Question on remanufacture mp40

[huggytree]

Trying to learn. My remanufactured tube was cut once and rewelded. Was it legal pre 86 to bring a receiver into the country with 1 saw cut? Was this offered by distributors as build your own machine gun kits?

 

These kits were imported after 1968 right?

 

Just curious how my gun came to exist and I saw on old posts about how some tubes were not even cut. How did a full receiver make it into the country?

 

I have not seen another reman mp40 since I bought mine. Curious how popular these were

What other guns are out there as remanufacture ? I know Ive seen Thompsons

 

If the tube imported post 68 why didnt they do every gun??

Edited April 25, 2018 by huggytree

[Black River Militaria CII]

Prior to the GC ‘68 anyone could file import paperwork and import a live MG. During the first of three proposed amnesties, from 11/1 to 12/1, ‘68 all MGs with complete receivers were required to have a registration submitted to ATF for registration dated before Dec 2, 1968. After that date, any Mg in the US with a complete receiver was illegal to possess. GCA’68 did not address the existing fed regs allowing an individual or an FFL07 to manufacture and register an MG for private possession. A manufacturer could favricate a receiver for an MG, register it and sell the new made MG. These MGs were made from stock material which qualified them as ‘new’ manufacture, and the ere correctly ‘“new” MGs. Various individuals, dealers, FFLs, manufacturers etc had lots lf questions about how the fed regs were going to be observed and confronted ATF about how they could make existing MGs into “new” machineguns in order to sell them to private individuals. ATF scrambled to find a procedure that would allow existing, unregistered MGs to be “remanufactured” and decided that an existing complete receiver could be cut in half, saw cut into two pieces, which would render it a “non-gun” and no longer regulated under NFA rules. Once the gun was no longer controlled, it could be rebuilt as a “new” MG, registered and sold to private parties. Both private individuals and manufacturers could do this using different registration procedures. Cut MGs were sold as “cut” MGs and/or MG parts and the most commonly seen were STENs. Generally, unregistered, live MGs were imported, bought up or given to those interested in “remanufacturing” them and MG parts and sets were not especially common. Certainly the variety of kits that became commercially available later was not present in the seventies and early eighties.The term “kits” didn’t come into common use until many years later once large scale import of MGs destroyed to ATF import requirements started being imported. The cutoff for registration of new MGs on May 19, 1986 pushed the import of kits into high gear.

The destruction reauirement between the end of the ‘68 Amnesty and May of ‘86 remained a saw cut through the middle of the receiver or thereabouts. Most. gs were sawcut, but wheels and torches were used as well, but not too often. Often, MGs with complex receivers were cut in a spot where there was the least amout of labor to repair it.

Your MP40 had to have been in the US when it was cut and rebuilt. If it was imported after the amnesty and would be a sales sample. A sales sample could be destroyed, rebuilt and registered but values were so low that it wasn’t worth it unless it was a cery unusual MG. Apparently your gun an unregistered example and was saw cut, welded back together, marked and registered. The proper procedure was followed. This did not always happen.

This is the basic story.

Live, complete receivers imported after the Amnesty ended were “sales samples” to be possessed only by SOTs. They are now called “pre-May sales samples” to distinguish them from “post-May sales samples”.

[Petroleum 1]

Good information Bob thanks for taking the time to post it. One question I have was there an "honor" system in place to take a complete receiver, cut it and reweld it back into a complete gun or was there an inspection verification system in place by the atf??

[huggytree]

So my gun was not registered in 1968 and was an illegal machine gun. Someone cut the tube and made it legal.

 

 

Thanks for the info Bob. Finding this info on line is scarce and these guns dont seem to come up often.

Edited April 25, 2018 by huggytree

[Black River Militaria CII]

Huggytree: the ID and address of the individual or CII who remanufactured your MP40 is on your F4.

There was no supervision or verification of compliance with fed regs for manufacture and registration of new MGs from '68 to '86. The whole exercise was an ad hoc effort from beginning to end and ATF had little understanding of what they were doing. Much was to our benefit, however, and there is no question that the net effect of the 18 years of legal manufacture, remanufacture and registration created a huge inventory for us to enjoy.

The exception was after May 19, '86 when ATF went to every shop that registered any number of MG receivers or conversion devices and inspected them all. They disqualified the registration submissions of all that did not meet their newfound and fabricated "letter of the law" for registration eligibility. There were some clear examples that could be considered over the line, but this cleansing of the submissions was a political and arbitrarily enforced purge without real legal teeth. The large number of registrations of new receivers, etc really wouldn't have made any difference in the larger picture and was just ATF's politically motivated statement that registered MGs were not looked upon with favor. Typical irrational knee jerk progressive hysteria by the agency with no objective except to punish those they don't like. YMMV

Edited April 26, 2018 by Black River Militaria CII

[Petroleum 1]

Bob...did the ATF refund the $200 fee when they disqualified a receiver back then?? My guess is you guys had to eat it ugh.