Author Topic: SKS mods and legality of same....  (Read 8665 times)

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ngzcaz

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SKS mods and legality of same....
« on: July 19, 2014, 09:31:07 AM »

  Any logical thoughts on why the Government , in its infinite wisdom makes some of these stock guns illegal by the addition of a few simple aftermarket parts, ( magazine, trigger bayonet etc ) while keeping the basic stock and looks and on the other hand, you can trick the whole thing out including an aftermarket stock that leaves no doubt one is trying hard to make it look and to a large part function like an assault rifle ? And the one that is the more heavily modified is legal ?  The rationale behind this leaves me scratching my head...hard.

  What is even further confusing is that an exact year of the manufacturer is almost impossible to determine. The best seems to be a guess of a few years apart. Yet the year of manufacture, or perhaps more accurately year of importation is the determining factor whether something is legal or illegal if it is modified. If you can't determine when it was made or when it was imported how does the government determine whether its legal or illegal ?  We aren't talking full autos here. That's a whole different topic.  The whole thing is pretty confusing to an older guy but new owner of one of these weapons.

ROGER4314

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2014, 01:27:47 AM »
I just finished installing a pile of 922r compliance parts in my highly modified Yugo. That 922r is the most foolish set of rules the Feds have come up with. You'd need to really TRY to find a more screwed up government regulation anywhere!

Flash
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panoz77

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2014, 09:31:50 AM »
You can still keep the original wood stock look and comply with 922r.  The US made trigger components get you most of the way there, the gas piston does not affect appearance, that makes you 922r compliant for everything but a Yugo.  You can then replace the grenade launcher on the Yugo with a US made one or remove it.

ngzcaz

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2014, 11:08:11 AM »

   Ok...  I understand how to do it...  I just can't figure out WHY I have to do it. I'm sure this has been discussed adnauseum, but I'm
still scratching my head why the addition of a 20 rd mag instead of the stock ten rd mag for example, necessitates the addition of other replacement parts ( no idea why the total outlay would be ) which might make the rifle more like an assault weapon which is what the government doesn't want.  Another example, my eyes have seen better days. One hundred yard shots, maybe 150 yards on a silhouette target, would be a lot easier with a low powered scope. In addition to the multiple issues with a scope mount, it seems that one addition as well, would set off a chain reaction of sorts requiring additional changes to be 922r compliant.

  Has their ever been a successful confiscation/prosecution involving an SKS... ?  and I'm not talking a conversion to a full auto with a 100 rd drum on it. IMHO, the government has a whole lot of problems with which to spend that money. Not to mention, there's no doubt in my mind that law enforcement ( retired and active ) and ex military would be on the front line defending the very country that might prosecute them..   I'm hoping that this is like a spitting on the sidewalk type law.. its there but no one has heard of a prosecution.  And yes, I do realize no one wants to be the first to find out.

panoz77

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2014, 11:51:57 AM »

   Ok...  I understand how to do it...  I just can't figure out WHY I have to do it. I'm sure this has been discussed adnauseum, but I'm
still scratching my head why the addition of a 20 rd mag instead of the stock ten rd mag for example, necessitates the addition of other replacement parts ( no idea why the total outlay would be ) which might make the rifle more like an assault weapon which is what the government doesn't want.  Another example, my eyes have seen better days. One hundred yard shots, maybe 150 yards on a silhouette target, would be a lot easier with a low powered scope. In addition to the multiple issues with a scope mount, it seems that one addition as well, would set off a chain reaction of sorts requiring additional changes to be 922r compliant.

  Has their ever been a successful confiscation/prosecution involving an SKS... ?  and I'm not talking a conversion to a full auto with a 100 rd drum on it. IMHO, the government has a whole lot of problems with which to spend that money. Not to mention, there's no doubt in my mind that law enforcement ( retired and active ) and ex military would be on the front line defending the very country that might prosecute them..   I'm hoping that this is like a spitting on the sidewalk type law.. its there but no one has heard of a prosecution.  And yes, I do realize no one wants to be the first to find out.

Adding a scope mount does not affect 922r.  Only replacing/removing "counted parts" affect 922r and a scope mount is not a counted part, nor would affect any counted parts.

LESchwartz

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2014, 01:23:22 PM »
Adding a scope mount does not affect 922r.  Only replacing/removing "counted parts" affect 922r and a scope mount is not a counted part, nor would affect any counted parts.

Second, is the "non-importable" part:  ATF has determined that SKS rifles with certain "non-sporting" features (such as telescoping or folding stocks, bayonets, grenade launcher / threaded muzzle, detachable magazines, etc.) are not importable.  Thus adding those features to an already imported SKS rifle is prohibited.

