Breaking News: ATF Is Classifying .50 Cal Bolt Action AR Upp

[Bearcatrp]

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/201 ... s-firearm/

If this sticks, you can kiss any upper mailed to your door goodbye.

[nhluke]

Sounds like I should start a company making 80 percent uppers ha!

[BigDog58]

If I'm reading this correctly, it specifically applies to Bolt Action Uppers, and should not affect a normal AR-Type Semi-Auto upper?

The 50 BMG uppers they are referring too, are of the Bolt Action type, not Semi-Auto. Am I missing something in the info?

[Ghost]

If I'm reading this correctly, it specifically applies to Bolt Action Uppers, and should not affect a normal AR-Type Semi-Auto upper?

The 50 BMG uppers they are referring too, are of the Bolt Action type, not Semi-Auto. Am I missing something in the info?

You are correct. Could be incrementalism though.

[Bearcatrp]

Give the government an inch, they will take 100 miles! Hoping the 50BMG upper makers appeal this. I can see the ATF expanding this to all uppers as time goes. I'll be buying a few plain uppers to have in stock just in case this crap does expand.

[hard h2o]

Makes sense to me.

A bolt action receiver is the firearm. Not he wood, plastic, chassis stock.

The lower in this case is akin to the stock on a traditional bolt action firearm. The "upper" is a bolt action receiver.

Can you take a bolt action AR type upper and use it as the basis of a firearm? I would think it could be independent of an AR lower and be made to function.

[gun_fan111v2]

Never held one of the uppers in question but since it pairs to a regular AR lower I assume it does not have a trigger/hammer combo built in unlike the one-piece bolt action receiver...

[Bearcatrp]

I had a safety harbors 50BMG upper. Just bolt, barrel and upper. It cannot fire without a lower.

[Erud]

If I'm reading this correctly, it specifically applies to Bolt Action Uppers, and should not affect a normal AR-Type Semi-Auto upper?

The 50 BMG uppers they are referring too, are of the Bolt Action type, not Semi-Auto. Am I missing something in the info?

Is there a semi-auto .50 cal upper that fits an AR lower? If so, how the heck does it work?

[Sigfan220]

Makes sense to me.

A bolt action receiver is the firearm. Not he wood, plastic, chassis stock.

The lower in this case is akin to the stock on a traditional bolt action firearm. The "upper" is a bolt action receiver.

Can you take a bolt action AR type upper and use it as the basis of a firearm? I would think it could be independent of an AR lower and be made to function.

The problem is the ATF already classifies an AR15 lower as a firearm. Also a gun stock does not contain the trigger, it is simply a piece of wood. This is a poor comparison. When assembled it would be 2 firearms not 1. It makes absolutely no sense. It would be like classifying a new Glock slide as a firearm. It can't ship to your door, and requires a 4473. These are gun parts, just like any upper. This is a slippery slope...

[Holland&Holland]

If I'm reading this correctly, it specifically applies to Bolt Action Uppers, and should not affect a normal AR-Type Semi-Auto upper?

The 50 BMG uppers they are referring too, are of the Bolt Action type, not Semi-Auto. Am I missing something in the info?

Is there a semi-auto .50 cal upper that fits an AR lower? If so, how the heck does it work?

Yup. .50 Beowulf, .50 AE, Probably a few wildcats.

[Erud]

If I'm reading this correctly, it specifically applies to Bolt Action Uppers, and should not affect a normal AR-Type Semi-Auto upper?

The 50 BMG uppers they are referring too, are of the Bolt Action type, not Semi-Auto. Am I missing something in the info?

Is there a semi-auto .50 cal upper that fits an AR lower? If so, how the heck does it work?

Yup. .50 Beowulf, .50 AE, Probably a few wildcats.

Ok, I guess I meant .50 BMG, since that’s what the ATF letter seems to be specifically addressing. Sorry for not being more clear.

[BigDog58]

From what research I was able to do, and info I was able to find, in our 50 Cal Forum Archives, I did not find a Semi-Automatic 50 BMG Upper that would attach to a regular AR-15 Lower.

All that I could locate, were bolt action. Some Single Shot, some Magazine Fed.

If there was one, OldmanFCSA will be the go to guy on that one. Hopefully he'll see this, and chime in.

[OldmanFCSA]

NO SEMI-AUTO 50BMG UPPERS EXIST, with uppers defined as fitting on an AR-15 or on an AR-10 LOWER.

[Holland&Holland]

Is this really that shocking? If you try to buy a stripped bolt action receiver from Brownells it is considered the firearm and must go through an FFL.