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Old March 21, 2011, 08:27 PM   #1
Fairwind
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Is it legal to make your own firearm?

Is there any law against an individual making, manufacturing, a firearm for his or hers own personnel use? Specifically, a crude smooth-bore single shot handgun that utilizes shotgun shells..(.410)

Or could the BATF folks, at their discretion, prosecute you under the sawed-off shotgun law and put you in prison for 10 years...

I'm just trying to figure out how deep the water is before I build a crude pistol.
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Old March 21, 2011, 09:18 PM   #2
StrongSideArmsInc
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Under federal regulation, you can and are allowed to make a homemade gun. you have to follow the regulations set for pistols, shotguns, and rifles. If you are wanting to build an NFA item, you can request permisson from ATF to do such. Once it is built, you will have to go through the tax process like any other weapon.

However, to note, once you have built a homemade firearm, you can not transfer and/or sell it. That would be a violation of tax code and you will be subject to criminal prosecutetion.

You can find the information you are looking for on BATF's website.
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Old March 21, 2011, 09:54 PM   #3
Fairwind
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Does BATF define ANY smooth-bore firearm with a barrel shorter than 18" to be a sawed off shotgun? (SBS) Or is it just a simple single-shot pistol that fires .410 shotgun shells, not an NFA weapon at all, subject only to State firearms laws..
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Old March 21, 2011, 10:49 PM   #4
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You can build it so long as it's legal. First you need to check state laws because if you are in a state like mine there are many restrictions on what you can have IE the Assault Weapon Ban :barf:. Next you need to be sure that what you are building dosen't violate the Nation Firearms Act. This means that you can't build things like Machine Guns, Suppressors, Short Barreled Rifles / Shotguns, Destructive Devices, and AOWs (a smooth bore pistol is considered an AOW). You actually can but you need to get your tax stamp first (BTW you can't get one anymore for a Machine Gun). Also you need to be careful if you are using imported parts since building an "Assault Weapon" using imported parts is illegal as well.
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Old March 21, 2011, 10:51 PM   #5
chasep255
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Once it is built, you will have to go through the tax process like any other weapon.
I think you have to go through the process BEFORE you build it.
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Old March 21, 2011, 11:49 PM   #6
JohnKSa
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From the standpoint of federal law, if what you're making is legal for you to own then you can make it.

HOWEVER, if you can't buy it without first complying with special NFA restrictions then you also can't make it without first complying with those same NFA restrictions.

Smoothbores need to have barrels at least 18" long and need to be at least 26" in overall length to avoid NFA restrictions.

You can make your single-shot handgun and you can make it a smoothbore but not without doing the NFA hoopjump first.
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Old March 22, 2011, 12:20 PM   #7
Fairwind
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So as I read your replies, this would be a "Dispose of after use or public exposure" type of weapon..

This is insane..I can legally buy and own a .357 revolver for $300 or less, no problem..But if I fool around with this crude, homemade, single shot inaccurate weapon, I'm exposing myself to a 10 year jail sentence..

I can also buy and own (mailorder!) a replica black powder revolver with no gun-checks at all!, a far more lethal weapon than my hypothetical marine flare gun conversion that exposes me to a Federal Felony Conviction...
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Old March 22, 2011, 02:20 PM   #8
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If you're looking for logic in the U.S. gun control laws, you won't find it!
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Old March 22, 2011, 02:24 PM   #9
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BATF was a jobs program for out-of-work revenuers when Prohibition ended. There should never have been such an agency. Unconstitutional.
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Old March 22, 2011, 08:28 PM   #10
David Hineline
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At the federal level you can make a smooth bore handgun on a BATFE form 1 for a $200 making tax or you can buy one for a $5 transfer tax.

There is no law against selling or transferring a firearm you made yourself as long as your intent was not to make it for re-sale. If you later get tired of owning a firearm you made for your self you may sell it like any other firearm.
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Old March 22, 2011, 09:09 PM   #11
StrongSideArmsInc
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I think you have to go through the process BEFORE you build it
You can through the process first, but there is also a section were you can request permisson to build, and ATF will give u a certain amount of time, once complete, then you can go through the process. This all started to allow people to build prototypes for contracts, patents, or scentific study.
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Old March 22, 2011, 11:52 PM   #12
Fairwind
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Thank you gentlemen..I should have known..Properly motivated, I figured out a way to make an inexpensive "rifling tool" out of a carbide tipped masonry drill bit! A little work on the grinder and lathe and my insert is now rifled! (well, sort of rifled)

Now I guess I have to give it a serial number...00001
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Old March 23, 2011, 12:06 AM   #13
M.O.A.
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oh my god

your going to hurt your self or someone watching you
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Old March 23, 2011, 10:54 AM   #14
Fairwind
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If 1820-1860 weapons can be fired safely, this creation should pose no problems. God seems to take very little interest in these things or any things for that matter...

As with all firearms, the most likely victim is the owner, not by accident but by intent...
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Old March 23, 2011, 11:03 AM   #15
Idahoser
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As with all firearms, the most likely victim is the owner, not by accident but by intent...
what a ridiculous thing to say. Apparently 'you're entitled to your opinion' but you should avoid letting people know what it is until you have a chance to find out if it's remotely feasible.
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Old March 23, 2011, 11:40 AM   #16
orangello
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They just built a similar device on the TV show "Sons of Guns" on Discovery (i think). It was for up close disposal of an alligator on a line.

After seeing it in action, I don't want one.

Have you considered the double-barreled "howdah hunter" shotty? It is not cheap, but is legal in many states regardless of its short barrel.
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Old March 23, 2011, 10:03 PM   #17
Fairwind
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"what a ridiculous thing to say. Apparently 'you're entitled to your opinion' but you should avoid letting people know what it is until you have a chance to find out if it's remotely feasible."

If you compare "death by firearm" to suicide by firearm, you will discover that a large percentage of firearm deaths are the gun-owners themselves, but they died happy, with their gun in their hand..

The most likely person to die from a gunshot wound is the gun owner himself, followed by members of his immediate family, followed by third parties who may or may not have had criminal intent..

But this is a completely different issue, not related to why I started this thread..
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Old March 23, 2011, 10:47 PM   #18
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Troll?
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Old March 24, 2011, 01:24 AM   #19
M.O.A.
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your talking about building a shotgun pistol out of a flare gun with a home made barrel that has riflings cut into it with a masonary drillbit

yah ok leave a note telling that it wasnt suicide but just you testing your gun and see how that works for you
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Old March 24, 2011, 11:56 AM   #20
Fairwind
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I'm sorry to disappoint you guys but it WORKS great! How it works is not the question...I would post a picture of it but that would be forfeiting my 5th amendment rights..

The masonry drill bit seems to be a point of concern among you...Okay, look at it this way..The drill-bit serves as a tool holder for two equal-spaced carbide cutters that can be used to carve spiral grooves down the 7" barrel that could be defined as "rifling" thus meeting the requirements of the law..Not that The Law will ever get a chance to examine my handiwork...If I thought there was a CHANCE of that happening, I never would have started this thread...
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