I am trying to figure out if what I am doing is within the law or not in MA. I bought a new Saiga 7.62x39. The price was great and I thought it looked nice. Made by the same company that makes AK47’s but it’s good because this particular rifle is not listed as an assault rifle but, rather, a sport rifle. I bought some preban 30 round AK magazines and modified them to fit the Saiga. I also purchased a skeleton stock with a pistol grip. It is my intention to also purchase a non-threaded flash suppressor which uses a screw to affix it to the barrel vs a threaded barrel. I had thought about threading the barrel but I opted to not. At what point am I breaking the law?
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At what point am I breaking the law??
- Thread starter paulgla
- Start date
I'm sure someone will jump in and correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm thinking that once you add the flash suppressor to a removable mag and a pistol grip combo you've gone over the edge. You may be OK with a permanently attached muzzle brake though.
As the saiga is an import you need to make sure you comply with the Federal 922(r) US parts compliance law.
I don't think you are even ok with modified mags and definitely as soon as you add that stock you are committing a felony unless you replace the correct amount of US made parts at the same time.
ATF has decided that the ability of a semi-automatic rifle to take a "large capacity military magazine" (LCMM) is an unsporting feature, so possession of a modified magazine could be a problem.
The way it works (if I recall correctly) is that they are imported in a sporting configuration (including the 10 rd mag, no muzzle attachment, and no pistol grip), as soon as you replace the mag with a 30-rounder it is considered "similar" to a weapon banned from import and it becomes subject to 922r compliance (meaning no more than 10 "imported parts").
Edit to add: this is important, I think that if you have a unmodified saiga and a 30 rounder modified to fit the saiga you are breaking Federal law. Give the modified mags to a friend temporarily and add enough US parts to make the saiga legal ASAP.
Most people seem to get around that (from a quick read at http://forum.saiga-12.com ) by using a us made 30 rounder, and us made disconnector or gas piston.
That won't work for you however unless you can get hold of a (non-existent?) pre-MA-ban US made 30 rounder (and dispose of all non US made ones).
Here are the 14 imported parts on a saiga, you need to replace 4 of them to use a non-US 30 rounder, a buttstock with pistol grip, or a muzzle attachment:
Receiver
Barrel
Trunion
Bolt
Bolt Carrier
Gas Piston
Trigger
Hammer
Disconnector
Butt Stock
Forearm
Magazine Body
Magazine Follower
Magazine Floor Plate
I don't think you are even ok with modified mags and definitely as soon as you add that stock you are committing a felony unless you replace the correct amount of US made parts at the same time.
ATF has decided that the ability of a semi-automatic rifle to take a "large capacity military magazine" (LCMM) is an unsporting feature, so possession of a modified magazine could be a problem.
The way it works (if I recall correctly) is that they are imported in a sporting configuration (including the 10 rd mag, no muzzle attachment, and no pistol grip), as soon as you replace the mag with a 30-rounder it is considered "similar" to a weapon banned from import and it becomes subject to 922r compliance (meaning no more than 10 "imported parts").
Edit to add: this is important, I think that if you have a unmodified saiga and a 30 rounder modified to fit the saiga you are breaking Federal law. Give the modified mags to a friend temporarily and add enough US parts to make the saiga legal ASAP.
Most people seem to get around that (from a quick read at http://forum.saiga-12.com ) by using a us made 30 rounder, and us made disconnector or gas piston.
That won't work for you however unless you can get hold of a (non-existent?) pre-MA-ban US made 30 rounder (and dispose of all non US made ones).
Here are the 14 imported parts on a saiga, you need to replace 4 of them to use a non-US 30 rounder, a buttstock with pistol grip, or a muzzle attachment:
Receiver
Barrel
Trunion
Bolt
Bolt Carrier
Gas Piston
Trigger
Hammer
Disconnector
Butt Stock
Forearm
Magazine Body
Magazine Follower
Magazine Floor Plate
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I am not sure what level of modification would make your saiga "bad" in MA, what you have to determine is what you can add to make your saiga complaint with federal law without adding parts in a combination that makes the saiga illegal under MA assault weapons law.
Done some more research. It appears that if you add a tapco G2 fire control group that adds 3 US parts which, combined with your US buttstock would make you legal. You could then own modified 30 rounders and make any other changes you want (as far as Federal law is concerned).
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