This page is still very much under construction and may not make that  sense, keep checking back and you will see it take form. 

UZIs are also very popular on both legal and illegal markets.  Properly converted semi-auto guns are reliable and robust, but in my experience not very user friendly.   The selector is badly located for left handers and the grip safety is about the most irritating on any gun.  Any grip other than a very firm hold on the main pistol grip will stop the gun from working.   This was intended to keep the gun from firing if it is dropped or fumbled, but also prevents the gun from working if you shift your hold on it while firing.  UZIs can take a lot abuse and keep working, but they are not engineered to last forever like the venerable Thompson.    For more info on the UZI, Click here. 

Most full auto UZIs on the US market were converted from Israeli model A carbines that started out as semi-automatic rifles.  Many of these guns have filtered through Central America.  Since the guns were last sold in the mid-1980's most show significant wear and tear but they still work.  Prices range from $1000 to $2000 for an illegal model to $3500 for a class III transferable collectors gun.  One company, Vector arms, has been building decent quality copies in the US and South Africa that are available for around $2000.

There has been a growing presence of Israeli parts kits made from scrapped military Uzis and black market copies made in China.  Completion of a 'parts kit' is a more difficult task than it would seem.   While the component parts ad up to about $600, considerable work needs to be done to complete the gun and make it functional.   The completed guns are usually worth only about $1000 on the black market, thus they are not particularly profitable for clandestine manufacturers, but they can work as an option for a survival group.   To complicate things, most of the parts kits are sold without guarantees of serviceability and commonly have several smaller parts missing.   It can take as many as four parts kits to come up with enough parts in good enough condition to produce a decent gun.   

The picture is a little different on the world market.  The Israelis discontinued the gun in military service and have sold hundreds of thousands of complete guns off as surplus.  In addition they have sold the manufacturing tooling to several countries and even some private companies.  China, South Africa, Belgium, and Croatia have made copies for the international market.  At least two companies have made them in the US.  The Chinese versions are available throughout Southeast Asia at bargain basement prices.   A friend saw them for sale several places in Thailand at $450 with negotiable pricing.  

Parts and parts kits for the subguns have appeared on the US market.  These usually have receivers that were either cut with saws or torches.    Some were more carefully cut than others and often according to different standards.   While all kits were missing some element of the receivers, some were missing different parts, so that parts from more than one "kit" might provide enough material for a receiver constructed by carefully trimming and welding cut sections.   In some cases, a single kit had enough material to be considered a "firearm" by BATF, but this determination was made months after the main US importer had sold out of the kits in question and it was difficult to track the status of the kits among various customers and resellers since records were not required for demilitarized guns at the time.  Those kits, kown as the "Cole's Kits" often carry a premium when available, but have become a virtual black market item overnight.  

This composite kit has parts from as many as three different guns, but still comes up a little "short" to make a receiver.   Additional metal would have to be substituted in the missing sections by a skilled and patient craftsman.    As it is, possession of such a kit is usually legal since it cannot be readily reconstructed by the average person even with a reasonably well equipped shop.    That said, a survivor could cache a few kits like this and figure they could be made into a functional gun by a skilled person within a few days.  

Blank sections of steel that are made to replace sections that are missing from the parts kit are sometimes available from some small manufacturers and vendors.   Although originally designed for use with replica and dummy guns, the steel is often comparable to the moderate grade steels originally called for in the Uzi design where the stress of the action is almost entirely absorbed by the barrel, bolt,  action spring and bolt buffer - not the receiver body.      This usually involves considerable work, but the cash outlay is usually quite modest.    Much of this will be determined by the deal you find on the parts kit and how complete it is.   

It is also possible for the hobbyist to use parts kits and receiver sections to manufacture a legal postban semi-auto Uzi for personal use.    You will find that if you take on such a project, it can become costly since the US made semi-auto components are available from only one manufacturer and their various vendors.   That being Vector Arms.   A postban semi-auto UZI must have a fixed stock but will otherwise appear about the same as a preban since even prebans did not regularly have threaded barrels or flash hiders.    The bayonet lug is almost never used on an Uzi, so trimming it off is little loss.    The choat stock seen on this gun is a good example of an unmistakably US made component.   Bolts and grips from US makers may not be readily discernable from an IMI import.    The other option is to obtain a Group Industries receiver and weld components into it.   It is hard to say which is easier or cheaper, since both methods are fairly different from each other.   One issue of the Group Industries receivers is that they must initially be purchased through an FFL holder and since they are "on paper" they can be relatively easily resold unlike home workshop receivers where you run into legal issues surrounding licensing.