There's practically no way around the darned regulations - - -
The only legal - -that is, transferable - - auto sears are those manufactured and serially numbered in pre-ban days. There was a time when you could take the old ones, complete the paperwork to manufacture a machine gun, and have an AR15 or an HK transformed thereby. The sear became part of the gun, etc.
Then came the ban - - NO NEW TRANSFERABLE FULL AUTOS. The numbered and registered "drop in" auto sears became machine guns in their own right, and what used to be a, what? - $50 part, was now worth thousands. Many thousands, in some cases.
UnforgivenII, you write - -
I know I can buy a pre '81 DIAS and it won't be considered a machine gun but all those manufactured after would in fact be considered machine guns.
I'd be very careful about the first part - - If you have the unnumbered DIAS and a gun in which it'll fit, you do possess a machine gun, assembled or not.
I know of a couple of guys who paid big bucks for an HK auto sear, once they got the Forms 4 in order, and were able to switch it back and forth between, say, an HK91, and HK93, and an HK94. One guy even got the paperwork done to legally chop back his '94 to MP5 dimensions. So, with the sear in place, he has a working MP5, and when he moves it over to his HK91 (making it, in effect, a G3,) his HK94, a registered short barrelled rifle (SBR), is, in effect, a semi-only MP5 carbine.
And now, I understand, there are more and better restrictions on that sort of activity, but those who had the swap-out kits all legally assembled previously are still legal.
My personal knowledge of this arcane suff is rather limited, I fear. I know I would NOT purchase a numbered DIAS without proper papers - - I might just as well buy an complete, unregistered, machine gun, and
THAT I'll not do. And, therefore, I want no part of an unnumbered AS, not for any price. If a private individual offered me a DIAS which was ostensibly properly documented, I'd go to a proper machine gun dealer and have him inspect everything, and pay his fee, before I dropped any money on it. There are just too many ins and outs where you can run afoul of the regulations, in perfect good faith.
The BATFE, like 'em or not, like their regs or not, pretty well hold the trump cards on anything to do with this type firearms.
I don't like the regs, not the National Firearms Act of 1934, nor any of the later modifications and bans and such. I'd like to see them all made null and void. But I simply don't have the money to hire lawyers to fight all these fights, so I go with the laws (and cursed regulations) as they stand.
I've found that the BATFE is pretty easy to get along with, so long as you agree to follow their rules. If you say, "Okay, I'm ready to spend my money and my time, and jump through all the hoops and conform to these regs," then they'll work with you so you can own any machine gun you can afford. Let's don't talk about artifically inflated prices for what should be common guns. And, as for discussing the neat NEW guns that you and I can't buy for ANY price, because there are simply no transferable examples in the US - - It is futile and frustrating.
For at least the time being, there are a finite number of transferable MP5s and M16s and Bren Guns. These are kind of like real estate in downtown Dallas - - A limited commodity, and no more are (is) being made. You can buy a building site, but every one of them is already owned, so you have to (1) Find one for sale, (2) Have lots of money, and (3) Pay the applicable taxes. Same way with emma gees.
I fear I haven't furnished much helpful information to you,
UnforgivenII, but I need to do a mild rant occasionally. Sorry 'bout that.
Best regards,
Johnny