pre 86 machine gun parts

[pitime]

what parts of an m16 style machine gun must be pre 1986 to meet nfa standards?

 

[HexHead]

The part with the serial number for starters.

 

[dogtown tom]

pitime what parts of an m16 style machine gun must be pre 1986 to meet nfa standards?

To be considered fully transferrable either the receiver or sear would have to have been placed on the registry..........the rest of the parts don't matter.

 

[medalguy]

There are no "nfa standards" so as long as the lower is numbered and registered everything else is moot.

 

[Jim K]

If the receiver (lower) is registered, any other parts are just parts. Only in the case of an AR-15 semi auto with a registered DIAS or Lightning Link is that part itself the machinegun and must have been registered prior to 1986.

Jim

 

[Arizona_Mike]

If you don't have serialized registered parts, other supporting parts can be problematic. I don't claim to know the details because the ATF has gone back and forth. I do know for sure that an M16 BCG is always legal (and that is all that is coming from Colt in recent years). I've seen the ATF letter on Bravo Company's web site.

I'm also pretty sure than an M16 auto sear is legally precarious but again, I don't know the details. I'd search AR15.com and if you don't find it covered, ask there.

Mike

 

[Kurt_D]

Either the lower receiver must be a pre-86 transferable OR the sear must be. Possible sear options are registered lighting links and registered drop in auto sears. With the sears they are the machine gun and the AR is the host, as host it can also have a <16" barrel and use M16 parts (may require them to run). The host must be returned to title one status when the sear is removed. All other parts do not matter and are freely available and for the most part legal to use in a semi save for the trigger and disconnector. They must be milled to AR specs before being used in a semi, otherwise you're making a illegal machine gun and potential bomb.

 

[AlexanderA]

There are also a few pre-May 19, 1986, registered receiver guns that were standard AR-15's that were "converted" to FA simply by using an unserialized drop-in auto sear. (These are called "married" receivers.) This was really an improper conversion, but the ATF allowed them to be registered at the time. These guns cannot be properly converted now, by milling and drilling the receiver to take a standard auto sear, because the ATF considers that to be the manufacture of a new machine gun. Likewise, the "married" drop-in auto sear cannot be serialized and registered now. The components must stay together forever, because of the "once a machine gun always a machine gun" rule. Personally, I'd stay far away from such a combination.