Jump to content

Sterling Mk 6 Legal To Import ?


Recommended Posts

Hi,

I have a technical question about US import laws;

I have a source of brand new (old stock) in the box Sterling Mk 6's with 16 inch barrel, closed bolt firing, folding stock;

I am in Europe of course.

 

Can the Mk 6 described above be legally exported and sold in the US ?

 

It was suggested that the folding stock will have to be welded open.

I would rather get in touch with a dealer in the US who has practical experience in importing SBR of this type; I find the BATF rules as they are on paper to be somewhat difficult to interpret.

 

Many thanks,

Regards

 

Vincent

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
Hi,

I have a technical question about US import laws;

I have a source of brand new (old stock) in the box Sterling Mk 6's with 16 inch barrel, closed bolt firing, folding stock;

I am in Europe of course.

 

Can the Mk 6 described above be legally exported and sold in the US ?

 

It was suggested that the folding stock will have to be welded open.

I would rather get in touch with a dealer in the US who has practical experience in importing SBR of this type; I find the BATF rules as they are on paper to be somewhat difficult to interpret.

 

Many thanks,

Regards

 

Vincent

 

EVERYONE - including BATF field agents - find their own swamp of rules/regs difficult to interpret. And what's worse is that no matter what they put in writing - they reserve the right to change their minds on whim; so what was once legal yesterday is illegal today.

 

Anyway...

 

I hang out with the AKM crowd a lot, so based on my experience with the imported Romanian WASR AKs and Russian SAIGA AKMs - the pre-89 ban configured Mk6's can't be imported as-is; unless reconfigured to be "sporty".

 

Thanks to Bush I/drug-czar Bennet's 89 ban; importable sporting guns do not have: folder stocks, no PGrip, no bayo-lug, detachable mags restricted to 10rds or less via alteration of the MK6 magwell so as to not readily accept existing Sterling hi-cap mags.

 

You would have to work these Sterling Mk6 guns over real good to meet those "sporting gun" specs.

 

They can also be imported as parts-kits - but with de-milled recvr tubes and NO BARRELS due to the import barrel ban.

 

 

As for the imported Romanian and SAIGA AKs we see in the USA:

 

The reason the Romanian AKMs get in the USA is because they come in with thumb-hole butts (no PG), no bayo-lugs, no barrel threads (or welded muzzle nuts over the threads), and recvrs special built to only use the supplied 10rd mags.

 

Once in-country, the importer or private party then uses USA-made AKM parts to bring them up to Section 922 domestic parts content compliance - which then allows them to be reconfigured with PGrips, hi-cap mags, added-on bayo-lugs, rethreaded barrels for the slant brakes. Which is the otherwise NON-importable pre-89 ban config we all miss.

 

The SAIGA takes a somewhat similar approach; sporty rifle stock, no AKM front-site parts at all, re-arranged FCGroup so that a PGrip is not readily installed without effort, a modifed mag catch to only allow the use of special 10rd SAIGA mags, and a different breech area that is missing the AK bullet guide - which is built into the special SAIGA mags themselves.

 

Personally - I like my SAIGA just as it was imported; most accurate of my 7.62x39 guns.

 

Anyway, as with the WASRs; once in country the importer or private party has to bring up the US 922 parts count in the SAIGA so they can then rework the SAIGAs to resemble otherwise NON-importable AKMs.

 

Sadly, may as well sell them as complete guns up in Canada!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...