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Open vs closed bolt?

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  • Dawico

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    I have no idea on the legality but there is no reason to have an open bolt semiauto. Even full autos that are converted to semiauto usually switch to a closed bolt.
     

    Younggun

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    Open bolt is generally less accurate.

    IIRC, open bolt semi auto is generally not legal because of how easy they are to convert but there are a few old open bolt semi autos floating around that are still legal.

    Micro UZIs fall in to that category I believe.
     

    breakingcontact

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    I was flipping through Shotgun news and they had some sort of M249 SAW, but they had two different version. The open bolt one was for LE/Mil only and the closed bolt was for civilians. I'll try and post a pic in a bit.

    The only machine gun I've ever shot was a M249 in the military which is an open bolt.

    I'm not up on NFA items, not looking to buy one certainly, I was just interested in the mechanics and legality of the different modes of operation.
     

    Koinonia

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    Are you referencing any type of firearm?

    Is that in the federal firearm's laws?


    BATF made a ruling in 1982 that semi-automatic open-bolt weapons are readily convertible to fully automatic fire, therefore such weapons manufactured after the date of this ruling are classed and controlled as fully automatic weapons (weapons manufactured prior to the ruling are grandfathered and are still considered semi-automatic).
     

    txinvestigator

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    BATF made a ruling in 1982 that semi-automatic open-bolt weapons are readily convertible to fully automatic fire, therefore such weapons manufactured after the date of this ruling are classed and controlled as fully automatic weapons (weapons manufactured prior to the ruling are grandfathered and are still considered semi-automatic).
    ?Open Bolt? Explained: A Tale of Two Uzis - The Firearm Blog

    Yeah, got curious and found the above. Pretty interesting stuff.
     

    breakingcontact

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    Here. Apparently not actual MG but semi auto that is closed bolt as some of you mentioned above and understood what we were discussing before i did. Ad states "civilian legal" meaning non-NFA in this context.
     
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    grumper

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    What they said ^^

    Most open bolt semis (any with a fixed firing pin built into the bolt) can be converted to MGs by just removing the disconnector. So ATF just said all of them are easily converted to MGs, grandfathered existing guns and said no more new ones.

    Theres a few early Thompsons that were open bolt with hammers but no manufacturer wants to test the ATF about their ruling and open bolt guns are less accurate anyway.

    On the first shot you can feel that heavy bolt lurching forward after you pull the trigger and tends to make your first shot go low.
     
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    IXLR8

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    Here. Apparently not actual MG but semi auto that is closed bolt as some of you mentioned above and understood what we were discussing before i did. Ad states "civilian legal" meaning non-NFA in this context.
    These M249's are in name only. They use an HK trigger pack which would be convertible to F/A with a registered sear. I would be curious to know whether they use the 2 pin trigger pack, or the rear pin only that is required in all HK 9x semi-auto rifles that use these triggers packs.
     
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    ROGER4314

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    I've fired class three rifles and pistols but I've never really been into them. The way I learned about open and closed bolt FA was that open bolt is preferred to prevent a "cookoff" in a hot chamber/closed bolt.

    Flash
     

    M. Sage

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    I've fired class three rifles and pistols but I've never really been into them. The way I learned about open and closed bolt FA was that open bolt is preferred to prevent a "cookoff" in a hot chamber/closed bolt.

    Flash

    In the case of SMGs, I think it was preferred for simplicity.
     
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