AK-47 Parts Kit with Auto Sear Legality?

[Orion]

Hey guys...I'm new to this forum-fun stuff, and AK's and had a question.
I have the opportunity to buy a parts kit for a Romanian AK-47 that supposedly includes the auto sear, but obviously not the receiver. Is this legal to buy in it's current form? Is it legal to assemble the weapon in full auto form, assuming I don't use more than 10 imported parts. Thanks for any input

[Quarterbore]

Most kits do come with the full fire control parts and I personally do not worry about it. What is important is that when you do your build that you do not cut your rails as would be required to the full auto parts to work and the extra set of holes for the sear pin are not drilled!

Because of the need for US Compliance parts and the relative inexpensive nature of US made Fire Control parts there is really not a good reason to use those parts anyways so I would just get rid of them once you know you have what you need.

Otherwise, yes, as long as you have your US parts then building from your kit will be fine.

[Orion]

Thanks Quarterbore. That raises a couple other questions.
I notice that if I buy a receiver already bent, welded and heat treated it is subject to being registered and transferred by a FFL holder. If I buy it as a predrilled/milled blank and bend, weld and heat treat it myself does that receiver have to be registered after I am finished with it? Is it subject to the $200 firearm manufacturing tax?

I was surprised to see that you live in Valley Forge, I am in Limerick, just up the road from you...

[Quarterbore]

Greetings neighbor!

A home built gun can be built from a flat or other non-gun-receiver with the understanding that you are building this gun for you rown personal use and you are not building for someone else or for profit.

There is no registration of one of these builds but obviously it is illegal to build anything other then a semiautomatic with the required number of US made parts. Now, you can register a home built gun with the BATFE as a SBR or AOW and these would require $200 tax payments and the appropriate paperwork before you begin building.

Personally, I have a three kits I was planning to SBR if I ever has the spare money but given the time and cost to do the NFA work I am going to purchase a quality 1.0 Global Trades receiver with a custom serial number that would match the numbers on my kits before I send in the tax payments.

Building from a flat is quite a bit of work and it requires a lot of jigs and tools to do rivets and screw build work but they just are not as nice. Some of the self tapping rivet methods look pretty good as well but I hav enot had the time to try one of those. A member here on the site sent me rivets over a year ago but darned life got real busy.

Hope this helps some...

[Orion]

That helps quite a bit. I find the loopholes in the gun laws to be rather insanely amusing sometimes.

Being able to build a semi-auto AK from parts without registration begs the question of what is required to build a full-auto AK legally from a parts gun. Would the full auto gun require the normal steps in buying any full auto weapon or auto sear? Or is the process different to make a full auto receiver for a parts gun?

I noticed that in another of your posts on this site you mentioned setting up a corp to own your fully automatic weapons, what kind of hassle is it to keep up with the recordkeeping requirements in order to keep the corp up to date? I have been investigating this same path as I have heard the Montco sherrif refuses to give his authorization for the transfer. I have also seen that a trust will accomplish the same thing, is there a reason you went for the corp instead of the trust?

Thanks

[Quarterbore]

First, it is not possible to build a new machinegun if you do not have a proper NFA Manufactures license since 1986. Before then, you could have submitted a Form 1 with your tax payments and build a MG but not anymore. Building one these days will cost you 10-years in jain and $100,000 in fines! In that perspective, a transfereable machinegun is rather cheap!

As for the Corp, I have all kinds of business activities and honestly doing the books and reporting is a real PITA! Unless you really need to go the Corp route, I would suggest looking at other options.

The big advantage with a corp for me is the guns that are on the Corp books stay with the Corp so I can pass it on to my kids regardless to what future laws may bring regarding x-fer of MGs. I can also draft a letter in the Corp name allowing some Corp officers to use the MGs but I don't let that happen so that is pretty much a moot atvantage at this point.

I have seen some people do these as part of a Trust and the paperwork for that might be a whole lot easier then a corp. Also, my Corp is a full c-corp so I have lots of stuff I need to report.

[Orion]

I figured that construction of the MG would fall more under NFA gunsmithing/manufacturing.

With what I do I don't have need of an entity as of yet but most likely will in the future so I may have to go down that path anyway and the ownership of the MG's without CLEO's signatures is a surprise bonus.

I think that any type of corporate entity, be it S, C or LLC would be preferrable to the Trust unless you got a trustee that was trusworthy. There is something about having someone hold your assets in their name and have power over them that makes me nervous. But I wonder if you could be the trustee and name the beneficiaries as ones children. You have a valid point about the transfer to your children though, the corp has a distinct advantage there.

How come you chose a C corp instead of an S corp? Is there any benefit to you to justify the double taxation?

Did those people you know who used a trust have a lawyer prepare the trust docs and who did they use as trustee?

[Orion]

Quarterbore,
In preparation for my first AK build I was thinking about the fact that essentially I am building an unregistered firearm from a bunch of parts. As long as the firearm doesn't violate the NFA and other laws restricting firearms doing this is perfectly legal.

Is there anything prohibiting one to build, for ones own personal use, a firearm from a bunch of parts of different origins? For example if you bought a barrel and machined up a reciever to fit it, either bolt action or semi auto, and then added on a trigger group and stock of some type? Would this firearm require registration under the current system?

Thanks

Orion

[my-rifle]

Originally Posted by Orion

Quarterbore,
In preparation for my first AK build I was thinking about the fact that essentially I am building an unregistered firearm from a bunch of parts. As long as the firearm doesn't violate the NFA and other laws restricting firearms doing this is perfectly legal.

Is there anything prohibiting one to build, for ones own personal use, a firearm from a bunch of parts of different origins? For example if you bought a barrel and machined up a reciever to fit it, either bolt action or semi auto, and then added on a trigger group and stock of some type? Would this firearm require registration under the current system?

Thanks

Orion

Wow! Give the guy a break :-)

Here's a letter from the BATFE:

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/building_a_firearm.pdf


The firearm would not require anything until you try to transfer it to someone else. At that point you are required to imprint your name, address, and a serial number unique to you as a manufacturer on the receiver. If you do not have a manufacturer's license you may build and sell some guns, but if the number becomes excessive (deliberately ambiguous) you may get a visit from federal officials, and they may press charges. What's worse, if one of your builds (your name and address) turns up in a crime scene, the victims or their families can sue you as the manufacturer for damages, and these can hurt a lot.

The bottom line is that you can legally build firearms, but selling them is just not worth the difficulty and liability you will cause to yourself and your family.

As for building, crank em out! There's no need to worry. Just take care of them, and don't let them get stolen. You don't want them traced back to you in a civil suit.