Mother Jones is to firearms as Saveur is to the Hardee’s. The first is aware of the second’s existence, but appalled to have them in the same country and disgusted that they’re legal and – quelle horreur! – popular.

Which brings us to Bryan Shatz’s intrepid little journey to the wilds of Southern California to attend and participate in a rifle “build party.” Poor Bry. He’s obviously horrified by how relatively little cash and effort are needed to put a functional rifle in the hands of the unwashed masses.

You can tell that he’s only really happy again once he bisects his new AK with a chop saw. *sniff* Oh well. Plenty more where that one came from.

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66 COMMENTS

  1. One can only hope someone got to his trash, and is now happily rebuilding it yet again.

  2. Gun control? Nobodies heard of the guys in Pakistan making guns from scratch in shops with hand tools? 3d printers? Slamfire shotguns? Gun control is a dead issue supported by people too stupid to realize they’ve tied themselves to a corpse.

    • Yeah, just ask the guys down under, according to this, gun crimes are “Gun-related crime rose 14.5 per cent in the past financial year in Victoria.”

      Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national-news/victoria/senior-cops-ask-the-public-to-dob-in-gun-criminals/story-fnii5sms-1226648694162#ixzz2UM034Qqe

      In a country that banned guns, how is this at all possible?

      Also in the article

      The issue will be on the agenda today when he chairs a meeting in Melbourne of the Australia/New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency. Mr Fontana outlined concern at:

      A TREND towards criminals making their own guns.
      THE RISK to the broader community from criminals shooting at each other.
      AN increase in the number of guns being turned up by police on routine patrols.
      WIDESPREAD thefts of firearms from farms.
      FAILURE of legitimate gun owners to secure their weapons against theft.

    • you forgot to mention the Filipinos. they can make anything you want. they also have an affinity towards the 1911

    • The only real problem is obtaining quality smokeless powder! Fucking Libtards always bring out the ingenuity in White men!

  3. Mother Jones won’t be happy until build parties, 3D printing, and the very laws of chemistry and physics are outlawed. Only then will they feel safe.

  4. Never realized how easy this was.

    Thanks Mother Jones, I’m going to build my own CA legal ak 47 (or 74) in the near future!

    Unintended consequences, FTW!

  5. Apparently he cut the receiver in half with a cutoff wheel and threw it in the trash. According to the ATF this is insufficient to be categorized as destruction of the weapon. They require a cutting torch be used in such a manner that it cuts no less than 1/4 inch wide, destroying material.
    So he illegally transferred a rifle to his garbage men.

    • Can we turn him in for firearms trafficing? I mean if a NYU student can be charged for airsoft rifles then certainly in ultra-lib Cali, this would result in him being stocked & rotten tomatoed…

    • Oh he also committed multiple felonies in California as well. Several people have reported him and I hope he gets to spend a few years in a cell to think over his hatred of gun owners.

        • Well he had a pistol grip and no bullet button. I’m not sure what the rest were, I skimmed a post on reddit about it yesterday.

        • Looked to me 922r for starters. It didn’t look like it was in “sporting” configuration to me. Chapter 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section 478.11 defines these SAWs. Specific examples of these features include:

          – High capacity (greater than 10 round for rifles, 5 rounds for shotgun) magazines
          – Pistol grip attachment
          – Folding buttstock
          – Muzzle device/attachment (to include a threaded barrel capable of receiving a device)
          – Bayonet lugs
          If your rifle or shotgun incorporates those features, it no longer is considered “suitable for sporting purposes”.

          Which leads me to Title 27 Chapter 1 Section 178.39(a) No person shall assemble a semiautomatic rifle or any shotgun using more than 10 of the imported parts listed in paragraph (c) of this section if the assembled firearm is prohibited from importation under section 925(d)(3) as not being particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes.

          He stated that he assembled this from a collection of parts he bought. These rules were made in 1968 just for a guy like this. If they are not going to enforce this law then what is the point of having any laws? Its funny to me that when a anti-gun tries to show some BIG loop hole in the gun laws they find out it is already covered with a law about 40 years ago. Just not enforced. Well I say lets start enforcing it with him to make an example that we are really serious about gun crimes.

        • 922r only applies when the receiver is foreign made. This is an “american-manufactured” gun so 922r has no bearing whatsoever. As far as the rest of CA laws, I’ve got better things to do than care about the laws of a 3rd rate, 3rd world state.

    • Did you see his eyes light up after firing the rifle for the first time? I bet he cut that receiver for mother jones then scheduled a spot in the next build party.

