Vector Arms UZI SMG Trunion Weld Pictures

[AlaskaUZI]

My transferable Vector Arms/Group Industries UZI from David Spiwak was approved and I was able to take it home and remove the grip panels for the first time during a real cleaning.

These trunion welds look… iffy maybe? I don’t know if I should be concerned about them or not. Maybe the late-Richard Hoffman/BWE Firearms would say these welds are going to eventually break and decommission my $17K investment firearm, but I’m not him or a welder.

I understand that these guns are welded together, and in theory this is/would be an easy fix for a competent UZI-smith. I would just need to find one who can re-do these welds properly if it’s even going to be an issue.

It’s had 500ish rounds through it since it transferred to my shop, I was able to shoot it while waiting for approval a couple times. It was absolutely filthy when it came in, not that I care, it’s was very clearly fired quite a bit prior to coming to me.

Only one malfunction so far, one round somehow ended up crammed under the bolt near the ejector and ejector rivet.

I’ve read older posts and responses saying that the Vectors and their welds are mostly fixed by 2024.

Maybe this one example is an exception to that?

I’m not in a great hurry to ship this off for god knows how long or how much to get fixed since I just got it home.

“Don’t worry about it ‘till it breaks” is what I’m thinking at the moment.

What does the rest of the UZI community think?

https://imgur.com/a/lOCzWhB

 

[CKxx]

Ha. Those aren't going anywhere.

 

[Chef]

I recommend getting yourself a parts kit or two and have a go at removing the trunion from what's left of the receiver.
This will give you a good idea of what a factory weld should look like and how well it should hold.
It will also give you an idea of just how easy it is to reweld it if it breaks loose.
Also have a look at your back plate and compare it to the receiver chunk in a kit. Some Vector owners have experienced cracking at the backplate area.
Anderson is coming up in May, I suggest you go and meet the people there. I'm sure you'll be able to find someone local who can repair your UZI. You don't want to send it out of state if you really don't have to. But as CKxx said, those welds are nothing to worry about.

 

[ktk120]

I sent mine to John Andrewski during my form 4 wait when I got mine. He redid everything and checked it and reinforced welds. Money well spent for the piece of mind but that said run it till it dont work and it can be fixed fairly easy

 

[Dirk Hawthorne]

both my trunnion welds and rear plate weld broke on my NIB vector

I let andrewski work on it, was completely dissatisfied with his work, so I sent it to BWE and had it fixed properly.

I don't know who I would send an UZI to now for repair, now that BWE is out of business.

Just shoot your vector and don't worry about it, the welds will either hold or break, worry about it if and when it happens.

besides, if the welds break on one UZI, your second UZI will take up the slack

 

[dustindu4]

I would bring it to Andrewski out of mere convenience that he's local to me and a known Uzi guy. Being able to get face to face without dealing with shipping is worth something. Curious what the issue was with his work because people have said good things.

As far as the OP goes. It's too hard to tell if welds will be good enough with that kind of visual. But if it breaks, you'll know. And it's a fairly simple fix if you are a half decent welder, gunsmith or not.

 

[StenAtopia]

both my trunnion welds and rear plate weld broke on my NIB vector

I let andrewski work on it, was completely dissatisfied with his work, so I sent it to BWE and had it fixed properly.

I don't know who I would send an UZI to now for repair, now that BWE is out of business.

Just shoot your vector and don't worry about it, the welds will either hold or break, worry about it if and when it happens.

besides, if the welds break on one UZI, your second UZI will take up the slack

View attachment 39503

Sam at Practical Solutions does awesome work on Uzi’s!!

 

[cvasqu03]

I'm not a welder, but those actually look pretty good to me. In fact if anything, they look extra secure. I saw Richard's video about re-welding the trunions on a Group Industries UZI and the reason he was doing those was because they were too slight and not deep enough. The ones on yours look downright overdone. In fact they look a bit bigger than the ones Richard ended up with after correcting the welds on his, though he took the time to grind down and make his welds pretty which doesn't seem to have been done on yours.

 

[ktk120]

yea i could not have been more impressed or happy with andrewski he is probably the best uzi guy left. What were the issues you had?

