Wow! Quite a few responses to this post. I was expecting maybe one or two. It seems as if quite a few of you have some real experience with these things. I’m enjoying these stories some of you guys have; especially the one about the sling getting in the way. Keep them coming. I have absolutely no experience with these things whatsoever. The first time I actually handled one was when mine arrived at my dealer. It’s much easier (and safer) for me to learn form you guys who are experienced with these things, than for me to learn it the hard way.
Ok so I bid on that armorer’s manual (TM 9-1010-221-24&P) nicholst55 pointed out. That should have an exploded parts diagram so I can better identify these parts a little better. But so far I have:
- Slide action lock.
- Plastic grip and barrel, which are all one piece anyway.
- Safety
What about the firing pin and extractor? No problems with these? The M203 firing pin seems to be the most common spare part out there. I figured that was because these were always breaking, but after reading this it sounds like these things are damn near indestructible.
Jcord: Thanks, I will check those two things as soon as I get it.
Who makes most of the M203 in the US Military’s inventory? Colt, LMT, RM Equipment, or someone else.
Elm creek smith: It shouldn’t be to hard to build an M79 from a new receiver and surplus parts for under $3,000. Randy Shivak (google him) makes brand new milspec M79 receivers for $1,700. Add a new surplus barrel on for $800 and that leaves you with $500 to spend on the internal parts which you can pick up form Numrich Gun Parts. As “Wes Janson” said however, the original, un-cut military surplus launchers go for the $6-8,000 range.
Signoffs don’t matter these days with the trust. If you can find a transferable claymore mine you just buy it on your trust. There’s no need for a sign off. Once your form 4 for the claymore gets to the ATF it should be no different than any other NFA item. However in my case my CLEO signed me off. He talked with me for a couple minutes just about random stuff, looked at the form 4 said those M203s look great when mounted, and signed. We talked for another 10-15 minutes about local county issues and before leaving I donated $100 to his re-election campaign.
Yes large bore DD are legal in Florida. I’m in Florida, as is my dealer, and the CLEO who signed me off is also. Large bore DD as well as explosive DD are perfectly legal in most states except for the usual: CA, IL, MD, NJ. I think they are legal in NY however. You should double check this however as it might have changed.
HE grenades are difficult to find, but they are out there, and available to civilians. I’ve heard of two places which will transfer them to civilians on a form 4. It would seem you could register and empty case as a DD, then load it with an HE projectile. After firing the round you “repair” your DD by loading up a fresh HE round. If you did this on an ATF form 1 you would be the manufacturer so could make “repairs”. I still need to look into this but haven’t had the time.
Thanks for all of your responses and good stories. keep them comeing!
Dan
