Newbie Question: "rewatted"

[kyle]

Can someone please explain this term? Is this where someone welds together a cut up receiver? Thanks!

 

[craig101]

some dewats did have their receivers cut, but they were still registered as dewats.

 

i saw a DEWAT a few years back, a BAR winnie i think, that had been welded back together. it had the DEWAT paperwork too.

 

so yes, a dewat could mean that the receiver was welded together IF it was registered as a DEWAT prior to 1968.

 

no, if it was welded back together post 1968-pre may 19 1986, then it is just a transferable MG.

 

No, if it was welded back together post-1986, then it is a post sample MG.

 

 

[craig101]

i understand what he was asking, i was saying that i have seen with my eyes, a registered DEWAT that was dewated by way of cutting the receiver in half. so a rewat could have entailed rewelding the receiver, although i do agree that cut up guns as dewats would be rather rare. usually they welded the barrel or chamber shut.

 

it doesn't matter if you or I think a cut receiver would remove it from the NFA, the IRS (pre-ATF) took the gun as a DEWAT and registered it as such. I wish they would have used other methods of deactivating it, but they did what they did.

 

hell back in the day, a saw cut would demil a receiver. now it has to be torch cut in 3 places, in certain places no less. times change.

 

 

my Savage 28 that i am buying is a rewat. it had some stellite put in both ends of the barrel. bitch to get out, i hear.

[kyle]

I'm even more confused. Let's start at the beginning.

 

1. Physically, how would one (US Govt) "DeWaT" a Thompson SMG?

2. Only "DeWats" or "ReWaTs" registered before May, 1986 are fully transferable today, right?

3. Someone wrote me that 1/2 of the currently transferable WWII weapons were "DeWats" at one time. Could that be right?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

[craig101]

ok,

 

1. if a civilian wanted to DEWAT their thompson, they would need to have a registered Thompson already. regular civilians can no longer (after 1986) deactivate by welding the barrel/bolt shut anymore, it would be a post sample for C2 only. i have not seen many new DEWATS, the only one i have seen is a Mac-10 receiver, which was flattened. i mean flat as a pancake. the dealer applied to make it a DEWAT and the ATF approved it. he had been selling it as a dewat. thats the only new dewat i have seen.

 

back in the day, welding the bolt/barrel was enough to make it a dewat. hell you could weld a nickel/dime on the end of the barrel and it was OK. now a days, they consider that a live gun, not a dewat. the only hassle they may give you, is what form it should go on, form 4 or 5 or 3 i guess.

 

2. only machine guns registered before May 19, 1986 are fully transferable, unless it was imported post-1968, pre-1986, then it is a pre-dealer sample. so yes, only dewats/rewats registered before May 19, 1986 are transferable. the other ones are for special people. ;-)

 

3. there are a lot of Dewat/rewat thompsons. i don't know about 1/2 thought. but there are a lot.

 

 

 

it's hard to explain this in words. easier spoken.