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Machine Gun
Gene B.
Member Posts: 892 ✭✭✭✭
For something to be a machine gun does it have to be fully automatic?
Comments
When in the army a machinegun was a Browning .30 cal, the .50 Cal mg
the M60 mg, all others were classified as automatic rifles, IE> the BAR, the M-2 Carbine that had a selector lever for semi or full outo.
There are a few Machine Pistols that are fully auto, but still qualify as fully auto hand guns.
"A wise man is a man that realizes just how little he knows"
Why does man kill? He kills for food. But not only for food; frequently, he must have a beverage.
Why don't you list a bunch of weapons for us to go over, and include the one your wanting to know about, while not actually asking about a particular weapon. example
Which of these are class III weapons?
Ruger 10/22
Ruger mini 14
Browning 1919
Seems like an obvious answer... but in reality all three could be class III weapons, or all three could be legal without class III papers. I actually own 1 mini 14 that requires papers, because of a selector switch. Ruger 10/22 used to could be converted to full auto or internally silenced. Browning 1919 mostly were full auto, but nowadays can be purchased as semi auto. Hope this suggestion helps. sandman2234
Have Gun, will travel
Edited by - gene B. on 09/06/2002 16:18:29
Why does man kill? He kills for food. But not only for food; frequently, he must have a beverage.
if your going to be a savage, be a headhunter
The caliber .45 M1928A1 Thompson is referred to as a
Submachine gun. The 10.5" bbl, perhaps?
This is my rifle; this is my (Tommy) gun?
Faldum
Why does man kill? He kills for food. But not only for food; frequently, he must have a beverage.
But under the new LAW BB lenght,stock ,magazine capacity also fall in the restricted machinegun and assault rifle category.....
*SIC!!!
400 million cows can't be wrong ( EAT GRASS !!! )
automaticaly more than one shot...by a single function of the trigger.
[If you pull the trigger once, the gun may fire no more than once without manual reloading]. MY words are braketed.
It is important to remember that any weapon which was once a machinegun is by definition ALWAYS a machingun and is subject to the National Firearms Act and the $200 transfer tax. M2 Carbines which are stamped M2 are machinguns regardless, even if the full auto parts are replaced with those of the semi auto M1 Carbine. An M14 rifle is a machinegun even if its selector switch is removed and the lock welded in place limiting it to semi auto. A very few M14 match rifles were released by the army to civilians in the early 1960's blocked to semi auto. These rifles are machineguns because they were originaly manufactured as machineguns and the rule is "Once a machinegun, always a machinegun".
Back in the carefree days of the 1950's many an enterprising fellow made a buck by importing large quantities of surplus WWII firearms, some of which were machineguns. Back then simply welding the selector
to semi auto was considered OK and made the gun exempt from the NFA. By 1960 the ATTU, as the BATF was then known, decided to clamp down on these guns since many folks were simply breaking the welds and blasting away! These people were also neglecting to register their new re-activated machineguns and forgetting to pay the $200 tax!
One of the best known cases of "once a machinegun always a machinegun" were the "G SERIES" FAL rifles imported by Browning in 1960. These rifles were simply ex German G-1 rifles which had had their safety sears removed and their sectors blocked to semi auto. A simple change of two small parts turned these rifles into functional machineguns. Although originally banned, these "G" series FALs were granted amnesty. All semi auto HK, FAL, BM-59, ect. rifles are made with specially manufactured semi auto only receivers and not rebuilt military surplus as some people think- Such rifles could never be imported due to their former lives as machineguns. If a semi auto receiver could accept any of its military brothers full auto components it was usually denied an import permit. Although a very few did slip through!
This is a very brief look into a very complex subject. Believe me there are a lot of folks who either lost their Second Ammendment rights or are sitting in jail today because they though they under the laws and did not!
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing!"
Mark T. Christian
Why does man kill? He kills for food. But not only for food; frequently, he must have a beverage.
"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as it is by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed."NRA Life Member
Why does man kill? He kills for food. But not only for food; frequently, he must have a beverage.
Edited by - DancesWithSheep on 09/07/2002 12:48:42
Have Gun, will travel
I'll pay more attention to the true wording of the questions and try to shorten my responces.
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing!"
Mark T. Christian
Why does man kill? He kills for food. But not only for food; frequently, he must have a beverage.