[scottinthegrove]

I just noticed this ad at sturm WTS: HK51 by RDTS w/ Qualified Sear $15.5k which doesn't make any sense. The add reads:

"WTS: HK51 by RDTS w/ Qualified Sear $15.5k

Posted By: Tim M/XXXXXX XXXXXXXX, AZ <[email protected]>
Date: 4/4/12 20:46

HK51. All German converted by Ralph at RDTS
Gun is married to a Qualified Sear.
Gun IS a PushPin/Swing down lower. Yes it's a Sear and a Pushpin Lower.

Gun is on a Form 4 in Arizona
$15,5k "

I can't imagine Ralph would drill a hole in a semi receiver and then put a registered sear in it. This ad makes no sense to me. Can someone please explain how a Qualified sear could be married to a push pin gun? YMMV.

Scott

 

[MG34_Dan]

I just noticed this ad at sturm WTS: HK51 by RDTS w/ Qualified Sear $15.5k which doesn't make any sense. The add reads:

"WTS: HK51 by RDTS w/ Qualified Sear $15.5k

Posted By: Tim M/XXXXXX XXXXXXXX, AZ <[email protected]>
Date: 4/4/12 20:46

HK51. All German converted by Ralph at RDTS
Gun is married to a Qualified Sear.
Gun IS a PushPin/Swing down lower. Yes it's a Sear and a Pushpin Lower.

Gun is on a Form 4 in Arizona
$15,5k "

I can't imagine Ralph would drill a hole in a semi receiver and then put a registered sear in it. This ad makes no sense to me. Can someone please explain how a Qualified sear could be married to a push pin gun? YMMV.

Scott

Some early Qualified G3 conversions were done using a married sear in a push pin trigger pack. This is one of them. RDTS must have converted the G3 conversion to a 51 somewhere along the line.

There are some strange conversions out there.

 

[fordemti]

Could the sear be divorced then? I'd think not.

 

[Obiefox]

I would think we need to see the Form 4 to see what is the registered/transferrable part.....

 

[Gunschlinger]

would probably make one hell of a belt gun

 

[scottinthegrove]

I would think we need to see the Form 4 to see what is the registered/transferrable part.....

That would be the $15,500 question. The receiver has a hole for the front push pin. The last I knew the Tech Branch considers that hole in the receiver to make that receiver a machinegun. Even using a registered Qualified sear for the conversion, the sear can't be removed because of the push pin hole. Now if the sear is transferable and the receiver was destroyed you'd end up with a transferable sear and a 51 parts set for $15,500. To me $2,500 to $3,500 for a 51 parts set seems pretty pricey. That is if the sear is transferable once the receiver is gone. Things certainly were different, "back in the day".

Scott

 

[Radar]

What about the Santa Fe 41s They have the push pin and are semi.( HK 41 A3 SANTA FE DIVISION 1966 RARE PUSH PIN H&K : Semi Auto Rifles at GunBroker.com )

 

[MG34_Dan]

What about the Santa Fe 41s They have the push pin and are semi.( HK 41 A3 SANTA FE DIVISION 1966 RARE PUSH PIN H&K : Semi Auto Rifles at GunBroker.com )

Grandfathered. The only rule is, there are no rules, well sort of, maybe. Don-cha-luv-it?

 

[scottinthegrove]

What about the Santa Fe 41s They have the push pin and are semi.

The same can be said for the 43s. But as already posted, those guns were imported before the Tech Branch asked to have a difference between a semi auto receiver and a full auto receiver. Maybe the receiver was one of the early imports. Who knows, the new owner might be able to file a form 1. I'm not looking for another sear, so I won't worry about it.

Scott

 

[jjrphs]

My bet would be this is one of the few registered sear guns converted post May 19th, 1986 which had the receiver drilled for a push pin lower and was later grandfathered to "permanent married" status by ATF.

In the days following the making ban, HK builders (Vollmer in particular) had access to all these conversion sears with which to continue convert guns. I can't recall specifically if Vollmer had approval, or took it upon himself to make sear guns utilizing a swing-down pp lower......I want to say Vollmer had a verbal or letter of approval for this method. Regardless, at some point shortly thereafter......probably after examination of one of these conversions in the field......ATF decided this method of conversion actually created another unregistered machine gun; put a halt to this method and made the (in)famous "drilling a hole creates a machine gun" ruling.

IIRC, it was at this time ATF also ruled AK47s could not be converted via registered AK47 full auto sears (registered prior to the ban) due to the requirement to drill the additional hole in the AK47's receiver. At that point there were already registered sear swing-down pp HKs and "registered sear" AK47s in civilian hands, so ATF decided to grandfather those, but allow no more conversions of this type. Further, HK registered sear gun conversions became exclusively clip-on and the remainder of those transferable AK47 sears registered prior to May 19th were disallowed.......

It is also interesting that at the time of this ruling Vollmer had a quantity of receivers his shop which had been modified (shelf removed and hole drilled) to accept a swing-down lower with registered sear. ATF ruled these modified receivers were now post sample machine guns. Vollmer asked permission to return these receivers to semi-auto configuration. ATF refused......once a machine gun always a machine gun. Right? Wrong. Vollmer sued ATF and won the right to return these receivers to their original semi-auto configuration.......and probably converted every single one to a clip-on sear gun configuration. The fact Vollmer won this law suit is probably evidence ATF initially gave permission for the swing-down pp registered sear configuration.

That's my recollection of those events.......