Reactivating a automatic receiver suitable for using with .22 ammo?

[Mark-Smith]

Is the cost to reactivate a receiver suitable for building a .22 based automatic cheaper than buying a registered M-16 receiver?

If so, what deactivated receivers are out there that would be suitable for building something that would shoot .22 in full auto?

The idea was a project gun of some sort, and a nice and legal full auto has always been on the list, but between ammo costs and the cost of a registered M-16 lower, it's always been a way off.

 

[Strykervet]

If you are class II, why not just modify a Ruger 10/22?

 

[Mark-Smith]

If you are class II, why not just modify a Ruger 10/22?

I have no FFL of any sort.

 

[Ian]

Then you can't build a nice and legal full auto. Sorry.

 

[Mark-Smith]

Is that required for reactivating receivers? Can reactivated receivers be activated by someone with a class II then transferred?

 

[Ian]

You may be mixing up two different things. A "deactivated" gun (commonly called a "dewat", or deactivated war trophy) is a special subset of NFA weapon which was made unusable without modifying the receiver, by doing something like a plug welded into the barrel. Because the receiver remained live, the gun remained listed in the NFA registry, transfers without a tax, and can be legally reactivated by an owner by apply to ATF, assuming the gun is fully transferrable. In practice, this was done to WWI and WWII bring-back weapons - you won't find modern guns legally deactivated in this way.

Taking a non-machine gun and making it into a machine gun is not legally possible unless you have a manufacturer's FFL.

 

[average_shooter]

"The list" of registered fully automatic firearms, legal for transfer, sale, use, etc. was closed in 1986. No more full-auto firearms can legally be made or purchased by a non-FFL/LE/Mil.

I believe once the receiver has been destroyed, or otherwise rendered inoperable it cannot be legally restored.

You'll just have to wait and save those pennies until you can afford the legal stuff.

 

[kingpin008]

What do you mean by "reactivating receivers"? Do you mean dewatted receivers off of military guns?

If so, there's no way to do that, as they were destroyed in such a way as to remove a significant portion of the receiver itself. Also, they're not in the NFA registry, which means that they can't be "reactivated" even if there was a way to physically restore them to proper working condition.

Certain manufacturers can make NEW full-auto guns, but only for LEO, military, and personal R&D purposes.

 

[Mark-Smith]

A "deactivated" gun (commonly called a "dewat", or deactivated war trophy) is a special subset of NFA weapon which was made unusable without modifying the receiver, by doing something like a plug welded into the barrel. Because the receiver remained live, the gun remained listed in the NFA registry, transfers without a tax, and can be legally reactivated by an owner by apply to ATF, assuming the gun is fully transferrable. In practice, this was done to WWI and WWII bring-back weapons - you won't find modern guns legally deactivated in this way.

Ah, I did not know it only applied to WWI/WWII guns. Is it any less expensive than a transferable M-16 lower?

 

[kingpin008]

Well first you have to get ATF permission to do so, which you likely won't get. Then you have to find a transferrable dewatted gun, have it transferred to you, then have someone restore it, then have it converted to .22lr.

Even without being an expert in NFA goodies, I'd bet that the answer is no, it will not be less expensive than a transferrable M-16 lower. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that it'd be quite a bit more expensive and time consuming.

 

[Trebor]

There is no cheap way to get info full-auto weapons. If there was, people would already be doing it.

That's because no new MG's can be added to the registry since 1986. You can only activate a "DEWAT" if it was registered before 1986. If it was "decommissioned", but not registered, it can not be activated.

As far as costs, registered DEWAT MG's aren't that much cheaper than MG's that run. That's because the registration is the valuable item.

 

[Mark-Smith]

As far as costs, registered DEWAT MG's aren't that much cheaper than MG's that run.

Ah well, back to the drawing board.

 

[jmorris]

An M11 or MAC10 with a 22 conversion will be the least expensive way to do what you want ($3000-3800) for smg and conversion to 22.

 

[kingpin008]

The moral of the story here, is that no matter what slick loophole you think you've found to enable you to get into the NFA game on the cheap, think again. If there was such a loophole, it would either have been closed by the ATF long before now, or people would be taking advantage of it left and right.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Ah, I did not know it only applied to WWI/WWII guns. Is it any less expensive than a transferable M-16 lower?

Unfortunately they closed all loopholes or cheap routes. If any still exist, they'll close them under your feet (look up the akins accelerator).
As far as the cheapest 22 machineguns aside from the already mentioned .22lr conversion for a mac, which is probably the cheapest...there are .22lr conversions for UZI (which usually run $6k-$7k), Norrell trigger packs for 10/22s (around $10k last i checked), and American 180s (8k-$10k last i checked). There may be more but the last two options are already bumping into M16 prices and given the choice I'd prefer a M16 since you can also shoot several centerfire pistol and rifle calibers through it with an upper change.
There is some new bumpfire device for AR-15s called the SSAR-15 that reminds me of the Akins device but I have a feeling if the thing actually works it'll get banned too, and I don't know if it works with .22lr conversions.

 

[Mark-Smith]

Well, as long as the proletariat can't afford automatic guns, I suppose the nation is safe!

 

[jmorris]

And that is the problem, it's not about safety. It's about control.