When I was about 18, the father of one of my hunting buddies had a huge gun collection and there was a rumor that he had a fully automatic Thompson which was 100% illegal back then. Even my buddy couldn't or wouldn't confirm if the rumor was true. On his 16th birthday his father gave him a few guns out of the collection and took us out to shoot them. A couple of rifles and shotguns and one old beater 1911. When we were about to call it a day, his father pulled out the rumored Thompson. It was a thing of beauty! After about 15 minutes of swearing us to complete secrecy with every threat known to man if we ever talked, he gave both of us a fully loaded drum and let us shoot it. I remember popping off a couple of short burst and then saying what the hell and let the rest fly! I will never forget that feeling vibration and recoil. It was pointing at about 45 degrees upward when it clicked empty. You couldn't tell me squat right at that moment. Never liked his day, but for about 15 minutes, he was my hero. It was absolutely amazing and I'd love to relive that moment again. And yes, we did keep the secret. To the point that even we never spoke of it between ourselves. His dad is long gone and I guess my buddy wound up with all of his dad's collection. I've not seen him in probably 40 years, but if I ever do run into him, I'll have to ask...….