    • That was my first thought too. I would love to go to an AK build party!

      This whole video is really, really sad. In the way that its creator did not intend, though.

    • There are plenty of kits. Apex, Classic Firearms, etc.
      The build parties are usually centered around someone that owns the jigs to bend receiver flats, install rivets, and press in a barrel.
      Some folks use screws instead of rivets – but that’s not the preferred construction.
      You can also find a serialized receiver (FFL required) and skip the sheet metal bending exercise.

  7. About once a month? About once a month a home-built gun surfaces in crime is what he’s trying to say? Call me a skeptic…

    • Oh come on. 90% of Americans believe that a home-built gun surfaces at a crime scene about once a month.

      • me and 90% of America believe the 3d printed “liberator” is used in the majority of homicides. sarcasm off.

    • But quick ban it now because if what he says is true we can stop a whole 12 crimes a year. Its really for the children!
      /sarc

  8. Did anyone else see Athony Bourdain in Libya? The tour of the rebel museum should be a lesson for this dweeb and any other gun grabber (Moff Tarkin). At the start of the rebellion, they had a ballista mounted to a truck…. A friggin giant crossbow! By the end of the war… Helicopter rocket launchers, heavy machine guns, and ack-ack guns.

  9. I love how he had eye protection when cutting the gun up, but none when he actually shot it.

    I have to admit being surprised that they made the receiver at the build party. Didn’t realize it was that easy. Question though- assuming you live in a free state, can one legally make a firearm like this without filing some sort of paperwork? I thought that it was a Federal issue to have a firearm without a serial number.

    Sure you could make it, but if any cop ever inspected it and found no s/n, would thos be an issue?

    • All guns made after 68 have to have a serial #, and it can’t be modified in any way (this is a federal level felony iirc). I’d assume it’s illegal. Same with the plastic printed guns probably.

    • It’s perfectly legal as long as you make the gun and it’s only for your personal use. I’m not sure about needing a serial number but I think you don’t have to have one.

    • You can buy all the pre-drilled receiver flats you want at http://www.ak-builder.com Flats cost about $29. Two bends, then you have to put on the rails which come with the flat, usually by spot welding. Flats come pre-dimpled and you need to choose in advance if you’re building a 5.45 or 7.62 gun.

      Once you’ve bent it, and welded on the rails, you then have to heat it to about 1600 degrees and drop it in a bucket of water to harden the critical areas. A mapp gas torch works fine for this, or if you have a small electric ceramics furnace, you can pop them in there to heat up, then grab with tongs and drop into water. No biggy.

      Barreled parts kits with US made barrels are available from AK-builder.com as well as from other sources, which avoids needing to use a press to put the barrel assembly together (to get the gas port on it right.) also, barrels and gas ports are, at best, marginal fits, and frequently the barrel has to be knurled to get a tight fit. Buying a barreled kit avoids that. OTOH, you can certainly buy a kit that was imported before the ATF started requiring the barrels be torch cut before import.

      To date, no one has ever been prosecuted for violating 922(r).

      If you were a class 7 licensed FFL manufacturer, you would want to be careful about 922r. OTOH, if you’re an individual, someone would have to take your gun apart to prove 922r issues. I’ve never seen ATF doing gun tear downs at a range, and they would need a warrant anyway. 🙂

      I can’t speak to the (silly) California issue about bullet buttons(part of why I will never live there) , but since he was doubtless returning with the gun to his home in Colorado, it doesn’t seem like much of an issue…

      If you live in a free state, you can do this next week.

      And no, there is absolutely no atf requirement for you to serialize a gun you build -unless- you choose to sell it. Which you -can- do, unless you do it very often at which point you turn into a manufacturer and require an FFL

  10. I read the article when it came out. I love how they paint everyone at the build party as a felon attempting to circumvent the laws. More yellow journalism trying to drum up fear where it is not needed. Why go to a build party for a semi auto AK at a build party when you can go get one cheaper in the black market.

    • I didn’t note any anti-gun stuff in his video. He seemed very neutral the whole story.

    • Could be easily. US receiver, and probably FCG (3 parts), US barrel, and US muzzle device. There’s 6 parts, which is how many an AK needs. Maybe a US gas piston too.

      However, if he used the original Maadi FCG and muzzle device, no. Doubt he has the original barrel, unless that parts kit was imported before the 05 MG barrel ban.

      No mention of 922r or compliance is made in the article, so who the hell knows what parts he used.

