turning blank guns to real guns?

[ccsniper]

READ FULLY FIRST BEFORE COMMENTING!!!!


I HAVE NOT DONE AND DO NOT INTEND TO DO THIS TILL I GET THE LEGALITY OF IT SETTLED!!!!!


***I know that a blank firing gun cannot be made to fire actual ammo like their real firearm counterparts.

What I would do is use the ammo they are chambered for, such as 8mm blank. Taking the ammo and modifying it to accept a small lead projectile, then drill through the barrel plugs in order for the projectile to move through the barrel thus making a "gun" out of a blank firing gun, shooting ammo designed specifically for the blank gun.

So their is no confusion, the gun will not be firing actual ammo, but modified blank rounds, ammo designed for the blank gun. Now my question is this, would any of this be illegal? The ATF website states this about making firearms

For your information, per provisions of the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968, 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44, an unlicensed individual may make a “firearm” as defined in the GCA for his own personal use, but not for sale or distribution.

The GCA, 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3), defines the term “firearm” to include the following:

… (A) any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may be readily converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive: (B) the frame or receiver of any such weapon; (C) any firearm muffler or silencer; or (D) any destructive device. Such term does not include an antique firearm.

 

[Quiet]

A smoothbore "handgun" is considered an AOW.

So, unless you make the fake barrel into a rifled barrel or get BATFE approval for making an AOW, you will be committing a Federal felony for making an unregistered Title 2 firearm.

Legalities aside, have you examied how well constructed the 8mm blank guns are made. The slides are made from some type of zinc/pot metal, that may not withstand the pressure of an actual cartridge being discharged.

I have experience with some 8mm blank guns in the past, working as a prop master on independent/student films, and they were not constructed with very sturdy materials. I could etch the slides of some of them with a razor blade and a few got damaged (broken slides) when the actors dropped them on asphalt.

 

[ccsniper]

well, it was just a thought

 

[plunge]

sounds pretty much illegal to me.

 

[Jim Watson]

Not physically safe, either.
Blank powder is EXTREMELY fast burning.
Restrict it with a projectile in a cheaply made toy or prop and you have a funny shaped hand grenade.

 

[Sam1911]

If you could do it in such a way as to create rifling so it wasn't an unregistered Title II weapon (or you wanted to fill out the Form 1 to make a registered Title II AOW) there wouldn't be anything illegal about it. You'd be making a Title I handgun for your own uses, and that's perfectly legal.

However, this would be a very risky proposition.

Let's call the question answered.