Posted on 03/28/2022 6:42:08 AM PDT by PROCON
On Thursday, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), issued an open letter ruling that a type of gun trigger, known as a forced-reset trigger, will be considered a machinegun despite functioning differently than a true automatic machine gun.
The letter, dated March 22 and widely published Thursday, March 24, states the agency “recently examined devices commonly known as ‘forced reset triggers’ (FRTs) and has determined that some of them are ‘firearms’ and ‘machineguns’ as defined in the National Firearms Act (NFA), and ‘machineguns’ as defined in the Gun Control Act (GCA).”
A conventional trigger is one that, once fired, requires its user to release it before it can reset and be depressed to fire again. A forced-reset trigger is one that, once fired, automatically resets the trigger to the unfired position, whether it has been released or not. This action allows a user to more quickly fire subsequent rounds, but each shot still requires the trigger to be pulled.
In contrast, a true fully automatic machine gun requires only one trigger pull and will repeatedly fire bullets until the trigger is released or the gun runs out of ammunition.
“Unlike traditional triggers and binary triggers (sometimes referred to generally as ‘FRTs’), the subject FRTs do not require shooters to pull and then subsequently release the trigger to fire a second shot,” the ATF letter states. “Instead, these FRTs utilize the firing cycle to eliminate the need for the shooter to release the trigger before a second shot is fired. By contrast, some after-market triggers have similar components but also incorporate a disconnector or similar feature to ensure that the trigger must be released before a second shot may be fired and may not be machineguns.”
(Excerpt) Read more at americanmilitarynews.com ...
Increase in sales of pressure cookers ensues.
If you find one, pay cash and shut up.
I have an Ithaca model 37 “Deerslayer”. Kicks like a mule with 1 oz slugs. Also heavy Turkey loads. Used to hunt rabbits with it.
I was gifted winchester super XX turkey loads. Copper plated. Thought I’d use them cause, why not? Sitting on a stump listening to the dogs run and here comes a rabbit. Shot it. Then the next two shots I was falling off the stump and hitting the ground. The old 37’s, you hold the trigger and pump and they fire. 3 shots in about half a second! The kick was such that I “pumped” without meaning to.
Interesting that back in the late 1800s both Hiram Maxim and John Moses Browning converted lever action rifles to fire semi and full auto. The 1866 Winchester, and the 1894 Winchester.
Maybe the BATF will be after these next.
I have an old VCR tape of how to convert various semi-auto rifles to full auto. This was used in a Supreme Court case on full autos back in the 1980s.
Whatever.
So how many machine guns do you own?
And how much do you spend on ammo?
Yeah didn’t they call that a ram shot. Only a few guns would do that.
The ATF should be a strip mall.
5.56mm
Yes, HOOVER/FDR/CARTER BIDEN GREAT DEPRESSION 2!
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.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5845
The law defining what constitutes a "machine gun" was passed by both chambers of the national legislative body and signed by the nation's chief executive, as is provided for in the US Constitution, and is duly codified in 26 U.S. Code § 5845.
It IS NOT within the charter of the BATF to write new law or alter existing law. This ruling is both extra-legal and extra-constitutional.
I am a 3 war combat Infantry/armor vet (Vietnam, Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom) I know the capabilities and limitations of the AR-15/M16 rifle variants very well. As an infantry squad leader, I had to enforce unit SOP which was to monitor and restrict indiscriminate use of full auto fire from within my squad.
Full auto fire from a shoulder fired assault rifle is generally not as effective as semi-auto, due to accuracy, ammo expenditure, and overheating wear considerations. They do not have quick change barrels, and when used in continuous full auto magazine dump mode, tend to break parts and wear out prematurely.
The primary use of selective fire mode in an assault rifle is mainly for fire suppression, gaining initial fire superiority for maneuver elements, to break contact, in a counter ambush or ambush, when firing along final protective lines when an enemy is endangering your position, and in the final stages of an assault. True, many idiotic movies wildly over state full auto effectiveness from an individual shoulder fired small arm. Full auto fire is far for effective for purpose designed belt fed support automatic weapons, like General Purpose Machine Guns and Squad Automatic Weapons. But when employed by properly trained soldiers, full auto assault rifle fire can be VERY effective indeed. The armed forces of the world have not spent millions of dollars to develop effective select-fire assault rifles just to waste ammo.
