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Old February 19, 2007, 08:22 PM   #1
Carryabigstick
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A quick question...

What do you have to do in order to convert normal semi-auto rifles into full autos? What is the cost and how hard is it to do on most guns. I'm thinking about 22's and maybe an AR type rifle. I'm ignant and if yall could enlighten me I'd apreciate it.
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Old February 19, 2007, 10:09 PM   #2
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You can't do it now anyway, since the 1986 cut-off; even when you COULD do it, it was a whole lot harder than the anti-gunners made it out to be, and it was a procedure best left to a licenced manufacturer. Also, Washington doesn't allow private ownership of FAs, unless I'm mistaken.
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Old February 19, 2007, 10:10 PM   #3
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You cannont legally convert ANY weapon to fire full auto, unless it was registered as a machinegun before 1986. Please do a search of this forum to answer your question better.
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Old February 19, 2007, 11:15 PM   #4
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OH ok thanks for the answers. I wasn't so much wanting to know about the legality of it. I'm more wondering if it is something that you can do on your own.
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Old February 20, 2007, 01:41 AM   #5
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Speaking just for educational purposes only, it is NOT hard at all to actually convert a semi-auto to full-auto. There are countless books out there that show you how it's done. But for God's sakes DON'T DO IT!!! Unless you are a class II manufacturer, you will land yourself in jail for 10+ years. Definatly not worth it. Learn to bump fire instead.

OT: Happy birthday VUPDblue!!

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Old February 20, 2007, 03:07 AM   #6
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Unless you are a class II manufacturer,
Bingo.
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Old February 20, 2007, 09:34 AM   #7
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Calling Johnny Guest!

This is my official plea for a moderator to delete this thread. You don't ask for help doing anything illegal around here, even if it is only for 'educational purposes'.
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Old February 20, 2007, 11:34 AM   #8
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It was more of a curiosity issue. I was just wondering as to how easy it would be in an emergency situation. It is somthing that while not really practical to know right now may come in handy later on.
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Old February 20, 2007, 12:09 PM   #9
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I was just wondering as to how easy it would be in an emergency situation. It is somthing that while not really practical to know right now may come in handy later on.
In an emergency situation you're best off with just semi. Full auto is fun, but homemade conversions can be very unreliable and dangerous to the shooter if not done properly. Moreover for practical use, full-auto from a rifle is generally a waste of ammo; if its not a SAW, LMG or HMG it generally should not be used in that fashion. Also if TSHTF/TEOTWAWKI is your concern, keep in mind you're not going to be able to order ammo at your convenience or drop by Walmart to pick up more - you'll need to be very careful with your ammo consumption. FWIW, I have a number of machineguns; from sub-machineguns to beltfed LMG/GPMG's; if TSHTF I'd definitely grab a semiauto first to make my ammo last (and I usually have 40k-50k rds on hand).
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Old February 20, 2007, 12:50 PM   #10
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You cannont legally convert ANY weapon to fire full auto, unless it was registered as a machinegun before 1986. Please do a search of this forum to answer your question better.
just for clarification....

(here in the US) it is possible to take a post-1986 non-Title 2 firearm and turn it into
fullauto or select fire if the conversion piece was manufactured and registered prior
to the prohibition.

even a shoestring can be used as a conversion piece, a hacksaw blade etc. going this
route "in an emergency..." may be do-able but is the risk really worth it? usually not.
that's got to be one hell of an emergency for you to require full-auto.
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Old February 20, 2007, 03:23 PM   #11
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If you are interested in NFA weapons Carryabigstick, but don't want to pay the high costs of FA guns you could always get a SBR (Short Barrel Rifle), SBS (Short Barrel Shotgun) or a suppressor. (If legal where you live) I own a TAC-16 suppressor in .223 and I would have to say that in an emergency situation/economic collapse/just plain fun a suppressor would be the most usefull. You don't need hearing protection on most suppressors. If hunting rabbits for food, the suppressed report would not attract attention or bother the neighbors.

Alot of good reading here - Silencer Talk.com.

We need to be nice to people like Carryabigstick and try to educate them and not rag on them. I used to be ignorant on NFA stuff and would have asked questions like that before I got into NFA guns.
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Old February 20, 2007, 04:03 PM   #12
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You are correct, crosshair. Again, I may have been hasty...my bad..
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Old February 20, 2007, 10:06 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by Crosshair
We need to be nice to people like Carryabigstick and try to educate them and not rag on them. I used to be ignorant on NFA stuff and would have asked questions like that before I got into NFA guns.
+1

If I had thought for a second that the OP seemed like a troll just wanting to stir up problems or talk about illegal things then I wouldn't have even posted in this thread. But the OP was just asking a serious question. I can't speak for anyone else here, but I am sure that nobody here wants anyone to inadvertently break the law and end up in jail. Heck, I may have a class III dealer in my family, but that doesn't mean I am an expert on all the NFA laws. Education is priceless here.
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Old February 20, 2007, 11:23 PM   #14
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Re: raymond-

Quote:
just for clarification....

(here in the US) it is possible to take a post-1986 non-Title 2 firearm and turn it into
fullauto or select fire if the conversion piece was manufactured and registered prior
to the prohibition.
Yes, a REGISTERED conversion or drop-in auto sear is the only LEGAL way to convert a non-Title 2 firearm to full-auto. Whether the non-Title 2 firearm is pre- or post- 1986 is immaterial.
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Old February 20, 2007, 11:26 PM   #15
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So wait a minute. If say I wanted to convert my 10/22 to selectifire, I could as long as the drop in trigger system and bolt parts were made prior to 1986?
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Old February 20, 2007, 11:42 PM   #16
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So wait a minute. If say I wanted to convert my 10/22 to selectifire, I could as long as the drop in trigger system and bolt parts were made prior to 1986?
Not exactly. If the parts in question were serialized, numbered parts and registered with ATF as a machinegun, then yes. The Norrell trigger packs are an excellent example. They are registered as machineguns and are transferable. The host firearm makes no difference. They are just like the RDIAS's and RLL's for the AR.
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Old February 21, 2007, 11:28 AM   #17
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Thanks for the help fellas. Like I said in my first post, I'm ignant. Now when I was saying emergency I wasn't really thinking that through. More of what I was thinking involved, laws changing or something along that line to allow me to build one. I really couldn't afford to shoot one after I built it unless it was a 22. So I'm not and wasn't really planning it, I was just curious to how easy it would be.
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