MACHINE GUNS

The firearms illustrated below are examples of some of the machine guns we have manufactured or rebuilt for customers.  Because the BATF places machine guns in different categories of ownership,  our selection changes constantly.  Note, before purchasing a machine gun, make certain it is in a category you can own in your state (For more information see LEGAL TIPS).  Check this page periodically for updates.  Please drop us a line for current offerings or click CLOSE-OUTS and look at our "class 3" list. 

TERMINOLOGY & DEFINITIONS

Reactivated .45 ACP Thompson Model 1928 Submachine gun, AKA "Tommy Gun"
Reactivated Browning 1919A4 with new side plate and 7.62 NATO conversion kit
AK-74 5.45x39 Assault Rifle converted from Romanian semiauto
M-11/9 COBRAY 9mm Submachine Gun fitted with HK MP-5 sights
Chinese AKM in 5.56 x45 converted to "KRINKOV" configuration
PPS 43 WWII Russian Submachine Gun in 7.62 x 25, rebuilt from parts kit
M-4 Carbine, .223mm, select fire, built on registered M-16 receiver	M-169 M-169 suppressed 9mm upper kit shown mounted on select fire M-16 lower receiver with optical sight (not included)
SUITE-16  conversion options

TERMINOLOGY & DEFINITIONS

Machine Gun (MG) - Any firearm that fires more than one bullet at a time with each pull of the trigger.  Because their method of operation already places them in the NFA classification, the configuration of the stock, barrel, bayonet lug, and flash hider is not restricted.  If a suppressor is permanently attached to the machine gun, it too is considered a part of the gun and not subject to a separate tax.   Machine guns range in size from small .22 caliber pistols such as the Mexican Trajoe up to the .50 caliber Browning M-2 heavy machine gun.  Automatic weapons firing projectiles larger than .50 inches in diameter, including the Oerlikon 20 mm cannon and Bofors 40 mm cannon, are generally described as destructive devices rather than machine guns, because their ammunition normally contains an explosive charge.  The electrically operated G.E. mini-gun is classified as a machine gun, although the mechanically operated Gatling gun is not.  The Federal Transfer tax on a machine gun is $200.  Because machine guns come in all shapes and sizes, various names have been conjured up to describe them.  The list below is composed of the most common terms you likely will encounter.  Technically, they are all machine guns. 

Heavy Machine Gun (HMG) - Originally, any machine gun designed for heavy sustained firing from a tripod and utilizing a water jacket cooling system around the barrel to dissipate heat, hence the term "heavy".  Examples include the Maxim, Vickers, and Browning 1917A1.  Later this term applied to machine guns that fired bullets larger than those used in the issue service rifles.  The most popular example is the Browning .50 caliber M-2 series. 

Medium Machine Gun (MMG) - At first this was a lighter variant of the early heavy machine guns.  The barrel jacket water cooling system was dispensed with and a heavier barrel substituted.  This gave the weapon greater portability but reduced sustained-fire capability.  One of the best examples is the Browning 1919A4.  By the advent of W.W.II, many water-cooled machine guns were reclassified as medium guns.         

General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) - A German invention between the World Wars, its purpose was to provide a very flexible gun that could serve as light, medium, and even heavy gun by adding or subtracting features such as tripods, bipods, shoulder stocks, sights, ammo carriers, and barrels.  The real secret of the concept was the quick-change barrel system that allowed a hot barrel to be replaced in seconds, thus maintaining a heavy stream of fire.  Another feature of all modern GPMGs was borrowed from the Germans - heavy use of stampings, spotwelding, and simple cast or machined parts.  Examples include the German MG-42, American M-60, and Belgian FN MAG.   

Light Machine Gun (LMG) - A lighter weight, purpose-built machine gun, usually of original design and not converted from a heavier weapon, that fires a rifle cartridge either from a belt or large magazine.  Most LMGs have shoulder stocks and folding bipods.  Some have been adapted for tripod use such as the excellent British BREN gun.  The current trend in LMGs favors assault rifle ammunition.

Automatic Rifle (AR) - Often this term is used interchangeably with LMG.   The automatic rifle is normally a rifle caliber, shoulder fired machine gun containing a detachable magazine and folding bipod.  Perhaps the most famous example is the Browning BAR.  Many post-war designs were essentially existing service rifles refitted with bipods and selector switches for full automatic fire, and sometimes muzzle brakes, heavier barrels, and full pistol grips.

Machine Rifle - An archaic term for automatic rifle.

Battle Rifle - This term is often used to distinguish a full-sized rifle with a full automatic capability from a carbine or assault rifle.  Though intended to be fired primarily in semiautomatic, most battle rifles have provisions for emergency full automatic fire.  Normally a bipod is not fitted to this type rifle unless it is being employed as an automatic rifle or light machine gun.  Arguably the first such weapon was the FG-42 which was issued to elite German paratroopers in W.W.II.   More common examples include the American M-14, Belgian FN FAL, and German G-3. 

Assault Rifle (AR) - A German invention of W.W.II, the assault rifle was intended to blend features of the rifle, carbine, automatic rifle/light machine gun, and submachine gun into a single weapon for use by front line assault troops.  They accomplished this in their select-fire MP-43/MP-44/StG-44 series of weapons by reducing the standard 8 mm rifle cartridge to one of intermediate size and power, somewhere between that of their submachine gun round and rifle round.  The concept has dominated military rifle development since W.W.II.   The Soviet AK and U.S. M-16 series of assault rifles are the most common and successful examples to date.

