How to tell if a rifle is select fire or not?

[Oleg Volk]

Could somebody suggest a way to test a rifle to verify that it is not a select fire weapon (without using live ammunition or primed cases)?

[T.Stahl]

I know how to test it with a G3. It's one part of the function check after field stripping it.

- Cock it
- Put selector on F/A
- Pull trigger, click, hammer went forward
- Hold trigger back
- Cycle action manually, as often as you like
- Release trigger
- Hammer should be uncocked
- Pull trigger, nothing should happen as hammer is already de-cocked

Should also work for testing burst limiters.

Edited: Oops, that's the test for F/A, not semi-auto.

[SDC]

It depends on the rifle; in most cases, an easy way to check is (with a cleared firearm) to pull the trigger, then, while keeping the trigger pulled, cycle the action by hand; if the hammer/striker drops when you ease the bolt back into battery, it's FA. If you've got a specific make/model in mind, let us know, and I'm sure someone can post some pictures or specific descriptions.

[Sleuth]

You have both correctly described ATF field test #1.