This article in today’s New York Times:
Specifically this part:
Wasn’t the importation of finished rifles killed by Bush Sr.? And even the whole kit importation thing was hobbled somehow with the barrel import prohibition? And truth be told, I have not seen a great amount of sporterized versions of the AK nor the desire to buy them.
Wasn’t the US Government buying Russian weapons for the Iraqi Army?
If anybody can clear this doubt, I’ll appreciate it.
My favorite part is…
…sales in the United States as integral to the business. About 40 percent of the factory’s output went to gun buyers there, about the same number as bought by the Russian military.
Better armed than the Russian military, heh.
The import ban was for non sporting use long guns and it was Bush Sr. You can still build your own, but it can’t have more than 10 imported parts out of a list of 20. It’s quite possible to have a legal long gun from foreign made parts with an American made magazine, but then become illegal if a foreign made magazine is inserted.
I know that Century was bringing the kits with the torched receivers & reassembling them while keeping with ATF 922r. But after the barrel prohibition, they had to bypass by using Saiga barrels which are the same thing. But full importation of Non-Sporting? That is why I am confused.
Ah, yes. I can’t comment on their business model, it doesn’t make sense with the limitations on importing non sporting use firearms into the US. Perhaps they’re only making kits or essential parts except for barrels.
The Saiga shotguns are probably what’s generating all those sales. In the configuration they come over here in they are still importable, and still popular.
Saiga is made by Izhmash right? So, if it is a sporting rifle they can import the complete rifle? I am confused because I also thought that there were limitations on imported rifles. Aren’t AK’s required to have a certain number of american made parts? I.E. Receiver, trigger, and one other that slips my mind right now. I do remember hearing about Putin and a South American country coming to terms in order to build a new factory just for the AK within the last year. Was it Brazil? Anyways, this article completely confuses me. Before I ponder and confuse myself even more, I think I will just go drool over the pictures of the AK-12.
There are no limitations on the foreign made parts if it’s a ‘sporting’ firearm, which the Saiga rifles and shotguns are when they are imported.
If you want to take it out of ‘sporting’ configuration, only then do you have to be 922r compliant. So you take off a magic number of foreign parts to make it no longer foreign made, and replace them with American made parts.
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