Re: [MV] Dewat versus Demill

From: Dave Ball (vought@msn.com)
Date: Fri Jan 24 2003 - 10:43:49 PST


There are a few more requirements than just having a cut receiver such as
the operating rod needs to be bored and the barrel needs to be bored and or
plugged at the headspace and a Day-Glo plug inserted in the flash hider the
point being a demilled or replica weapon can not chamber a combustible round
in any way.
You can do all this and still have BATF compliance and a 5 foot display
replica for your vehicle that 97% of the viewers will not be able to tell if
its a demil or replica even if handled of course this depends on the crowd
(average parade or gunsmith convention).

Dave

----- Original Message -----
From: "mark baxter" <alleywayguns@bacavalley.com>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Friday, January 24, 2003 8:32 AM
Subject: Re: [MV] Dewat versus Demill

> Folk's it is ATF, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, ATT is the phone company.
> IF ATF deems that your Dewat is not compliant, you might have to use ATT
to
> phone you lawyer! LOL
> Mark M-886 and GUNSMITH
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ryan M Gill" <rmgill@mindspring.com>
> To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
> Sent: Friday, January 24, 2003 9:21 AM
> Subject: Re: [MV] Dewat versus Demill
>
>
> > At 11:11 AM -0500 1/24/03, Steve & Jeanne Keith wrote:
> > >What is the difference and is there a givmint site that explains this?
> >
> > Demil means that the gun's receiver or what the BATF considers to be
> > the key component, has been cut and destroyed in such a way that it'd
> > be near impossible to repair it and make the weapon functional.
> > Dewats are DE-activated WAr Trophy, but they have intact receivers
> > that the BATF considers to be reparable and restorable to functioning
> > condition.
> >
> > From http://www.astro.uu.nl/~krijger/BI/ME/nfa_faq.txt
> >
> > Also see http://www.recguns.com/Sources/IIF1.html
> >
> > DEWATs
> >
> > A DEWAT is an unservicable gun that has an intact receiver,
> > thus, as of the GCA of 1968, it is a machine gun. In 1955 the ATT
> > decided that a gun that was a registered war souvenir (or for a
> > time, a contraband unregistered gun) could be removed from the
> > coverage of the NFA if it was rendered unservicable by steel
> > welding the breech closed, and steel welding the barrel to the
> > frame. All this was to be done under the supervision of an ATT
> > inspector. The gun became a wall hanger, ornament, like parts sets
> > now. This was not the same as an unservicable gun, which was still
> > subject to the NFA, but exempt from the transfer tax. These steel
> > welded guns were DEWAT's. DEWAT stands for DEactivated WAr Trophy;
> > it was regularly done for servicemen who wished to bring home NFA
> > war souveniers. It was also done to WWI and WWII era guns imported
> > as surplus by companies like ARMEX International, and Interarmco,
> > and then sold through the mail in ads in gun magazines, Popular
> > Mechanics and the like. The glory days before 1968. A DEWAT
> > must now be registered to be legal, there is no longer a legal
difference
> > between a DEWAT and an unservicable weapon. A few states only
> > allow individuals to own DEWAT machine guns, Iowa comes to mind.
> >
> > A DEWAT machine gun transfers tax free, as a "curio or
> > ornament", on a Form 5. To be a DEWAT, a gun should have a steel
> > weld in the chamber, and have the plugged barrel steel welded to
> > the frame or receiver. Having said that, a gun may be registered
> > as unservicable and not be de-activated in this manner. It may have
> > cement or lead in the barrel, or a piece of rod welded, soldered or
> > brazed in the barrel. Despite the repeated warnings from ATT,
> > apparently DEWATs were made or imported that did not have steel
> > welds. And a weapon registered as "unservicable" before 1968
> > apparently was not held to these standards. The (ostensible)
> > reason machine gun receivers were redefined as machine guns, thus
> > bringing DEWATs under the NFA regulation was that folks were
> > regularly and easily making their DEWATs live guns w/o complying
> > with the law. Some barrel plugs were so poor they would fall out
> > with little coaxing. The thing with buying a DEWAT is that it may
> > be easy to make it live, or it may be hard. The gun may be
> > pristine or rather beat up. They usually cost less than a live gun
> > because they will not be 100% original if made live. However if
> > you just want a shooter buying a DEWAT and getting it made live can
> > often be cheaper than an original gun. DEWAT guns are best not
> > bought sight unseen, unless you do not wish to make it live, but
> > have it as a wall hanger. The exact state and extent of the welds
> > will determine how hard it is to make live. However if you want a
> > wall hanger, a dummy gun is much cheaper, and requires no paperwork.
> > They can look totally authentic. They do not have an intact
> > machine gun receiver, but a partially machined dummy receiver.
> >
> > Any NFA weapon can be a DEWAT, although they pretty much
> > tend to be machine guns, but someone could DEWAT a silencer
> > for an indiviudal to own in Missouri, for example. I don't know
> > what ATF would require to DEWAT a silencer though... Or what the
> > point would be.
> > --
> > --
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------
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> > - '42 Daimler Scout Car Mk II -
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