The very similarity of the civvy AR-15 to its military brethren is EXACTLY why we should own it to enable our duty as members of the well regulated militia that is necessary to the security of a free state in the 2nd amendment. If the rifle is Mil spec, then most of the parts are interchangeable with the GI version, save for the Fire control group and the machining of the lower receiver, which assures part availability and ammunition commonality.
Even if the arguments for the efficacy of the FRT were valid, that is NOT a reason to allow arbitrary and capricious actions by unelected bureaucracies. Had they sent a recommendation to Congress for a consideration to modify or create new legislation, that would be different. Instead they have aggregated authority unto themselves in an unconstitutional manner.
The malicious branding of the AR as a “weapon of war” cause us to minimize or distort the actual military value of an AR-15 to a citizen militia since a militia has been defined by the SCOTUS as a body of citizens organized for MILITARY purposes!!! (Presser vs Illinois) Amendment #2 aint about shooting bunny rabbits.
The National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Hughes amendment of 1986 has made genuine M-16 and M-4 variants difficult or impossible to own legally. I say let us OPENLY insist on the closest thing commonly available to us civilians for our militia role. Besides it is a damn fine rifle for ANY legal purpose!!!!
The binary triggers that I am familiar with allow only one shot in binary mode if you continually maintain pressure on the trigger while rotating the selector lever from “binary” into the “safe” or “semi” position.
Yes, it does require an extra level of training to be aware enough to utilize this feature. That applies to ANY firearm that you employ.
I was referring to civilian use, which is the purview of the ATF and the subject of this article.
I did not mean to imply I know anything about military use.
Thank you for your service.
AR 10 will be my next riffle buy. Basically a 308 version of a 223. Finding them is getting harder and more expensive. Heck you can spend as much on the optics and accessories for the AR as you do for the gun. I bought mine and the optics and rail systems can get pricey.
Hmmm...
In my case, this is a violation of “handicapped citizens’ rights”...
At 88, my fingers are very stiff and distorted from 40-years of weight training, steroids, and psuedo-steroids...
Yes, that's what the ATF says, but that's not what the law says.
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.
Forced reset triggers do not shoot more than one shot by a single function of the trigger. One trigger depress, one shot. The sear is engaged on every shot, and the trigger has to be pulled on every shot.
As you said, "single function" is for the courts to decide, but pretty clear it was meant to mean a single mechanical function, not the physiological function of the finger press. If that was the actual law cranks would be illegal, because a single physical motion fire multiple rounds.
It would REALLY be scary if a bolt-action rifle went full-auto.
:^)
Jeff Cooper was a big fan of not using full-auto mode because it leads to “spray and pray” which is wasteful and mostly useless. You just miss with a lot of rounds.
“Curious, why would a person want this feature? Sounds like a problem with safety issues. How do you NOT fire 2 shots with one trigger pull if it will fire a 2nd time when you remove your finger?”
Binary triggers allow one to very rapidly place every round in a magazine on target at twice to four times the rate of fire vs a standard AR15 trigger. The first round requires the full trigger pull to set off usually 3.5 lbs of pressure and a inch and half of trigger travel. The second round lights off when the trigger is released by a few MM this also reset the trigger for the next round on the pull side of the sear. The next round is fired on the pull of the finger this time with less than a lb of pressure and only 2 to 3 mm of travel this set up the release round again only 2mm of travel to set it off. This means you only have to feather your finger a few mm each way to mag dump. With practice one can achieve 500+ rounds per min of firing rate all dumped into a paper plate sized target at 25m a more perfect QCB trigger has been made. It’s light years ahead of full auto as you have complete control of the rate of fire and timing of each round. The best one on the market is the ECHO trigger aptly named because the effect of using it right for a single trigger pull sounds just like an echo as both rounds fire nearly simultaneously bang..bang. The ECHO is also the only one on the market that has the patented safety feature that if you pull the trigger and fire the first round but keep the trigger all the way back and decide you don’t want to fire the second round you can flip the safety selector from binary mode to safe then release the trigger and the second round will not fire. All others on the market you are committed once that first round lights off the second is coming out the selector won’t move until you release the trigger and fire the second round. That feature alone is worth the extra 300 bucks price difference from the Fostec ECHO vs every other binary trigger. Get the ECHO is worth every penny of the $500 for one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.