"Tom Gardner" wrote in message y.com...
I have an idea for a new kind of full-auto weapon that I have been seeing in
my head for a long time. I'm no where near ready to start machining stuff
yet but I am wondering how to do legal research and developing of the idea.
So, do I call the ATF and say: "Hey I want to build a machine gun."? At
what point does it become a problem? It looks like I'll only need a few
pounds of unobtainium and some disapearium. The idea eliminates one whole
operation and could increase cycle rate by as much as 30% while diminishing
recoil. It might do better if I could suspend some of the laws of physics.

All the posters above are absolutely correct. I am in the business
and it is a squirrelly business with lots of twists and turns. I have
the FFL 7 manufacturer's lisence and the Class 2 SOT, which is what is
required to build full auto weapons, subject to State laws. The cost
is actually $550/year (if you do over $1 million revenue/year it would
be $1050).
Roughly speaking, as I understand it, Federal law recognizes any
firearm assembly to be a full auto machinegun if it can be assembled
within 8 hours and fire more than one round with one pull of the
trigger. You can legally work on it for months before it gets to that
point. With some exceptions, notably M16 parts, anyone can own machine
gun kits, which are all the parts except the receiver.
In my experience, designing and building machineguns is done by
people who love firearms more than they love money. I am not aware of
anyone in the business who has made a killing (no pun intended). Of
course there have been those: Hiram Maxim who is generally credited
with inventing the modern machinegun, and the Browning family; but
they are on a level with Edison and Ford. There are some guys making
an excellent living, but they tend to do it by trading and have done
it for many years, and I believe it's because "transferable" (guns
available to individuals) machinegun prices have blasted through the
roof. An auto sear that cost $200 12 years ago now gets $8000. That's
because in 1986 it became illegal to manufacture or import any
machinegun for non-governmental use, which capped the supply in the
face of rising demand. You could produce the best machinegun in the
world, and you could only sell it to the government, or with
government permission, export to foreign buyers. You can imagine, the
actual work would be the easy part.
That said, any new design is going to be competing with both well
heeled manufacturing concerns (General Dynamics, Heckler & Koch, etc)
as well as your small time small shop mechanic who spends 120% of
their time on machineguns just because they love it.
If you want to do it because you can't resist the better mousetrap
game, then go for it. If you want to do it because you want to make a
lot of money, forget it and think about something that Wal-mart might
sell.
If the former, you could possibly get yourself federally lisenced
(the biggest hurdle is actually local zoning, ATF will contact your
local zoning administrator to verify that your location is a bona fide
manufacturing zone), beyond that a background check will kick out any
felon, or misdemeanor domestic abuser, and your local police chief had
better not say anything bad about you; then you get to pay your money.
As for States, quite a few allow full auto (contrary to public
misconception), but quite a few don't. I don't think it's far off half
and half.
Alternatively, you could hook up with a Class 2 SOT and work with
them quite effectively. As the above discussion implies, most of these
guys are the straightest arrows you'll meet, and the business often
involves sending thousands and tens of thousands of dollars to guys
you may never meet, for stuff you won't see for up to 4 months after
you've paid for it in full. It's just the way the business works. Most
(of course not all) are very trustworthy individuals; their reputation
is nearly as important as their life.
I think the weapons of the future will address the hot barrel issue,
and caseless ammunition will eventually take some hold (IMHO), perhaps
even with a fluid propellant.
If you wish, email me and I could provide further specific
direction. Good luck. Machineguns are more of a disease than a
business.

Good Luck, Fred