British L1A1 "safety sear cut"

tac-op

I was wondering if anyone could tell me where the "safety sear cut" would be on a British L1A1, and what it would look like. The L1A1 in question is being sold locally, and there was a question raised at the local gunshop about it possibly being classified as a machinegun. The ATF was contacted, and they advised if the rifle has the "safety sear cut" it would be a machinegun, and would have to be surrendered. No one at the gunshop seams to know if the rifle has the sear cut or not. If someone could direct me to a picture of it for comparison, it would be greatly appreciated.
I would hate to see the rifle get surrendered to the ATF if it didn't have to be.
I do know the rifle was originally purchased by an individual officer, through his department, from Century Arms in the late 80's or early 90's, and it was never registered. But that is all I know about it.

jbw1776

"Borrowed" from FalFiles here:

http://www.falfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=136025

Read the thread and do a search on their site for "sear cut", it will pull up MANY threads on this topic.



Ben

tac-op

I appreciate the info and the pictures Ben. I'll print the picture and take it to the guy that has the rifle. Hopefully this will clear up our questions.
Thank you,
Todd

richbug

Be advised there are legal "Semi auto only" sear cut guns in this country. Century never touched them though. I believe they are all Browning marked, and the serial numbers start with a "G".

The Safety sear is not only needed for full auto fire, it is also a safety feature that was eliminated to satisfy the BATF. As it's name implies it prevents the rifle from firing until the bolt carrier is fully forward and into battery.

If this is an original L1A1, I think you will find it is a Semi only sear cut gun. Do you have pictures? What are the receiver markings?

tac-op

I looked at the rifle today. It didn't have the groove cut out on the side of the pivot point, like shown in the picture from JBW1776. The only markings that I saw on the receiver were the caliber and serial number on the left side of the receiver. I didn't see a manufacturer or model. It did have CAI on the bottom of the barrel though.
I'll try to get a picture of it tomorrow and post it.