 

[AKarms]

My transferable Vector Arms/Group Industries UZI from David Spiwak was approved and I was able to take it home and remove the grip panels for the first time during a real cleaning.

These trunion welds look… iffy maybe? I don’t know if I should be concerned about them or not. Maybe the late-Richard Hoffman/BWE Firearms would say these welds are going to eventually break and decommission my $17K investment firearm, but I’m not him or a welder.

I understand that these guns are welded together, and in theory this is/would be an easy fix for a competent UZI-smith. I would just need to find one who can re-do these welds properly if it’s even going to be an issue.

It’s had 500ish rounds through it since it transferred to my shop, I was able to shoot it while waiting for approval a couple times. It was absolutely filthy when it came in, not that I care, it’s was very clearly fired quite a bit prior to coming to me.

Only one malfunction so far, one round somehow ended up crammed under the bolt near the ejector and ejector rivet.

I’ve read older posts and responses saying that the Vectors and their welds are mostly fixed by 2024.

Maybe this one example is an exception to that?

I’m not in a great hurry to ship this off for god knows how long or how much to get fixed since I just got it home.

“Don’t worry about it ‘till it breaks” is what I’m thinking at the moment.

What does the rest of the UZI community think?

https://imgur.com/a/lOCzWhB

Welds are fine. Reading the comments here and some people questioning where to send uzis for work. I do almost all the repairs and services that bwe was offering. I’ve been in business for about 9 months. I’m located in Belmont New Hampshire, Andrew Kalipolitis, AK Arms. Shoot me a msg if anyone needs uzi work done. Feed ramps, opening trunnions, full smg spec services, remarking, refinish, etc

 

[Dirk Hawthorne]

I would bring it to Andrewski out of mere convenience that he's local to me and a known Uzi guy. Being able to get face to face without dealing with shipping is worth something. Curious what the issue was with his work because people have said good things.

As far as the OP goes. It's too hard to tell if welds will be good enough with that kind of visual. But if it breaks, you'll know. And it's a fairly simple fix if you are a half decent welder, gunsmith or not.

Gunsmiths get this weird celebrity status among gun owners for some unknown reason. it's kind of strange, because a lot of times they aren't actually very good.

My vector popped the trunnion and rear plate welds, so I sent it to Andrewski.
The thing with vectors is that they were case hardened and when they are welded, they can warp all over the place due to the heat.
I got my gun back from Andrewski and it was warped like crazy.

I complained to him and demanded a refund, since the work done was pure garbage. Got a lot of stupid noise from him, no refund.
So I sent it to BWE, and Hoffman told me that both the trunnion welds and rear plate rewelds were a bad job and needed to be redone. He fixed the gun properly and I've been shooting it since.

This is what happened in actual real life. I did not pay for the work twice to amuse myself. I do not know Andrewski and have nothing against him except that he did a bad job.

Another guy here on uzitalk needed the same work done. I told him not to send it to Andrewski, he ignored me, same result. The gun ended up going to BWE for the exact same rework.

If you're a fan of Andrewski and you're mad that I wrote this, well don't be. Don't worry about it. Literally nothing I say on this website will make the slightest difference. He's a Big Celebrity of Gunsmithing, and that's that.

 

[hkg3k]

Gunsmiths get this weird celebrity status among gun owners for some unknown reason. it's kind of strange, because a lot of times they aren't actually very good.

Literally nothing I say on this website will make the slightest difference. He's a Big Celebrity of Gunsmithing, and that's that.

And by the same token, nothing stated on this website (of even this thread) by other members with successful outcomes with John Andrewski will change your mind. It's almost like you have an intended purpose to be John's detractor when his name is brought up and label him an "Big Celebrity of Gunsmithing"...whatever that is, undeserving of his excellent reputation.

You've had exactly one bad experience with John. Granted, from your side, it shouldn't have happened...I doubt we'll get John's side. You had a good experience with Richard Hoffman, yet if you go back and do a forum search, you'll find a few members with dissatisfied outcomes with him (Richard) as well. Was Richard too, one of those "Big Celebrities of Gunsmithing?" Richard even had the YouTube videos. The point is nobody's perfect.

