So how can MythBusters build a steam-powered Civil War era machine gun...

[squirrels]

...without breaking NFA law?

 

[Jaybeez]

...without breaking NFA law?

I suspect there is a ffl07 standing off the side of the screen. Dont know what they do about the demo letter though.


There was another episode where the made a device that pulled the trgger on a revolver to find out how fast it could be made to shoot. As soon as they flipped the switch ist a machine gun.

 

[K31]

...without breaking NFA law?

Replica of a firearm made before 1898 and not using fixed ammo.

 

[Kharn]

An 07FFL/SOT does not need a demo letter as they're a manufacturer and allowed to make MGs for research purposes. An 01FFL/SOT needs a demo letter as they're only a reseller and cannot make them.

 

[mudskipper]

Um, how about the fact that it's NOT EVEN A FIREARM? It's an airgun. Or steam gun. Either way, there's not a self contained, explosive mixture cartidge that's loaded and fired multiple times with one action of the trigger.


Not a firearm. Not a machinegun. No more than an airsoft is.

 

[futureseabee]

I suspect there is a ffl07 standing off the side of the screen. Dont know what they do about the demo letter though.


There was another episode where the made a device that pulled the trgger on a revolver to find out how fast it could be made to shoot. As soon as they flipped the switch ist a machine gun.

i wondered about that too

 

[haoleboy]

i wondered about that too

Its not a Machine Gun. The device in question just pulled the revolver trigger really fast. There is a crank device that pulls the 10/22 trigger 4 times per crank allowing you to dump the mag fast.
That is also 100% legal. Their definition of a machine gun is one that fires 2 or more rounds with only 1 pull of the trigger.
AFAIK, there are no restrictions on how fast you pull the trigger.
Bump firing an ar-15 is not illegal either.

I'm not a lawyer.

Andy

 

[novus collectus]

Um, how about the fact that it's NOT EVEN A FIREARM? It's an airgun. Or steam gun. Either way, there's not a self contained, explosive mixture cartidge that's loaded and fired multiple times with one action of the trigger.


Not a firearm. Not a machinegun. No more than an airsoft is.

I looked this up once because I wondered about the Castleman full auto air gun and I discovered that the way the law is worder, it might be a machine gun.

(b) Machinegun. The term 'machinegun'
means any weapon which shoots, is
designed to shoot, or can be readily restored
to shoot, automatically more than
one shot, without manual reloading, by a
single function of the trigger. The term
shall also include the frame or receiver of
any such weapon, any part designed and
intended solely and exclusively, or combination
of parts designed and intended,
for use in converting a weapon into a
machinegun, and any combination of
parts from which a machinegun can be
assembled if such parts are in the possession
or under the control of a person.

Please note that the other NFA devices makes exceptions for "antiques" or non-fixed ammo, but the MG definition does not.

The
term 'firearm' shall not include an antique
firearm or any device (other than a machinegun
or destructive device) which,
although designed as a weapon, the Secretary
finds by reason of the date of its
manufacture, value, design, and other
characteristics is primarily a collector's
item and is not likely to be used as a
weapon.

So taking this to the extreme with an example, if you created a full auto rubber band gun without registering it, you have committed a felony.

 

[novus collectus]

Its not a Machine Gun. The device in question just pulled the revolver trigger really fast. There is a crank device that pulls the 10/22 trigger 4 times per crank allowing you to dump the mag fast.
That is also 100% legal. Their definition of a machine gun is one that fires 2 or more rounds with only 1 pull of the trigger.
AFAIK, there are no restrictions on how fast you pull the trigger.
Bump firing an ar-15 is not illegal either.

I'm not a lawyer.

Andy

If you hook up a hand cranked device it is not considered "one pull" of the trigger, but if you hook up an electric motor to it and "pull" the on switch once and it fires more than one shot, then it generally is a machine gun.

The perfect example is the 19th century Gatling gun and the Vietnam era Minigun. A Gatling that is hand cranked is just a rifle or Title I firearm that you can walk in and out of an FFL shop with without a tax stamp, but as soon as you put an electric motor on it to drive it with the single press of a button, it becomes a machine gun.

 

[tpy77]

What about nail guns? Is Harbor Freight getting around the "restricted"?

 

[mikec]

What about nail guns? Is Harbor Freight getting around the "restricted"?

I remember seeing something once that in CA you need a permit to buy or operate those things. It is a silly CA law.

On the Federal side, if you read one of the quotes that novus posted:

The term 'firearm' shall not include an antique
firearm or any device (other than a machinegun
or destructive device) which,
although designed as a weapon, the Secretary
finds by reason of the date of its
manufacture, value, design, and other
characteristics is primarily a collector's
item and is not likely to be used as a
weapon.

The passage states WEAPON. A nail gun is not a weapon, though one could possibly use it as such.

 

[CKOD]

I'd say one of those cordless butane nail guns meets all the requirement of a firearm

Projectile, check
Expelled by means of explosion, check
High capacity magazine, check
magazine outside of the grip, check
barrel shroud, check

sounds like its an assault weapon too

 

[GBMaryland]

Let's not discount the possibility that the Mythbuster's company (aka Hieneman's company) has a destructive devices and/or manufacturer's license plus an FFL.

After all, they are a special effects shop... so that would mean that it' likely they've got a BUNCH of licenses... thus covering their butts no matter what.

 

[Atlasarmory]

Could you fire a crank fired firearm using a weighted fly wheel / Hence inertia in the hand spun wheel continuing to fire the weapon (treadle sowing machine ? )

 

[GNLaFrance]

Are they going to build a steam gun like the one Ross Winans built in 1861? The Army captured while it was being carried out of Baltimore. IIRC, a Union patriot had hidden some critical parts, so it was never fully assembled and tested.