The thing that triggers 922(r) is the so called restricted features list.

Larry

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ngzcaz

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2014, 03:00:21 PM »

    More info on that site than I fully understand but enough that gives a pretty clear idea ( did I actually say that ? )  on what to mess with and what not to. My thanks for directing me to it.  I find it strangely amusing that on one hand the USA continually gives the famous ( or infamous depending on your point of view ) favored nation trade status to the Chinese then bans one of the imports apparently because of well meaning but ill informed politicians.

  Looks like I'll add a scope and pretty much leave the rest alone. Shame, an original bayonet would have completed the original look of the weapon since the original lug is there but since its a Norinco Poly I guess its a no no.     :)

JKale2923

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #7 on: August 01, 2014, 10:29:44 AM »
I see 922r as a regulation that is left over from earlier successes of the anti gun lobby. As I recall it was basically a first attempt to limit the importation of AK47 and SKS rifles which were being hyped up as common "affordable" firearms that "militia groups" were purchasing. The "Assault Weapon Ban" that followed complimented 922r nicely from the anti gun point of view. Now that the AWB has expired, we have a lot more freedom, but still have 922r on the books and as you stated does not do anything to make a rifle less tactical, in fact quite often making a rifle legal, actually makes it more of an "assault weapon" that the anti gunners want outlawed. This is probably why no one has ever heard of 922r ever being enforced. The only positive part I see in 922r is it encourages firearm owners to buy American parts and support the American firearm industry even though that was not its intended purpose. It is like many laws, something left over and now obsolete, but we have to live with.

LESchwartz

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2014, 10:46:22 AM »
You can also view 922(r) as an indirect tax on imported firearms, since imported firearms require some number of US-made parts in order to be sold in the configurations many buyers want.  IMHO that's one reason it will likely never be repealed, as the US firearms industry would never get behind it.

Larry
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JKale2923

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2014, 12:16:06 PM »
So you think companies like Tapco are actually supporters of 922r, even though they would never publicize it to their Pro Second Amendment customers.

Carl in CT

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #10 on: August 01, 2014, 12:22:22 PM »
So you think companies like Tapco are actually supporters of 922r, even though they would never publicize it to their Pro Second Amendment customers.

I can't speak for Tapco but I'd bet they make more money from 922r than anyone, at least in the SKS and possibly AK 922r markets.
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LESchwartz

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #11 on: August 01, 2014, 01:09:41 PM »
So you think companies like Tapco are actually supporters of 922r, even though they would never publicize it to their Pro Second Amendment customers.

I cannot speak to the position of companies like Tapco.  However, it's clear that they have grown their businesses to fill the niche created by 922(r), and its repeal would probably represent some sort of hit to their sales.

However, 922(r) is an outgrowth of the 1989 Bush ban on the importation of certain semi-automatic rifles.  I was specifically referring to the tacit support this 1989 ban is alleged to have received from some US firearms manufactures.

Larry
« Last Edit: August 01, 2014, 04:18:21 PM by LESchwartz »
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts."--Bertrand Russell

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JKale2923

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #12 on: August 01, 2014, 02:27:13 PM »
I wonder what our fore fathers would say if they were told 230 years later your decendents will still have the 2nd Amendment and the Right to Bear Arms. Firearms will readily be for sale in most regions in the country, in most cases after a background check, but laws will be enacted to encourage Americans to purchase US made firearms. I doubt very many of them would have had a problem with that even though some of us collectors would like to be able to get the original foreign made configurations.

Carl in CT

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #13 on: August 01, 2014, 02:47:30 PM »
I wonder what our fore fathers would say if they were told 230 years later your decendents will still have the 2nd Amendment and the Right to Bear Arms. Firearms will readily be for sale in most regions in the country, in most cases after a background check, but laws will be enacted to encourage Americans to purchase US made firearms. I doubt very many of them would have had a problem with that even though some of us collectors would like to be able to get the original foreign made configurations.

They'd probably stop you at 230 years later and say, "Holy crap are you serious, 230 years and our country is still there and our system of government is still in force (well, sort of)?"
 
OK, well I'm sure they'd word it differently but you get my point (and it's closer to 238 years if I did my math correctly  :lol:  ).
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JKale2923

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Re: SKS mods and legality of same....
« Reply #14 on: August 01, 2014, 03:42:49 PM »


OK, well I'm sure they'd word it differently but you get my point (and it's closer to 238 years if I did my math correctly  :lol:  ).

I was going by after the war when it was established that the United States was going to exist, elect a president and have an intact constitution. :)