The $199.99 upper I ordered from PSA to go with my $60 lower arrived yesterday. As I was looking it over, I noticed that they apparently use M16-style bolt carriers. That is to say, the back of the bolt carrier is not ‘cut out’ like on an AR-15 bolt. You know what, its easier to just show you…
I recall way back in the 80’s/90’s, the prevailing wisdom was that any machinegun part, regardless of whether it actually made the gun full auto or not, was a no-no. Apparently nowadays an M16 bolt in your AR is not a cause for concern (perhaps it never was, but with ATFE they tend to write their own rules depending on how the coffee was that morning). The M16 bolt by itself doesn’t make your gun full-auto…you still need a handful of other parts and the magic little DIAS.
I have no love for ATFE. (Heck, I don’t even have a ‘but I don’t DISLIKE you’ for them.) But I also have no love for spending years in a federal rock-hockey farm. To avoid any ‘grey area’ issues I usually just keep far away from things that might cause problems with overzealous or ignorant enforcement types. (And, over the years, I have had plenty of people try to offer me parking lot deals on things that were definitely of a shady nature.)
So, even though apparently its cool to have the M16 bolt in the AR, it still kinda caught my eye.
Anyway, regardless of M16 bolt legalities or non-legalities, the upper showed up yesterday and I now have a little AR that I am into $260. And I can remember back when Obama took office seeing someone in my shop sell an AR to some panic-buying kid for almost two grand. How the market changes!
Screw the full auto Commander. Too much hassle and time wasted while waiting on our baby sitters permission. If one is to opt for near full auto, a binary trigger would be the way to go and is completely legal. Matter of fact, I had a deal offered to me for a Fostech for $200 but, of my 21 years in the Army, I can count on one finger the amount of times I went to Auto or Burst. Though it can be fun, it is a complete waste of ammo. Just not worth it for me.
One of the hazards of being a “gun guy” is starting to mentally inflate the importance of minutia of firearms laws. Stuff like carrying your paperwork with you any time you leave the house with a suppressor. Not shouldering a pistol stock (*er, brace that is*). No vertical grips on an AR pistol. The insanity of Rule 922(r). etc. etc.
In all reality, no law enforcement officer will emerge from the bushes to demand to see your papers if you’re shooting suppressed at a public range. No BATFE agents will show up at your house to inspect your Benelli for the legal number of US-made small parts. It’s just not going to happen. If it ever does happen, the demand is just a pretext, and they’re looking to bust you for something. And if that’s the case, they’ll find something. And when that starts happening to otherwise law-abiding gun owners, we’ve all got bigger things to worry about.
Yes your memory is correct. BATF did indeed consider any 1 of the 5 M16 parts + an AR to be a violation. Even possessing them in any way, not even installed was a violation. I don’t rem the date, but they did change that decision and so long as you don’t have that sear or DIAS + AR you are ok.
Issued full auto at one point in my life I learned that buuuuuuuuuuuuurp didn’t really = $20 dollars worth of fun when I was buying the ammo. Cool factor off the charts, but it isn’t for me. Even with the full auto, trigger control to get controlled pairs was the training that was drummed into my head.
What a screaming deal. I’m looking forward to a range report, please!