Question about Class 3 Machine Guns

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lawrnk
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Question about Class 3 Machine Guns

#1

Post by lawrnk »

I have been looking at getting a Krinkov. They can be had in SA for 600 to 700 dollars. FA go for 8k to 12k.
I see full auto kits like these selling everywhere. http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewIt ... m=88272777
This may be a stupid question, but could one buy this kit, apply for the BATF stamp, and simply buy a reciever for it, rendering a full auto Krinkov for about 1,000 bucks?

It would not make any sense, so I am assuming the answer is no. Someone could make a fortune converting these things.
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Mike1951
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Re: Question about Class 3 Machine Guns

#2

Post by Mike1951 »

The only full auto weapons that can be owned by citizens are those that were in existence in 1986, when a law to that effect was signed by President Reagan.

So to produce a full auto from a semi auto would not be legal.
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lawrnk
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Re: Question about Class 3 Machine Guns

#3

Post by lawrnk »

Mike1951 wrote:The only full auto weapons that can be owned by citizens are those that were in existence in 1986, when a law to that effect was signed by President Reagan.

So to produce a full auto from a semi auto would not be legal.
Ahh, got it. I wonder why anyone would buy that kit then?
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Bodacious
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Re: Question about Class 3 Machine Guns

#4

Post by Bodacious »

lawrnk wrote:
Mike1951 wrote:The only full auto weapons that can be owned by citizens are those that were in existence in 1986, when a law to that effect was signed by President Reagan.

So to produce a full auto from a semi auto would not be legal.
Ahh, got it. I wonder why anyone would buy that kit then?

Because they did poor research.

If you had a full auto AK receiver and added it to that krinkov kit it would be legal, I think. But a full auto AK receiver would be just as much as any other full auto AK.

That kit you linked is pretty expensive compared to other ads I have seen in shotgun news. There is another kit that is about $150 and I have seen some ubent flats drilled for $100 or so, so that would be an AK for $250. The kit you linked would have to have the receiver registerd as a SBR.
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Re: Question about Class 3 Machine Guns

#5

Post by CleverNickname »

Mike1951 wrote:The only full auto weapons that can be owned by citizens are those that were in existence in 1986, when a law to that effect was signed by President Reagan.
Merely being manufactured prior to 1986 doesn't make a machine gun transferrable. It would have to have been domestically manufactured and registered before May 19, 1986 or foreign manufactured and imported and registered in 1968 or earlier in order to be transferrable.

For example, a couple years ago there was an importer who was bringing in brand new Thompson parts kits. Where did they come from? Apparently someone in Russia found a bunch of Lend-Lease Thompsons from WWII, still in the factory crates. The guns were obviously manufactured prior to 1986, but since they weren't registered and were out of the country to boot, they're only really importable as parts kits with the receiver chopped up and/or removed. They could be imported as post-samples but the military and LE aren't really looking to buy Thompsons.
Bodacious wrote:Because they did poor research.
There's nothing illegal about that parts kit at all. It would be completely legal to make a registered short barreled rifle out of that parts kit, or to find a +16" barrel and make a normal title I rifle out of it, or to just permanently attach a really long muzzle device to make it over 16". Since the receiver would be semi-auto there wouldn't be the receiver hole to attach the auto sear and whoever built it could just throw away the few full-auto parts that wouldn't work with the semi-auto receiver. I guess a C2 manufacturer could build a full-auto receiver and make a cheap post-sample out of it too if they wanted.

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Re: Question about Class 3 Machine Guns

#6

Post by Bodacious »

I never said the parts kit was illegal.

Mike1951
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Re: Question about Class 3 Machine Guns

#7

Post by Mike1951 »

And I yield to a much more thorough and complete answer!
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