AR-15's easily converted to full auto, or BS?

[rbhargan]

To sum up, it seems the answer to my original question is "no."

While there are ways to bubba a modern AR-15 to fire FA, they are not safe and may result in a catastrophic malfunction, causing injury or death to the operator.

Conversions can be accomplished by replacing the fire control group with one designed for FA, but even then the lower receiver must be modified.

Does that sound about right?

Thanks to everyone who replied.

 

[BluedSteel]

Short answer: NO. It is possible, in the same way it is possible to put a 1970's era 500 cubic inch Cadillac V8 in a 2017 Volkswagen. It can be done but it takes an expert, some work and more than a single part. Honestly, it is easier than that. But since you're not dealing with people who are: a) interested in facts or b) usually open to an honest debate; resorting to a little hyperbole is not out of line. But you're heading down a slippery slope there. If there is one thing that gun control people have proven over and over it's that they are rarely interested in actual facts. And they are experts at ignoring them.

 

[GunsNstuff]

For a machinist maybe, but a machinist can turn a solid block of billet into an AR15 or an M16. I don't think it's easy for the average person and most people dumb enough to do it don't work as trained machinists.

 

[Mgderf]

Just read a few posts here on Ingo, or any other firearms forum, that deal with assembly of AR15's.
I can't begin to count the number of different issues the average gun ENTHUSIAST has trying to assemble an AR15 from scratch.

Turning one into a full auto is much more involved from my understanding.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Just out of curiosity, looking at another thread, why isn't an AR with an echo trigger considered a machine gun?

 

[gmcttr]

Just out of curiosity, looking at another thread, why isn't an AR with an echo trigger considered a machine gun?

If I understand the laws correctly, in general terms, a machine gun continues to fire with 'one function' of the trigger.

An echo trigger only fires a single time with 'one function' of the trigger...pull the trigger ('one function') and it fires once...release the trigger ('one function') and it fires once.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

I haven't followed all the aftermarket stuff. My son got a drop in trigger for his that was supposed to be something special, but it seemed to me its most prominent feature was to drop roll pins. As for original parts, and I'm defaulting to A1 innards here, the autosear constitutes the "machine gun", so the mere possession of that bent little piece of steel has to go through the NFA just like a full up M16. It's like the lower receiver being a "firearm" for bureaucratic purposes even though all it's good for without parts is a paperweight. Now, IANAL, and I leave it as an exercise for the student to try to get a straight answer out of ATF, but that means you can mix and match whatever SA/SF interocitors, gizzards, bolt carriers etc. without getting in trouble because it won't go bangbangbang. Don't make (or even have) a drop-in autosear. That would be bad.

 

[Tanfodude]

It's called a binary trigger.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

I figured that's what that would mean, and immediately pictured myself standing there holding the trigger down to prevent another discharge when the nice officer wanted my rifle for administrative purposes.

 

[Kutnupe14]

If I understand the laws correctly, in general terms, a machine gun continues to fire with 'one function' of the trigger.

An echo trigger only fires a single time with 'one function' of the trigger...pull the trigger ('one function') and it fires once...release the trigger ('one function') and it fires once.

That where it seems odd to me. It would seem that the act of releasing the trigger, is one half of one function, as the trigger naturally must return to it's original position (ie a reset). You can't reset something, if the original action hasn't been completed.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

That where it seems odd to me. It would seem that the act of releasing the trigger, is one half of one function, as the trigger naturally must return to it's original position (ie a reset). You can't reset something, if the original action hasn't been completed.

You only have to allow the trigger to reset if you intend to fire another shot. Whether you release the trigger or not, the first shot has already been fired. Thus, releasing the trigger is an act distinctly separate and not required for firing the first shot. With an echo trigger, the second shot will not fire until you choose to release the trigger. The second shot comes only as fast or slow as you choose to release the trigger. Similarly, the third shot only comes as fast or slow as you choose to pull it again.

I suspect that "prior art" also played a role in the reasoning and ruling too. Are you familiar with shotgun release triggers? They were once somewhat popular among serious trap shooters looking for an edge over the competition. Mount the shotgun, pull the trigger and hold it back (gun does not fire), call for your bird, swing the gun, release the trigger (fires the gun), and hopefully you hit your target. Releasing the trigger was the distinct act that fired the shot. Release triggers supposedly resulted in less disturbance to your swing and meant more broken clays. They have largely fallen out of favor.