Hypothetical situation!!

[pdcrig]

Gents, I've got a question for you. I've never been involved with NFA issues before and I'm not now. Just too much $$$. But, imagine a relative passes and as family goes through the estate a Mauser Schnellfeuer or an old Sten is found. Under the law, can these items be registered or do they have to be turned in for destruction? Can they be donated to a museum? Again, this is all hypothetical. I'm just curious. Thanks all.

Thinking about getting into NFA with my first .22 can. But just thinking.

 

[CAR-AR-M16]

Gents, I've got a question for you. I've never been involved with NFA issues before and I'm not now. Just too much $$$. But, imagine a relative passes and as family goes through the estate a Mauser Schnellfeuer or an old Sten is found. Under the law, can these items be registered or do they have to be turned in for destruction? Can they be donated to a museum? Again, this is all hypothetical. I'm just curious. Thanks all.

Thinking about getting into NFA with my first .22 can. But just thinking.

If there is no registration paperwork on the gun than it is contraband and cannot be registered now (the registry closed to civilians in May 1986). I would make darn sure I looked through every piece of paper I could find to see if there are any papers on it (such as capture papers from WWII). It can be turned in to a museum, to an LE agency or you could strip the parts and just destroy the receiver.

There is a sticky on this subject over at AR15.com. Here is a link: http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=17&t=322347

 

[mr ed]

Hypothetically what you do is strip the item down to the bare receiver then call BATF.
They will come look at the receiver, write down the serial # and search their registry.
Then they will tell you if its registered to the relative or not. If its not, they will come confiscate the contraband.
If its registered then you can sell it and transfer it.
The receiver is the only part that is restricted and they have no right to the other pieces which you could then sell legally.
Thousands of guns registered in November 1968 do not have paperwork.
They just took down the information and said they would send paperwork but never did. My Dad has a couple like that. In about 1990 they came around saying they were updating the registery and wanted to know if he still had them. To this day he still has no papers.

 

[Ignored Member]

Hypothetically what you do is strip the item down to the bare receiver then call BATF.
They will come look at the receiver, write down the serial # and search their registry.
Then they will tell you if its registered to the relative or not. If its not, they will come confiscate the contraband.
If its registered then you can sell it and transfer it.
The receiver is the only part that is restricted and they have no right to the other pieces which you could then sell legally.
Thousands of guns registered in November 1968 do not have paperwork.
They just took down the information and said they would send paperwork but never did. My Dad has a couple like that. In about 1990 they came around saying they were updating the registery and wanted to know if he still had them. To this day he still has no papers.

What about an auto sear for an M16... isn't that part alone considered a machine gun according to the ATF?

 

[mr ed]

What about an auto sear for an M16... isn't that part alone considered a machine gun according to the ATF?

No not that I know of. Go to Wanamachers gun show and you will probably find tables with boxes of them for sale. However most dealers nowadays will ask to see your paperwork before they sell you one.
A few people registered them as mg.s because there was a shortage of lowers when the law passed.
There was a guy who even tried to register them as sears for other guns
Ak's,Hk's, Fal's etc. That didn't go over too well with Atf.

 

[CAR-AR-M16]

What about an auto sear for an M16... isn't that part alone considered a machine gun according to the ATF?

If you are talking about a GI Auto Sear that only fits into an M16 receiver that is milled and drilled for the sear, then no, it is not illegal. It is simply a MG part.

If you are talking about a Drop In Auto Sear (DIAS) that just drops in to a semi auto receiver, then it is considered a "conversion device" and would be considered a MG by itself. Here is a very good article about the legalities of the DIAS: http://www.ar15.com/content/legal/dias.html

Just so you know the difference, here is a pic of a GI sear. You can see how the receiver had to be milled and drilled for it to fit.

Here is a DIAS, which you can see would drop right in with no modification to the lower.

Both sears require the use of the full auto selector, trigger, disconnector and hammer in order to function properly.

 

[ratski]

If there is no registration paperwork on the gun than it is contraband and cannot be registered now (the registry closed to civilians in May 1986). I would make darn sure I looked through every piece of paper I could find to see if there are any papers on it (such as capture papers from WWII). It can be turned in to a museum, to an LE agency or you could strip the parts and just destroy the receiver.

I would not suggest turning such an item over to a museum or to a LE agency. If you walk into an LE agency with one and say "hey look what I found", you might get more than you bargained for. Same goes for a museum.

If you want to go down that road, I would suggest contacting an attorney and let them broker the turn in. If done properly, a museum can keep the item and display it and you get a nice tax deduction. If done improperly, the museum calls the cops and you get a nice vacation at Club Fed.

In addition, even if you can't find registration papers, an attorney can contact the ATF and find out if the item was ever entered into the Registry and if so, work to get the proper paperwork for it.

Dave

 

[CAR-AR-M16]

I would not suggest turning such an item over to a museum or to a LE agency. If you walk into an LE agency with one and say "hey look what I found", you might get more than you bargained for. Same goes for a museum.

If you want to go down that road, I would suggest contacting an attorney and let them broker the turn in. If done properly, a museum can keep the item and display it and you get a nice tax deduction. If done improperly, the museum calls the cops and you get a nice vacation at Club Fed.

In addition, even if you can't find registration papers, an attorney can contact the ATF and find out if the item was ever entered into the Registry and if so, work to get the proper paperwork for it.

Dave

I agree 100% and I am sorry I left that part out. Thanks for pointing that out Dave. There is no way I would do any of this myself. I would definitely have an NFA savy lawyer handle the inquiry or disposition.

 

[Ignored Member]

Thanks CAR-AR-M16 for clearing that up, I guess it was the DIAS I was thinking of.