Assault Weapon - The term "assault weapon" should not be confused with assault rifle.  "Assault weapon" is a recent term popularized by the news media and codified by Congress in the 1994 Crime Bill (Brady Bill).  The Brady Bill prohibits civilian ownership of certain rifles, pistols, and shotguns built after the enactment of the 1994 law.  Assault weapons are defined as any new (post-94) semiautomatic firearm capable of accepting a detachable magazine and having more than one of the following additional features: separate pistol grip, folding or collapsible shoulder stock, bayonet lug, grenade launcher, flash hider, or threaded barrel capable of accepting a flash hider or grenade launcher.  Assault weapons are not machine guns and are not registered for purposes of transfer or ownership.

Submachine Gun (SMG) - The Italians are credited with inventing the SMG, though it was the Germans who first employed the concept effectively in the closing days of W.W.I.  The SMG is a full automatic or select-fire weapon that is distinctive from other machine guns due to its reliance primarily on pistol ammunition.  Since SMGs are heavier than pistols and employ shoulder stocks, they are better suited to close assault and defense.  The SMG reached its pinnacle of success in W.W.II, but the assault rifle has relegated it to a secondary role as a special purpose/police weapon.  The most famous examples include the American Thompson, German MP-40, British STEN, Russian PPSh M1941, Israeli Uzi, and German MP-5.

Machine Pistol (MP) - Generally speaking, a select fire (both semiautomatic and full automatic) pistol, usually fitted with a detachable shoulder stock.  Examples include the Mauser type "Schnellfeuerpistole", Star Model M, and Astra Model 902.  The Germans use this term also to describe any submachine gun (MP-40 "Burp Gun", MP-5).

Carbine - Originally this term referred to a rifle with a shortened barrel and stock, but using the same cartridge as the standard service rifle.  It was intended primarily for issue to cavalry troops or special units for whom long range shooting was not a first priority.  Shortly before the U.S. entry into W.W.II, the Army adopted a unique, small, semiautomatic shoulder arm of incredibly light weight (5.5 lb.), which they dubbed the M-1 Carbine.  Unlike the Germans, they wanted a gun that could replace the pistol, SMG, and rifle among rear echelon troops.   Rather than shorten a rifle cartridge as the Germans did, the Americans essentially modified a stretched pistol cartridge (.32 Winchester).  Though not as powerful as the German StG-44 Assault Rifle, the carbine was so light and handy that it saw considerable front-line service in W.W.II, Korea, and Vietnam.  Late in W.W.II a previously deleted full automatic feature was restored to the carbine and magazine capacity was doubled to 30 rounds.  Guns so built or retrofitted are normally marked M-2 Carbine.  Though it is identical to an M-1 carbine receiver, today any carbine receiver marked  M-2 is considered a machine gun.  An M-2 conversion kit also is considered a machine gun.  An M-1 Carbine that does not contain the full automatic conversion parts is considered a semiautomatic rifle.  If the M-2 kit is attached, the carbine is considered a machine gun.

Machine Carbine -  This term is is common parlance in Britain and Europe, but is rarely used in America.  Depending upon the particular firearm being described, it can loosely refer to a submachine gun, carbine, or assault rifles.

Assault Carbine (CAR) - This rarely used term normally refers to shortened assault rifles and sometimes M-2 carbines.

Automatic - This generic term refers to any firearm capable of discharging more than one shot with each pull of the trigger.  This includes everything from the tiny .22 caliber Trajoe machine pistol to the 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun.  In legal parlance, a weapon is anything used in an offensive or defensive manor.  Therefore, some pundits prefer to use the term automatic firearm, automatic pistol, automatic shotgun, etc., when describing self-loading firearms that have not been used in combat.  This  term often is misused to describe both semiautomatic and full automatic pistols, rifles, shotguns, machine guns, and cannon.   In truth, a typical self-loading pistol, rifle, or shotgun operates on a semiautomatic principle, where each pull of the trigger discharges one shot from the firearm.  A true automatic firearm fires more than one shot with each pull of the trigger.  Included in this definition are burst fire mechanisms that allow a regulated number of shots (usually two or three) with each pull of the trigger. 

Semiautomatic - This is the correct and legal term to describe the action of any self-loading firearm that discharges a single shot with each pull of the trigger.  Some news media erroneously use the term semiautomatic machine gun.   Such a term is a contradiction because the legal definition of a machine gun violates the principle of one shot per each pull of the trigger.      

Automatic Cannon - Automatic weapons firing projectiles larger than .50 inches in diameter, including the Oerlikon 20 mm cannon and Bofors 40 mm cannon.   These are generally classified by BATF as destructive devices rather than machine guns, because their ammunition normally contains an explosive charge.

Gatling Gun - Originally developed during the American War Between the States (1861-65), this was the worlds first practical machine gun.  It consists of several barrels arranged in a circle and rotated into firing position by a hand crank.   As each barrel comes into alignment with the feed system, a round is fed into its chamber and fired.  Ironically, because it is manually operated, it is not classified by the BATF as a machine gun.

Mini-Gun - These are later variants of the Gatling design, only powered by electric motors.  They can fire at extremely high rates (up to 6000 rounds per minute).  They are classified as machine guns when chambered for rifle ammunition (such as the G.E. 5.56 mini-gun).  Larger cannon models, such as the M-61 Vulcan 20mm, are classified as automatic cannon.

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