German MG-42

J

joeranger

New member
Is it possible to buy a fully automatic mg-42 and then have it deactivated or does the person selling it have to deactivate it before they sell it. I did not see it on the list of ATF curio's and relics, so I assume it is still considered a machine gun.
Can you deactivate a machine gun?
 
A transferable MG-42 would be so expensive that it wouldn't be a feasible proposition to buy one just to have the owner dewat it before the sale. We're talking torch-cutting the receiver of a $20,000 weapon here.

You can't buy one legally from someone without doing a proper Form 4 transfer. I suppose you could spend the cash on a functioning MG-42 and fork over the $200 for a transfer, but it would be a singular waste of money to dewat it after the purchase.

There are MG-42s with dummy receivers on the market that are not considered firearms. That would be the easiest and cheapest way to go.
 
:eek:

If you get your hands on a fully automatic, legally obtained MG-42 and demill it; I will stick my foot so far up your ...... You get the point.

I've never seen demilled MG-42's for sale; but I know there quite a few other WWII relics that are around the $300-$600 range for a demilled weapon (I will never understand why people spend money on them)
 
Just to make sure everyone is on the same page here, demilling and deactivating are two entirely different things in the eyes of the BATFE.

Demilling- Rendering permanently inoperable the receiver of the weapon. Usually done by welding or cutting.

Deactivating- Making a firearm unable to be operated, but it can be readily restored to firing condition. Sometimes this was done by doing nothing more than welding a plug in the barrel. These are also known as DEWATS (DEactivated WAr TrophyS)

I suppose you could deactivate a machinegun, but that would be utterly pointless. Kinda like buying a Ferrari and then melting down the engine for scrap...
 
If you get your hands on a fully automatic, legally obtained MG-42 and demill it; I will stick my foot so far up your ...... You get the point.
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I understand your point and agree what a waste it would be, but I can't legally own a full auto weapon, so i am looking for a legal way to purchase and own it. I now belongs to a private collector and I have right of first refusal.
 
I am looking into getting a class 3, the ATF was no help. They basically said that the laws in Ill are so strict that they never get involved in firearm issues.
 
Re-read Marko's post as well as VUPDBlue's.

Now do it once more.

Marko's numbers are a little of on the current value of a transferable MG42 (more in the range of $40k+ for one), but he's got the right idea. If your intent is to have a legal and functional full-auto MG42, there's no way to get around the registration process. You can't have it cut and then re-build it. You could set up a corporation in a neighboring NFA friendly state and purchase it as a corporate asset in that state, but you'd not be able to bring it back into IL. If you can't get it legally, don't cut it. Leave it alone for someone who can legally own it, enjoy it, keep it running, and keep it as it should be.

If you just want to have a non-functional display, then buy a dummy gun from BRP Corp. Similarly, if you want a semi-auto MG42, but one from BRP Corp. www.brpguns.com

DO NOT cut a live, registered, and legal MG42. They are rare, expensive, and highly coveted by collectors. Do not destroy a fantastic piece of history. I was once told by Bob 'Bubba' Naess (probably the foremost expert on MG42's and German machineguns in the US) not to even refinish a true uncut C&R MG42. FWIW, I own one. Mine was made in Berlin about 1943 and (according to the prior owner) brought back to the US by a GI during WWII who later registered it in the 1968 amnesty. When I look at each scrape in the finish, each nick in the metal, every ding in the wood, I have to wonder about the prior (German) owners, the American GI who took it and carried it back to the US and the service it saw before it came to my hands.

To cut one up simply so you could have a display would only be a monumental display of your ignorance. As stated in an earlier post, it would be like buying a classic Ferrari and melting down the engine because you couldn't get a drivers license, or coloring in a Picasso with crayons because it didn't quite match the color scheme of your Lazy-Boy. Once destroyed, an MG42 would be irreversibly removed from the NFA registry and cannot be re-registered, re-built, and put back on the registry later.
 
Deactive/Dewat

Taking a live registered machine gun and deactivating it for display is the least cost effective thing you can do. Many of us consider these guns as historical artifacts. So not only is it stupid for monetary reasons, it is repugnant to those of us with a sense of history.

Dummy guns are available at a tiny fraction of the cost of a live legal historical machinegun. Some are made with original machine gun parts.

