[Amish]

If i put a US made trigger group in it can I cut the thumbhole buttstock to recontour so it has a destinctive pistol grip? Has anyone tried this? I manipulated a photo of one and it looks pretty good.

[Badger Arms]

Maybe a new piston too.

[Tamara]

Ace Ltd. makes a stock kit with the right number of parts.

I keep meaning to call them to get one for mine, but always wind up forgetting until 6 PM on Fridays. :o

I wish they'd set up for online ordering like everyone else in the free world.:banghead:

[Amish]

I was going to buy a Ace skeleton stock but it cost $170 total. It comes with the US trigger group though. That's all is needed to install a US made non-thumbhole stock. I guess I will try cutting the thumbhole stock and see if I like before I buy the skeleton stock.

[Badger Arms]

Ace states on their web site that their conversion satisfies the law. From the letter below, it appears they are correct. It should be clarified that you must use a US made magazine in order to comply with the law or else your 'part count' will jump over 10. The following is a BATF letter on the subject:

http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/wbardwel/public/nfalist/atf_letter25.txt DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Washington, D.C. 20226

NOV -5 1997 E:SD:FTB:RDC
3311

Dear Mr. :

This refers to your letter of October 20, 1997, in which you inquire about the legality of assembling a Daewoo DR200 5.56mm semiautomatic with a fixed shoulder stock and separate pistol grip.

Please refer to the enclosed pamphlets entitled "Assembly of Semiautomatic Rifles and Shotguns from Imported Parts under 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44" and "Semiautomatic Assault Weapons and Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Devices under 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44."

Title 27 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 178.39 states that no person shall assemble a semiautomatic rifle or any shotgun using more than 10 of the imported parts listed below if the assembled firearm is prohibited from importation under section 925(d) (3). For the purposes of this section, the term "imported parts" are:

(1) Frames receivers, receiver castings, forgings, or stampings
(2) Barrels
(3) Barrel Extensions
(4) Mounting blocks (trunnions)
(5) Muzzle attachments
(6) Bolts
(7) Bolt carriers
(8) Operating rods
(9) Gas pistons
(10) Trigger housings
(11) Triggers
(12) Hammers
(13) Sears
(14) Disconnectors
(15) Buttstocks
(16) Pistol grips
(17) Forearms, handguards
(18) Magazine bodies
(19) Followers
(20) Floorplates

For the purposes of 27 CFR Section 178.39(c), the Daewoo DR 200
semiautomatic rifle contains items numbered (1), (2), (3), (5),
(6), (7), (8), (9), (11), (12), (14), (15), and (17). Exchanging
the thumbhole stock with a fixed shoulder stock and separate pistol grip would be in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 922(r) if the
firearm was assembled using more than 10 of the above listed
imported parts. It would also constitute the making of an
semiautomatic assault weapon in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section
922(v)(1).

We trust that the foregoing has been responsive to your inquiry.
If we can be of any further assistance, please contact us.


Sincerely yours,
[signed]
Edward M. Owen, Jr.
Chief, Firearms Technology Branch

[tbotts]

I have a Daewoo 200 that I switched to one of Ace's skeleton stock. According to the paperwork that came with the kit, the stock is considered one of the parts to be changed in order to comply with the law, along with the trigger group and pistol grip. So, I dont think that cutting and reshaping the wood thumbhole stock would be legal as it is an origional imported part.
As written on the paperwork:

"Daewoo DR Post Ban Stock Conversion Installation Instruction"

"You must install all the parts in the DRUSF stock conversion kit for this conversion to comply with the law. Including: ACE U.S. made stock, ACE U.S. made pistol grip, U.S. made trigger,hammer,disconnector and you must always use magazines which all of its parts are U.S. made."

Hope this helps.

[Badger Arms]

TBOTTS:

Again, there is confusion in the market. You are not trying to get the US parts count up, you are trying to get the Foreign parts down. This confusion mostly centers around the common statements about making sure your magazines are US made. This is only because the magazine counts for three of the maximum 10 parts needed to classify the rifle as foreign made!

Look at the situation and read the BATF letter above. It is clear that the DR200 will comply only if the buttstock is removed. This is because the buttstock counts as one piece. Even though it also serves the function of a grip, it is not a pistol grip as defined by the BATF so they don't list it. The bold parts are the parts that apply to the DR200. Notice that there are 13 of them. Cutting the buttstock into two parts and replacing the hammer, trigger, and disconnector leaves us with 11 foreign parts. Tricky. With the stock changed, all that is required is changing two more parts of the three foreign parts in the trigger group that apply.

There is certainly a flimsy argument that you can make that by reshaping the foreign stock you are, in fact, manufacturing in the USA two US made parts -- a buttstock and pistol grip. Good luck. I don't know what the BATF would say.

[Badger Arms]

Oh, one more thing. Do the internals on the Daewoo interchange with AR-15 internals? If so, does the selector also interchange? I hate the Daewoo selector.

[Amish]

Actually the thumbhole stock on the DR-200 is a US made part installed by Kimber, it's not made in Korea.

[Badger Arms]

Okay. That makes sense. Well, you'd be under the parts count if you replaced two of the internals and modified the stock to the correct configuration. So, does the DR-200 take AR-15 internals?

[Skunkabilly]

Can anyone post pictures of this beastie?

[Badger Arms]

Here ya go:

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?s=&postid=258769

[Ian]

Sadly, Daewoo internals are not interchangeable with AR internals. I did some comparing between my Daewoo and a variety of AR parts, and none of 'em work. The firing pins are awfully close, but differ by ~1/4 inch in length.

After inspecting the selector (with Chris Rhines) it seems that simply milling an extra flat side onto it would change it from a 180 degree rotation to a 90 degree one. I haven't tried doing this, but if I can find an extra selector I'd love to give it a shot.

[Ian]

Skunk - Here's me with my Daewoo. For extra tacticality, I've tossed in a Beta-C mag (sadly, the bayonet was not at the range that day). :evil:

[ArizonaPatriot]

You can also remove the dummy flash hider and install an AR flash hider or muzzle brake,(adds one to your US parts count). The factory unit is only silver soldered on and will come off with not much effort. A propane torch and pipe wrench did the trick on mine. I also had a bayonet lug welded on the bottom of the gas block. I took an old AR front sight base, cut off the bayonet lug and did some trial fitting with a bayonet installed to get the proper height I needed. Super glued it in place and took it to my buddy's shop and had it permanently installed. Looks nice if I do say so myself.

http://www.public.asu.edu/~jbovenzi/images/guns/Daewoo/bayonet.jpg