Badger Arms
Member
After about six weeks, I got a response from the BATFE on converting a rifle to fire a shot with the pull and another with the release of a trigger, effectively doubling the rate-of-fire and halving the utility of the weapon... but that's all academic. Here is the text of my letter:
... so here is what they said. I'm going to block out my information on the scan:Some years ago, I spoke with a man selling hammers for the Ruger Mini-14 rifle. I was told that the hammer would alter the gun so that it would fire once when you pulled the trigger and then again when you released the trigger. He stated that since pulling and releasing involved two functions of the trigger, it was legal.
The functional relationship between the ‘hammer,’ ‘trigger,’ and ‘secondary sear’ would be changed in the following manner. When the trigger on a standard Ruger Mini-14 rifle is pulled and held to the rear firing the gun, the bolt will cock the hammer. The hammer is held in its rearward position by the secondary sear. When the trigger is released, the hammer drops to the primary sear surface on the trigger. The gun then fires when one pulls the trigger rearward again.
As modified, the gun in question would fire once when the trigger is pulled at which time the secondary sear would hold the hammer to the rear. When the trigger is released, the hammer is not stopped by the primary sear surface on the trigger but instead falls striking the firing pin. At this time the bolt would be held back by the primary sear. Essentially, the two separate actions of pulling and releasing the trigger would result in two distinct shots being fired assuming there are rounds remaining in the magazine.
The central question revolves around what constitutes a, “single function of the trigger†as defined in section 5845. b. of the National Firearms Act. Since pulling and releasing the trigger constitutes two separate and distinct functions, it would seem that it would be legal to modify the weapon as outlined. Can a semi-automatic weapon be altered so that it will fire once when the trigger is pulled and a second time when the trigger is released while still complying with laws and regulations? This question applies to all semi-automatic firearms to include rifles, shotguns, and pistols that may be so modified.