need education on auto sears

GreenLantern

Ok, I consider myself fairly knowledgable when it comes firearms and such but can someone educate me on what auto sears are? How and when they are legal? And anything else you think I would like to know about them. Thanks.Green Lantern

nmyers@home.com

An auto sear is a small device which, with the addition of several M16 parts, will convert an early AR-15 to select fire. Those that are registered with BATF are considered to be machine guns, and all Class III rules apply.If you have an unregistered auto sear and an AR-15, you would be considered to be in possession of an unregistered machine gun, and that could earn you a 5 year sentence. Don't let anyone tell you that the date that the auto sear was made makes a difference; it doesn't.Bottom line: if it's not registered, stay away.Neal

kimberkid

Neal,What about the drop in "safety" auto sears seen in ShotGun News for sale, how can those be bought/sold legally?

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GUN CONTROL: If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention!kimberkid@gunbroker.zzn.com

spclark

Unless I'm wrong, it ain't the buying or selling parts that's illegal, it's the installation into an otherwise non-Class III weapon that'll get you five years when you get caught with it.Kind of like ANY firearm - if you use it legally, fine; if you use it ILLEGALLY, you're putting yourself up against ALL the folks who want to keep ALL the firearms we know & love out of our hands.

Iconoclast

spclark: I'm not a Class 3 dealer nor do I own anything even close to a NFA-regulated item, but from anecdotal & published reports I've read, there are otherwise law-abiding individuals who've thought that only to have some very unpleasant things happen to them. For example, the folks in Waco had empty practice grenades they were using to make those 'take a number' things. And they had some black powder. Obviously, they were making unregistered destructive devices . . . .

spclark

Iconoclast: I see your point; it's a "posession" issue, correct? If you HAVE an auto-sear and don't have Class III "status" to posess it (whether you have a firearm it'll fit or not, or ANY firearm for that matter) you're over the line as far as the BATF is concerned, right? So the answer to this thread's topic is - BUYER BEWARE?Follow-up: did a bit of research - check out http://www.tecinfo.com/~jayhawk/dias.html Seems to know what he's talking about & the sentence for posession is 10 years, not 5 as I previously had thought.[This message has been edited by spclark (edited 10-20-2001).]

nmyers@home.com

Theoretically, auto sears manufactured < 11/1/81 are exempt from the National Firearms Act. In practice, BATF has ruled that possession of ANY auto sear and "certain fire control parts" is possession of a machine gun, regardless of the date that the auto sear was made. You really don't even need to possess a AR-15 to be in violation. See Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide (ATF P 5300.4), page 105.I've seen the classified ads for auto sears in SGN for years (PO box, no real business name). Rumor has it that these ads are placed by the fellows with the bulges in the cheap suits to snare the unwary. Neal