922(r) compliance

[MachIVshooter]

Request a sticky for this one, since it comes up so often.

922 (r)
The Imported Parts Law(1990)
178.39 otherwise known as 922(r) 10 Foreign parts law on semiauto Rifles & Shotguns
http://www.atf.treas.gov/regulations/27cfr178.html
Sec. 178.39 Assembly of semiautomatic rifles or shotguns.
(a) No person shall assemble a semiautomatic rifle or any shotgun using more than 10 of the imported parts listed in paragraph (c) of this section if the assembled firearm is prohibited from importation under section 925(d)(3) as not being particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes.
(b) The provisions of this section shall not apply to:
(1) The assembly of such rifle or shotgun for sale or distribution
by a licensed manufacturer to the United States or any department or agency thereof or to any State or any department, agency, or political subdivision thereof; or
(2) The assembly of such rifle or shotgun for the purposes of
testing or experimentation authorized by the Director under the
provisions of Sec. 178.151; or
(3) The repair of any rifle or shotgun which had been imported into or assembled in the United States prior to November 30, 1990, or the replacement of any part of such firearm.
(c) For 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 (trunions)
(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

925(d) (3)
Section 925(d)(3), Title 18, U.S.C., states that the Secretary shall authorize a firearm or ammunition to be imported or brought into the United States if it is of a type that does not fall within the definition of a firearm in section 5845(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 and is generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes, excluding surplus military firearms.

In 1989, ATF identified a type of rifle known as a semiautomatic assault rifle and found that weapons of this type were not generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes under the sporting purpose test for importation in 18 U.S.C. 925(d). Accordingly, on July 6, 1989, ATF determined that rifles of this type were not importable into the United States. ATF's findings was based, in part, on the determination that these rifles have certain charcteristics that are common to modern military assault rifles and that distinguish them from traditional sporting rifles.These characteristics include the ability to accept a detachable magazine, folding/telescopic stocks, seperate pistol grips, ability to accept a bayonet, flash suppressors, bipods, grenade launchers, night sights. It was decided that any of these military features, other than a detachable magazine, would make a semiautomatic assault rifle not importable. The particular rifles barred from importation were as follows:



AKS Variants

AK 47 type
AK47S type
AK74 type
AKS type
AKM type
AKMS type
ARM type
84S type
84S1 type
84S3 type
86S type
867S
Galil type
Type 56 type
Type 56S type
Valment M76 type
Valment M78 type
M76 counter sniper rifle type

FAL Variants

FAL type
L1A1 type
SAR 48

Other

Aug type
FNC type
Uzi Carbine
Algimec AGM1 type
Austrailian Automatic Arms SAR type
Beretta AR70 type
Beretta BM59 type
CIS SR88 type
HK91 type
HK93 type
HK94 type
G3SA type
K1 type
K2 type
AR100 type
M14S type
MAS223 type
SIG 550SP type
SIG 551SP type
SKS with detachable magazine

Subsequent to the 1989 decision, certain semiautomatic assault rifles that failed the 1989 sporting purposes test for importation were modified to remove all of their military features other than the ability to accept a detachable magazine. They could still accept large capacity magazines originally designed for and produced for the military assault rifles from which they were derived. The modified weapons were permitted to be imported because they met the 1989 sporting purposes test for importation.

On November 14 1997, the President and the Secretary of the Treasury ordered a review of the importation of modified versions of semiautomatic assault rifles into the United States. Consequently, it was decided on April 6, 1998, that the following modified versions of semiautomatic assault rifles could no longer be imported under the sporting purposes test.

AK47 Variants

MAK90
314
56V
89
EXP56A
SLG74
NHM90
NHM90-2
NHM91
SA85M
SA93
A93
AKS762
SA2000
ARM
MISR
MISTR
SA85M
Mini PSL
ROMACK 1
ROMACK 2
ROMACK 4
Hunter Rifle
386S
PS/K
Galil Sporter
Haddar
Haddar ll
WUM 1
WUM 2
SLR 95
SLR 96
SLR 97
SLG 94
SLG 95
SLG 96

FN-FAL Variants

L1A1 Sporter
FAL Sporter
FZSA
SAR4800
XFAL
C3
C3A
LAR Sporter

HK Variants

BT96
Centurian 2000
SR9
PSG1
MSG90
G3SA
SAR8

Uzi Varients

Officers 9
320 Carabine
Uzi Sporter

SIG SG 550 Variants

SG550-1
SG550-2

 

[SigfanUSAF]

Funny, when I built my HK-51 clone, the ATF instructions were harder to follow than the AGI DVD

 

[leadcounsel]

Because imported parts are WAY more dangerous than domestic parts!

 

[Don't Tread On Me]

The most popularly converted rifle of this day is the Saiga, according to that list, am I correct in counting the FOREIGN parts of a Saiga rifle?

(1) Frames, receivers, receiver castings, forgings or stampings
(2) Barrels
(3) Barrel extensions
(4) Mounting blocks (trunions)
(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


I am assuming that the Saiga has one trunion being that it is stamped (don't the forged rifles have a rear trunion?). Or at least that's all the BATFE counts...


That puts the parts count at 14, which means 4 parts must to be replaced by U.S. made parts.


Easiest would be -


Disconnector
Buttstock
Hammer
Trigger


The Pistol grip would also be U.S. made, but doesn't replace any part on the Saiga since it has a sporter stock.


That brings foreign parts to 10 exactly. Law says 10 or less, so that includes 10. That's assuming that I counted the total foreign parts correctly to begin with.


That means on a Saiga, there's no need to change the piston or the handguards.


Am I wrong or right?

 

[zoom6zoom]

Because imported parts are WAY more dangerous than domestic parts!

Yeah - I fail to see how replacing a few plastic stock pieces with identical plastic pieces stamped "US" makes any difference.

 

[Father Knows Best]

I fail to see how replacing a few plastic stock pieces with identical plastic pieces stamped "US" makes any difference.

It doesn't. 922(r) results from a series of laws. Essentially, the U.S. banned the import of semi-auto "non-sporting" firearms. As we all know, a firearm consists of multiple parts. As a result, people began importing military-style firearms "kits", which are essentially all the kits except the receiver, because under U.S. law the receiver is the firearm, and the rest are just parts (after all, no matter how many parts you have, you can't assemble them into a working firearm without the receiver). Alternatively, the original receiver may have been deactivated by cutting or torching it. The parts kits could then be reassembled either on a US-made receiver, or on a cut receiver that had been rewelded. The end result was a firearm indistinguishable from the banned non-sporting import, but "Made in the USA" (because the final "substantial transformation" took place in the USA). All you needed was a manufacturing license. So, the ban on non-sporting imports didn't do a lot in the long run to dry up the supply of military-style firearms.

Once ATF and the gungrabbers realized the above, they tried another approach. 922(r) was it. By limiting the maximum number of imported parts to 10, they hoped to make it substantially more expensive and difficult to manufacture guns from cheap imported parts kit. They were successful, for a while. Companies like DSA and JLD and others began producing all kinds of parts in the USA, so firearms could still be made using largely imported parts. 922(r) has probably increased the cost to the consumer a little, but again, it has failed in its basic intent -- stopping the production and sale of military-style firearms in the U.S.

More recently, ATF has tried again. This time, it banned the import of parts kits that include barrels. Receiver and barrels tend to be the most expensive parts to manufacture, so it is just another attempt to slow down the industry and drive up the cost to consumers.

Of course, if the gungrabbers had their way, they'd just ban these firearms outright. Since they can't, they settle for things like 922(r).