525 Glock "switches"

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hso

hso

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That's how many of these things have been found by Customs in Memphis alone this year.


NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Once, they even showed in a toaster oven; tiny pieces looking like parts of a keychain.

They are harmless on their own, but deadly when assembled and attached to a pistol.

So far, the Memphis port of U.S. Customs and Border Protection have confiscated 525 Glock switches.

News4 Investigates first exposed the illegal devices give pistols the power of machine guns.
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https://www.wsmv.com/2022/05/09/new...han-500-glock-switches-intercepted-tennessee/
 
What are they? I heard the reports from Alabama but I generally assume such reports are mistaken or misleading.
 
My understanding is that it's a little spike protruding from the striker plate that impinges on the sear when the slide closes. I'm not fully sure how the glock trigger works so I may be wrong but that's the impression that I walk away with everytime someone explains it.
 
DMW1116 said:
What are they? I heard the reports from Alabama but I generally assume such reports are mistaken or misleading.
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They are just a slide back plate incorporating an auto sear. Illegal as in, 10 years and $250,000, if you don’t have the correct FFL and SOT to manufacture one. A lot of fun if you do though.

 
Wow. That's incredible that you could just change the striker plate out and make it an auto. Not my bag because of the quote below from the Houston based article, but it's very clever.

"You have to work to keep the gun down on target and shoot where you want it and for an inexperienced individual, they're not going to do that effectively," King said.

First, Oberg fired a Glock without a switch, pulling the trigger three times to fire three bullets toward a target at the gun range.

Then, once the switch was added to the weapon, Oberg fired over a dozen of bullets in two seconds with one pull of the trigger.

"Wow," Oberg said. "I don't think I hit one where I was aiming it. It's completely out of control."
 
The local range has a Glock 17 with add on selector out for rental - I don't know under what legal provision. They mucked it up with a stock and forward grip because they didn't think their customers could control a straight machine pistol like the guy in the video.
 
OrangeCat said:
My understanding is that it's a little spike protruding from the striker plate that impinges on the sear when the slide closes. I'm not fully sure how the glock trigger works so I may be wrong but that's the impression that I walk away with everytime someone explains it.
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I have seen the 3d print file for one, that's pretty much what it lookslike.
 
Jimfern said:
Wow. That's incredible that you could just change the striker plate out and make it an auto.
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There are some guns you can turn into a machinegun with two pieces of spring steel. Like the lighting link turns a semi AR into a machinegun.

C7AB7B8C-FB34-4B20-9E16-8904B690233E.jpeg 915CD341-9419-4CD6-A735-6696D37AE246.jpeg

Or one piece.

E39E8676-C277-47E6-B63B-B153A1CBAD6D.jpeg

Or a coat hanger.

4166FBD1-F972-4EC9-AC2B-5146D2B744C7.jpeg


Some you can turn into a machinegun with a piece of string.

8573C141-BBF7-4809-83AE-A5436710F3B4.jpeg

Others, a piece of paper folded and in the right place can make them one.

It is certainly more difficult to get the proper paper work completed than it is to make a functional machinegun. I’d say it’s more difficult to make a semiauto than it is a full auto. It takes more parts to stop the machine every cycle than it would to just let it go. Especially with open bolt firearms.
 
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A lot of these "switches" are marketed for airsoft pistols. And they just happen to work on real Glock pistols too. To be honest, this is old news and the ATF along with Customs have been seizing these devices at the ports (when they catch them) for years now. You use to be able to be them on eBay. It is just a hot topic right now for the left and the media to stir up fear for their gun control.
 
FA is fun, but who can afford it? I haven't seen ammunition at the local Walmart in years. Must be the hoarders.
 
4v50 Gary said:
FA is fun, but who can afford it? I haven't seen ammunition at the local Walmart in years. Must be the hoarders.
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The novelty of machine guns wears off real fast, especially when you're paying for the ammo. We have 5 post samples, and aside from durability testing our suppressors and sometimes entertaining customers, they collect dust while we shoot mostly bolt & lever actions.
 
I can see that.

I've shot some FA, including an M249 and a G18 and while I certainly enjoyed it, I probably wouldn't buy one even if I could get the same price as a comparable semi-auto and didn't have to go through the NFA hoops.
They mucked it up with a stock and forward grip because they didn't think their customers could control a straight machine pistol like the guy in the video.
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A true machine pistol is a handful. I was at a class for firearm instructors where the instructor of the class had a G18. At the end of the 3 day class, he allowed anyone to fire the G18 if they wanted to. The instructor knew by that point that everyone in the class had firearm instructor credentials to be at the class and he had seen them all shooting for 3 days.

He went through a pretty good spiel on what to do and what not to do and stood right up close to the shooters on their strong side with his hands out to make sure things didn't get out of control.

I took my turn and after the experience, I felt like his precautions were fairly reasonable. There is no way I would rent out a G18 in pure pistol form to someone off the street and just hope nothing went wrong.
 
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