Swebb22 Posted May 19, 2020 Report Share Posted May 19, 2020 Howdy all, I had a question about buying and assembling a kit. I did some research and see that if I buy a kit for myself, with no intention of building the kit for resell, then I don't need a FFL. My problem though is that I don't have all the tools/skill to re-weld a receiver, I would need to get a machine shop to do that for me. Would it be legal for someone else to re-weld the receiver for me? Again, this would be a kit for me, not trying to resell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got Uzi Posted May 20, 2020 Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 Short answer-NO! If you don’t have an SOT then you can’t weld a receiver back together. You can’t make a machine gun for “personal use” as that’s illegal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swebb22 Posted May 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 sorry - forgot to add this would be Semi, not FA. Not trying to break the law lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got Uzi Posted May 20, 2020 Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 The rule was “once a machine gun, always a machine gun” welding the receiver back together would be considered making it back into a machine gun IIRC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGT Fish Posted May 20, 2020 Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 Got Uzi, that is not true. Once destroyed to ATF specifications, the receiver is nothing more than a couple hunks of metal. you CAN reweld the receiver, but it must be rewelded in such a way that it is not a machine gun. so essentially you must add any "blocking bar" or other modification into the design before you finish the receiver to a functional state. The "once a machinegun" rule that is so often misquoted, applies to machinegun receivers that are modified into semi autos. For example, you can't take a post 86 M16, weld up the sear pin holes, and call it a semi auto. Its a completely ridiculous and made up rule that should not exist, but some knucklehead at the ATF said that's the way it is. As far as paying a shop to do it. Well that can get hairy. If you are paying a regular machine shop to clean up some receiver chunks, then its ok. If you are paying them to finish, weld, or modify the receiver, then they need a manufacturers license. If you are at your buddy's house and he has a mill in his garage that he helps you use, your probably good. If you give him 20 bucks to weld/grind/etc, he needs a license. its stupid, but its the law Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got Uzi Posted May 21, 2020 Report Share Posted May 21, 2020 Learned something new. I was told years ago that welding a receiver back together was a no go so I’d alwsys followed that rule Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGT Fish Posted May 21, 2020 Report Share Posted May 21, 2020 My new buddy down the road has an awesome M16A1 replica he made by welding an original magwell on to an 80%lower he machined to match. Not exactly what we are discussing, but its very cool, though tons of work. He also got into building AKs by rewelding the receivers into semi autos before he figured out how to make new ones. Most of the rarer-semi auto guns like the DshK are made from rewelds because there are no receivers available. Some RPDs are done like that and quite a few more belt feds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike todd Posted May 21, 2020 Report Share Posted May 21, 2020 WHAT you need to remember is the ATF is only responsible for controlling FIREARMS in order to protect public safety. once a weapon has been legally destroyed, it is no longer a firearm, just scrap metal. the hangnail comes back to life when one make's the first attempt to put it back together, NOW you are manufacturing a firearm and it may or may not be a machine gun. the act of manufacturing is the use of ANY bonding agent. IE welding, epoxy, JB-weld, wire, strapping et all! I observed in video an early 2 cut Mk-II BREN mounted on a tripod fire almost 700 rnds without fail that was held together with tie wire b-4 the wire broke! and then it just failed to feed. when using scrap metal that came from a firearm, the first act must be to install some type of permanent denial to prevent the unaltered internals from functioning. say what you may and interpret what you like, I know the above to be fact, confirmed by active ATF agents in the field. in 1987 I bought 250 cut BREN's the first time then a week later 50 POLISH dual 1-cut RPD in chests. some of the buyers got themselves in trouble. that BREN was a working MG less than 24 hours after it left my home, word got around and within 2 weeks the visits started! I was NEVER implicated other than being the source of the material. more than 100 legit samples from my kits were seized from SOT's and examined then returned. 2 civilians were also involved , but I never got word of the results for them, I would imagine it went bad because they were not haunting the shows or shoots anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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