fascinating homage to the venerable British Sterling L2A3 sub machine gun.

Always enamored with the craftsmanship and design of the British Sterling, the ZX-7 was built and created by gunsmith and Class 2 manufacturer Bob Imel at his company, Police Automatic Weapons Services, in Salem, OR in the mid 1970’s. Built from the ground up, Mr. Imel re-created the beautiful lines and wonderful reliability of the L2A3, but with his own unique redesigns and improvements, to make it a truly Americanized version. Of course, the improvements started first and foremost, by offering it in the American of all American calibers…the .45ACP.

For an in-depth analysis of the differences between the British Sterling L2A3 and Bob Imel’s creation, check out Ian at Forgotten Weapons and his wonderful video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKk9Ss6RJ80

Utilizing easy-to-come-by M3 Grease gun magazines, the ZX-7 functions amazingly well, with a cyclic rate of around 750 RPMS, making it markedly faster than the M3 Grease Gun and more in line with a 1928 Thompson. Robust and controllable, the ZX-7 in .45acp was only made in very small numbers by P.A.W.S. as a transferable SMG. Some counts have them as low as 20 or 25, as the 9mm version (the P.A.W.S. ZX-5), was made in significantly greater quantities. This specific model is serial number 20.

This transferable sub machine gun is in excellent mechanical, as well as cosmetic condition. The internals do not note any wear and the bore is bright and shiny with crisp and clean rifling. The fire controls are in excellent condition, with solid placements on the selector controls in both semi-automatic and full-automatic modes, as well as a positive safety lockup. The original crinkle-style finish employed by Mr. Imel is in excellent condition, with only a few minor marks on the entire weapon. The metalwork is excellent, with no dings, dents, gouges, cracks, etc. Two 30rd magazines are included with the purchase.

This rare and unique weapon is currently on a Form 3 for easy transfer, with “P.A.W.S. Inc” listed as the manufacturer and “ZX7” listed as the model.