New Rifle Mimics Machine Gun's Rapid Fire -- and It's Legal

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/new-ri...145153186.html CNNMoney.comBy Aaron Smith | CNNMoney.com – 2 hours



New rifle mimics machine gun.

CNNMoney.com - New rifle mimics machine gun



NEW YORK -- Machine guns are illegal in the U.S. for most people, but one small company has found a way around that.

Slide Fire, based in Moran, Texas, plans to sell a semiautomatic rifle that mimics the rapid fire of a machine gun and is also fed bullets from a belt, which provides a huge capacity for ammunition -- potentially thousands of rounds.

Brandon Renner, sales and marketing manager for Slide Fire, says the belt-fed rifle, called the SFS BFR, will be available this fall and sell for $6,000.

"It sprays like a fire hose," said Renner. "We recommend no more than 30 rounds on the belt, but one person could make it as big as they want."

Can that be legal?

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says yes, since it's still technically a semiautomatic.

The key is that of the pieces that make up a gun, the ATF regulates only the "receiver." It's the only piece that has a serial number and the only one that requires a background check to purchase. Slide Fire modifies the trigger and the stock -- the butt of the gun that sits against the shooter's shoulder.

Slide Fire's technology uses the recoil of the rifle shot to "bump" the gun, speeding up the rate of fire without changing the gun's classification as a semiautomatic, which requires that only one round is fired each time the trigger is pulled.

In a 2010 letter posted on Slide Fire's website, the ATF wrote: "We find that the 'bump-stock' is a firearm part and is not regulated as firearm under the Gun Control Act or the National Firearms act."

"I can confirm that ATF did approve the device referenced in the letter and that the Slide Fire is legal," said ATF spokesman Christopher Amon.

Slide Fire already sells bump-stocks for $370 that speed up the rate of fire for semiautomatics. The company also sells semiautomatic rifles that have already been accessorized for bump-fire, costing between $1,150 to $1,950. But these guns use magazines, not belts, and thus have limited ammo capacity

Interesting but one has to wonder how accurate, durable and reliable it is.. A belt fed gun for the public to buy, how soon before all hell is toss at this ? -Tyr

[Marcus Aurelius]

[jafar00]

Interesting but one has to wonder how accurate, durable and reliable it is.. A belt fed gun for the public to buy, how soon before all hell is toss at this ? -Tyr

One has to wonder why a city slicker would need one.

[Arbo]

They have had devices you could add to the trigger of an AK for a long time that would do the same.

But other than to waste a lot of ammo fast, who would want that or a full auto? So horribly inaccurate.

Better to simply learn to aim.

[jafar00]

They have had devices you could add to the trigger of an AK for a long time that would do the same.

But other than to waste a lot of ammo fast, who would want that or a full auto? So horribly inaccurate.

Better to simply learn to aim.

We had a trick in the army where you could stick a bit of a match stick in the firing mechanism of an SLR (L1A1) and basically go full auto until the magazine emptied. It was a little scary having no control over 20 rounds of 7.62 ammo. Bloody hard to hold straight too!

[logroller]

Interesting but one has to wonder how accurate, durable and reliable it is.. A belt fed gun for the public to buy, how soon before all hell is toss at this ? -Tyr

at six grand, not very soon.

[logroller]

They have had devices you could add to the trigger of an AK for a long time that would do the same.
But other than to waste a lot of ammo fast, who would want that or a full auto? So horribly inaccurate.

Better to simply learn to aim.

but its so fun to waste ammo in a barrage of uncontrolled fire. I bet you're a real stick in mud when it comes to IEDs too.

Seriously, automatics weapons only make sense in a squad. By themselves, they're not much more useful than a grenade launcher.

[jafar00]

but its so fun to waste ammo in a barrage of uncontrolled fire. I bet you're a real stick in mud when it comes to IEDs too.

Seriously, automatics weapons only make sense in a squad. By themselves, they're not much more useful than a grenade launcher.

I know what you mean. The time I spent in an SFMG platoon was a lot of fun. M60s on tripods!

[logroller]

I know what you mean. The time I spent in an SFMG platoon was a lot of fun. M60s on tripods!

Does Australia have compulsory service or did you volunteer?

[jafar00]

Does Australia have compulsory service or did you volunteer?

It's volunteers only. At the time it was decent money and free adventure holidays once month!