I've sent a half-dozen to ten complete re-builds (not Uzi) to John and without exception, all came back functionally and visually perfect...so I suppose that negates your single bad outcome by a factor of 6-10 times and more that adequately proves (compared to your argument) he is deserving of the reputation that he carries, regardless of your attempts to convince otherwise.

I'm curious, who is the other guy here on UT you tried to sway from John unsuccessfully? I only ask because this part of your narrative was left out of your last Andrewski bashing post.

 

[mike]

John did great work on my two UZI’s just sayin.

 

[strobro32]

Those welds look massive so I doubt you will have problems with them breaking. The TIG nipples mean they poured a lot of heat into it and then let off the peddle quickly.

 

[Dirk Hawthorne]

And by the same token, nothing stated on this website (of even this thread) by other members with successful outcomes with John Andrewski will change your mind. It's almost like you have an intended purpose to be John's detractor when his name is brought up and label him an "Big Celebrity of Gunsmithing"...whatever that is, undeserving of his excellent reputation.

You've had exactly one bad experience with John. Granted, from your side, it shouldn't have happened...I doubt we'll get John's side. You had a good experience with Richard Hoffman, yet if you go back and do a forum search, you'll find a few members with dissatisfied outcomes with him (Richard) as well. Was Richard too, one of those "Big Celebrities of Gunsmithing?" Richard even had the YouTube videos. The point is nobody's perfect.

I've sent a half-dozen to ten complete re-builds (not Uzi) to John and without exception, all came back functionally and visually perfect...so I suppose that negates your single bad outcome by a factor of 6-10 times and more that adequately proves (compared to your argument) he is deserving of the reputation that he carries, regardless of your attempts to convince otherwise.

I'm curious, who is the other guy here on UT you tried to sway from John unsuccessfully? I only ask because this part of your narrative was left out of your last Andrewski bashing post.

never mind. enjoy.

If I can remember the other dastardly, unreasonable complainer's name, I'll gladly post it up.

 

[Dirk Hawthorne]

Speaking of which, the welding that was done by Vector was... not good. But it appears that a lot of the guns hold together, so I guess they figured it out before the end of the production run.

As a guy who is involved in fabrication, I think they failed by not hiring a better welder. There are welders out there who can weld two streams of running water together. They should have hired a skilled, certified welder from the get-go and saved themselves and their customers a lot of trouble.

 

[mike400]

Gunsmiths get this weird celebrity status among gun owners for some unknown reason. it's kind of strange, because a lot of times they aren't actually very good.

My vector popped the trunnion and rear plate welds, so I sent it to Andrewski.
The thing with vectors is that they were case hardened and when they are welded, they can warp all over the place due to the heat.
I got my gun back from Andrewski and it was warped like crazy.

I complained to him and demanded a refund, since the work done was pure garbage. Got a lot of stupid noise from him, no refund.
So I sent it to BWE, and Hoffman told me that both the trunnion welds and rear plate rewelds were a bad job and needed to be redone. He fixed the gun properly and I've been shooting it since.

This is what happened in actual real life. I did not pay for the work twice to amuse myself. I do not know Andrewski and have nothing against him except that he did a bad job.

Another guy here on uzitalk needed the same work done. I told him not to send it to Andrewski, he ignored me, same result. The gun ended up going to BWE for the exact same rework.

If you're a fan of Andrewski and you're mad that I wrote this, well don't be. Don't worry about it. Literally nothing I say on this website will make the slightest difference. He's a Big Celebrity of Gunsmithing, and that's that.

I agree, about the almost celebrity status of some gunsmiths. Some deserved and some not. If I and a friend had a bad experience with someone, I might post it too. Nothing wrong with feedback. But, sometimes their status gets them so busy and in a rush to get things done they get careless Or sloppy. Appears that the gunsmith didn’t try and make it right. Why, cause there celebrity status makes them somewhat immune from bad feedback. Too many other gunsmiths are just hacks with a few machines that they kinda know how to work. I needed work recently and I just looked for a great machinist, AKA a true craftsman. He wasn‘t trained gunsmith per se but a metal working genius. Why cause All the gunsmiths I looked and just do very basic, easy, expensive work. I.E Cerakoting, mounting scopes, cleaning guns…. Most importantly their feedback sucked. So Thanks Dirk for the feedback, I will keep that in mind In the future.