If you have a burning desire to turn a $40,000 piece of history into an $800 piece of metal sculpture (and horribly over priced at that), well, this is the USA, and if you have the money to waste, you can do it. Just don't expect anyone here to thank you for it.

If you are interested, I have a semi-auto Ruger 10/22 that looks looks an MG 42. May be we could deal?
 
MG 42 Newbe Question

Hello To all! I have just joined and really am interested in finding out what it would take, Financially and legally to own an authentic German MG 42. Not the DummyB/S!! but the actuall German MG 42. Are they impossible to find practicly and or own??

I have seen the American living history re-inactors ( I believe one or two of them portraying the german SS units have authentic Firing 1200 round siclic MG42 Units) Not Propane gas one's and also have seen on the histrory channel as well as the military channel, privot owners having them. Please if anyone can direct me in the right direction as far as cost go's and Licensing go's and where to purchase one it would be greatly appreciated . Respectively Eric
 
Hello To all! I have just joined and really am interested in finding out what it would take, Financially and legally to own an authentic German MG 42. Not the DummyB/S!! but the actuall German MG 42. Are they impossible to find practicly and or own??
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All this was discussed in above posts. A Legal full auto MG-42 goes for about $40,000, plus the $200 federal tax stamp. You will have to do the Federal paper work then try to find a person willing to part with their MG-42. That is the rub, the paper work and all that is easy, the issue is finding a person who owns a legal one that is willing to part with it. I know one guy that bought his in the early 1970s for a several hundred dollars. Now it is worth at least $40,000 with all accessories he as bought for it. He has said he will never sell it while he is alive. He has no family so after he passes it will go the NRA museum.


Can you deactivate a machine gun?
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Yes, but the ATF will still consider it a Machine gun. It has to be demilled which means it is destroyed.
 
Arabia hit the nail on the head - about $40,000 although in the current economy you might find a slightly better deal from a motivated seller... but don't count on it. Honestly, my MG42 would probably be the last gun I would ever sell and even if I did I'd want a lot more than $40,000. If you do get one, I'd allow at least a few thousand dollars extra for spare parts, barrels, belt loader, belts, a proper mount (the cheap AA mounts are fun, but not a good firing platform for the weapon), Folke Myrvang's book on the MG34 and 42, and PLENTY of good, recent manufacture ammo. Personally, I get real nervous when my stocks of 308 dip below 20,000rds.

If you don't find the above numbers too shocking and you're still serious about getting a live MG42, PM me - I can give you some more pointers and put you in touch with a couple class 3 dealers who may have one in the $40k range.
 
There are no more DEWATS; that program ended about 1965. The 1968 law required registration of all machinegun, deactivated or not. As of today, ALL, repeat ALL, machineguns, operational or not, other than those with receivers torch cut per BATFE specs, must be on the registry and must be transferred the same way. Machineguns registered as "unserviceable" in the 1968 amnesty (mainly DEWATS) are registered and if still deactivated may be "opened up" with payment of a $200 tax. (The 1986 law closed the registry to individual ownership, but if a DEWAT was registered in 1968, it is registered.)

So, if someone chooses to buy a machinegun, he will pay the same tax and do the same paperwork for a DEWAT as for a live gun. And for the most part, he will pay the same price unless the gun is really messed up.

Jim
 
the MG-42 is one of many firearms i have on my TRY IT BEFORE I DIE LIST. i would love to have the pleasure of handling and also firing a belt or 2 of live ammo through one.
 
I am one of the fortunate few who owns a 100% original C&R MG-42, and you are fellows are right to point out the extreme folly in destroying one of the few remaining working MG-42's. Obtaining a titled, original MG-42 is a mixture of sheer luck in finding one that is available, and having enough money to afford it at the same time it is located. Often, as in my case, a fellow collector has to die before one becomes available. The experience of shooting the MG-42 on bipod or lafette mount is shared with as many people as are available when it is taken to the range. Soon ammo costs will drive an already rare experience into near extinction. I have only a small pile of 8mm ammunition left, and will have to ration it carefully so that me and my friends can have a few special occasion shoots for a few years to come.
 

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that looks sooo sweeeeet. hows that shooting? what rate of fire do you have it normally set for? does it really sound like someone ripping a sheet when you fire it? i heard they have an adjustment for high rate and a low rate. is this right?
 
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