  13. How naif that they’re fascinated by gun-making parties. If they really wanted to open Californian eyes they’d focus on all those people having criminal-making parties. One gang initiation will cause more havoc than ten hobby guns. Three baby mammas with no cash but the day’s drug money will make gang members like the Chinese make two dollar toys. Report that, oh my brave Mother Jones seeker after peace and freedom.

  14. He’ll be sorry he destroyed that AK in 4 years when the new Republican administration sics the IRS on his ass.

  15. Felony 1 – constructs an illegal assault weapon (mag lock not working the position he has it mounted)

    Felony 2 – transports illegal assault weapon

    Felony 3 – probable 922r violation

    Felony 4 – illegally disposes of illegal assault weapon

  16. Just FYI: almost all AKs are serialized in one way or another, even if the receiver is not serialized.

    The ATF considers an unassembled complete AK receiver to be the firearm – just like an AR. If you assemble a rifle using a serialized receiver, that is the serial number of that firearm, even if the front trunnion has a different number.

    However, many factory-produced AKs are only serialized on the front trunnion – this is then considered to be the serial number of the firearm. The same rule applies to kit-built AKs, even when assembled from an 80% or flat-built receiver.

    Only way you can really produce an unserialized AK is to scrub the serial from all parts, especially the front trunnion. When these parts are not yet assembled into a firearm, that is 100% legal.

    Add an unserialized receiver to scrubbed parts, now you have an unserialized AK. Remove the serial after assembly=bad legal times.

    Of course, the anti’s fears of “unregistered, untraceable” firearms are ALWAYS just a Dremel and five minute’s worth of time away. NO law can stop that.

    • Definitely has me wondering just what the milled Arsenal receivers have over the bent-flats variety. Also has me wondering if there are ready-to-run CAD/CAM designs out there which could be used to produce a milled AK receiver, as I know several folks who would likely let me run off a few on their CNC mills.

  19. Interesting. Is it just me or did he have a much bigger smile on his face after firing the rifle than when he destroyed the rifle?

    • Yep, I think his journey to the other side has started. I bet he’ll be attending another build party on his own time and dime.

      • Either that or he’ll redouble his disarmament efforts due to counter-doctrinal shame and self-loathing.

  20. Assembles a firearm from parts to show that a firearm can be assembled from parts. Provides video documentation, including discharge of said firearm.
    Opinion holds the firearm assembled as configured with pistol grip and readily detachable magazine to be illegal to possess under current laws.
    And thus proves how easily a person with non-criminal intent can become a criminal under law?
    Then renders a part of said firearm inoperable but fails to follow the laws governing the required manner for rendering part inoperable, then knowingly or not disposes of the parts in a manner which, under law constitutes an illegal transfer?
    The obvious question is, of course, did said firearm have a thingy that goes up?
    Just asking.

  21. It’s refreshing to actually see a gun control advocate who knows something about firearm mechanics.

  22. sounds like at least one liberal journalist got a decent education on the form and function of a gun. That should be required in all schools of journalism: Build your own AK/AR just so yo know a little bit about what they hell you’re talking about. It was a beautiful gun he built too.

  24. How? How can he fire such a beautiful piece of machinery and not come to love it? Seriously… freaking hoplophobes man.

  25. Personally I like the AK not only because of its somewhat better round and reliability but its ease of FA. Instead of getting an 80% flat pre-drilled receiver plate I got a pre-bent 80% receiver. It has the markings for the drill holes including for the auto-sear hole. It is nice how you can get parts kits with all the original parts 🙂 It sucks I got the receiver just before the craze and part-kits went up in cost and are hard to get 🙁 I still do not own an ak FAIL.

    I was thinking of trying to build a reinforced RPK like AK and making it 7.62X54R Now THAT would be a battle rifle! Then if/when WROL occurs make that baby select fire!

    Attention: Any and all FA conversions of new production guns is ILLEGAL. According to unconstitutional laws. Personal discretion is advised.

  26. The video article’s introduction is ripe with logical fallacies. It leads the uncritical mind to conclude that individuals making firearms that are not overseen and approved by the state as a bad thing.

    Neglected Aspect. The OVERWHELMING majority of murders committed in all of known human history has not been by the individual who rises up to “break the law”. It has been by those who have subverted their own individual morality to that of the collective, and who will murder to enforce the law.

    In assuming that regular people should get permission from the state to own or make their own firearms is akin to saying that the abused should go to the abuser for help.

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