I’m kind of surprised to hear all the folks that don’t enjoy shooting them.
That may be a bit of a misreading of it.
One of the issues with a number of FA weapons is that they are not comfortable to shoot.
Does not necessarily mean they are not "fun," but that fun fades.
The Sterling SMG is a fun gun to run, but it empties magazines in the blink of an eye. The 'joy' of loading magazines cuts into the fun time though.
Now, take a MAT-49, that's not a comfortable one sto shoot (at least to me). Empties mags like a Sterling, and doesn't have the common decency to be as easy to load.
An MG-42 can give a person the giggles. But, the hours are the loading machine to have the belts of 8mm wanted to keep the giggles coming cuts into the "fun" after a bit.
The Chauchat is actually fun to run. It has a reasonable rate of fire--in both Lebel and 30-06. But, color me happy to not have to break down that long aluminum barrel sleeve for cleaning to keep that long-recoil monster going. That price threshold is a bit of a bear, too.
Contrast that to the BAR. About the same length, similar ammo--but that beast is super long and heavy and just not much fun. It's ok, set up pretty rigid on a bipod and just punching paper. But, carrying one around--not fun. And, that rifle-style grip is not nice at all. That rifle needed a pistol grip from the get-go.
Bren gun is a fun one, too. Nicely balances on a sling, and comfortable in both 303 and 308 (308 mags are
way handier, too). I'd love a Bren. But, I might not enjoy hauling it out of the safe, and lugging to to the ride. Ok, the mags are pretty plentiful, but loading them is loading them.
If I had the fun ones, and a range to shoot them upon, they'd still probably not be the first thing I grab to hone up my skills.