 

[regalgseguy]

Andrewski did a beautiful job of coverting my "Partially" converted IMI UZI to full machine gun spec. Also worked on a semi M1 Thompson. Highly recomended.

 

[Dirk Hawthorne]

I agree, about the almost celebrity status of some gunsmiths. Some deserved and some not. If I and a friend had a bad experience with someone, I might post it too. Nothing wrong with feedback. But, sometimes their status gets them so busy and in a rush to get things done they get careless Or sloppy. Appears that the gunsmith didn’t try and make it right. Why, cause there celebrity status makes them somewhat immune from bad feedback. Too many other gunsmiths are just hacks with a few machines that they kinda know how to work. I needed work recently and I just looked for a great machinist, AKA a true craftsman. He wasn‘t trained gunsmith per se but a metal working genius. Why cause All the gunsmiths I looked and just do very basic, easy, expensive work. I.E Cerakoting, mounting scopes, cleaning guns…. Most importantly their feedback sucked. So Thanks Dirk for the feedback, I will keep that in mind In the future.

I was under the impression that if a vendor totally fails at a task that requires a particular skill, it's useful information to share. That's mathematically wrong.

Read the other guy's post. He proved mathematically that me and the other Unreasonable Customer getting completely ripped off doesn't really matter. It's actually a little flabbergasting how unreasonable that I am. What the heck is my malfunction, anyway? Sheee whiz!

Suppose you and 5 other people went to a restaurant and got food poisoning. Because the line cook chopped your chicken and salad with the same knife. Well, what about the 300 people that day who didn't order salad with their chicken? They're fine. They outnumber you 50 to 1. Boom goes the dynamite. Math works. Stop complaining.

 

[hkg3k]

I was under the impression that if a vendor totally fails at a task that requires a particular skill, it's useful information to share. That's mathematically wrong.

Read the other guy's post. He proved mathematically that me and the other Unreasonable Customer getting completely ripped off doesn't really matter. It's actually a little flabbergasting how unreasonable that I am. What the heck is my malfunction, anyway? Sheee whiz!

Suppose you and 5 other people went to a restaurant and got food poisoning. Because the line cook chopped your chicken and salad with the same knife. Well, what about the 300 people that day who didn't order salad with their chicken? They're fine. They outnumber you 50 to 1. Boom goes the dynamite. Math works. Stop complaining.

Reading for comprehension is fundamental. No one stated you didn't have a right to complain about your bad experience with John Andrewski...in fact I've stated that your experience shouldn't have turned out the way it did. However, your consistent narrative comes across that John is a hack, with a reputation built completely on "smoke and mirrors," and internet shilling...a "gunsmith celebrity," whatever the h*ll that is. John Andrewski has been in business long enough that he'd been found out long ago if that were the case. And yes, people tend to be way more vocal about a bad experience than one that went exactly to plan...just like you're doing any time John's name is brought up.

To your restaurant analogy...if giving food poisoning (or just serving a bad plate of food) is a consistent problem, then yes, word will get out and they'll soon shut down (if the health dept doesn't shut them down 1st). Deservedly so. If it's a restaurant that's been in business for decades with a stellar record / reputation and they have a singular event, then yes, they should take responsibility for the event, but it should not forever sully their reputation. So yes, numbers (statistics) do matter to frame perspective...even though your singular event is very emotional for you.

You differentiate your experience with John by your later experience with Richard Hoffman (BWE). You're aware there's a member or three here that feel exactly the same way about Richard as you do about John? In fact, Richard left this world with his company owing me approximately $300 in Uzi parts that had been on order with him for over a year before his passing. Should I claim him a thief every time his name comes up? Of course not...and I assume there's others here that were in the same situation as myself when Richard passed. I'm resolved that I'll never see those parts (and that's ok), but in no way do I believe Richard was a nefarious person and his consistent way of operation was to take people's money and not provide parts / service.

Bottom line...if you're in business long enough, there'll be some transactional "clunkers" and disagreements with customers. That doesn't mean you don't deserve your good name for your consistent body of work...you're way off the mark with your descriptives of John Andrewski. Period.