Chances are, if you've been in the military surplus collecting community, you've seen parts kits advertised in some form or another. Typically seen as a pile of torch cut scrap metal at first glace, parts kits are a niche in the surplus collecting and shooting community. You may be wondering why people even buy these defiled guns, torn apart by some sinister evil wielding an oxy torch and shoved into a torn cardboard box to further its humiliation. The answer to that question is not exactly clean cut, much like the parts kits themselves, and involves a lot of government bureaucracy and a look at the Global Arms Trade.
The National Firearms Act and Gun Control Act
In 1934, the National Firearms Act was passed by Congress in direct response to the gangster era of Prohibition and an indirect response to the attempted assasination of then US President FDR. Introduced by Doughton (D-NC), the original writing of the act was an attempt to effectively ban handguns from civilian use due to their "concealability". This created the category of SBR's and SBS's as a pursuit to put an excise tax on civilians trying to circumvent the ban. Luckily the handgun ban never happened but the SBS and SBR restrictions stayed. At the same time, machine guns were now subject to a $200 excise tax and registration with the NFRTR - equivalent to $4547.35 at the time of writing in 2023. This tax was due upon purchase or transfer of the machine gun in commerce. Unfortunately, with the stroke of a pen, this effectively priced many US citizens out of machine gun ownership; a 1929 Stoeger catalog lists a Thompson with a Cutt's compensator at $200, the excise tax required just five years later effectively doubled the cost of the gun. However, this Act did nothing to hamper the ability of citizens to add machine guns to the NFA registry and import machine guns into the United States. Many machine guns brought home by veterans of WW1 were added to the registry and are still in circulation today.
Hughes, Title 18, and the Global Arms Trade
The BATFE is the gun community's Boogeyman, no doubt about it. As a Federal Firearms Licensee myself, I am constantly triple checking every inch of my business and paperwork to stay in compliance with the ever changing legislation and keep my livelihood from being shut down. You may see the news articles of shops being inspected by the BATFE and IRS, looking for discrepancies in records and revoking licenses for paperwork errors. Luckily there can only be one inspection by the BATFE per 12 month period, leaving shop owners more time to focus on their business and customers. However this wasn't always the case. In the early 1980's, many shop owners were being harrassed and repeatedly inspected by the newly formed BATFE to the point where it was an intrusion on daily operations. In 1986 the Firearms Owner Protection Act was introduced to the Senate by McClure (R-ID) in an attempt to curb Federal overreach and help loosen restrictions for the average citizen and business owner. Unfortunately, Hughes (D-NJ) introduced amendments to the FOPA effectively ending the ability of citizens to register new machine guns with the NFA. The amendment was voted on, passed, and the whole Act signed into law by Ronald Reagan. On May 19, 1986 Title 18 of the United States Code was updated and now there was a set amount of machine guns in the US legal for the average citizen to own. But the importation, use, and possession of these automatic guns was not restricted in any sense for Federal and State Agencies - the government and police can own whatever they want and you can't now. As a side effect of this Amendment and changes to Title 18, the parts kit market was born.
After the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1991, and leading up to it, the newly formed Russian Federation was eager to get Western Money. After all, the country was essentially broke and needed to ramp up it's own economy to compete on the global market. Most of the Eastern Bloc was in the same situation and looking for an answer. The Soviet Arms Doctrine during the Cold War led to a massive stockpile of firearms; everything captured during World War 2 along with their own generational arms from having a 14 million man standing army was tucked away in arsenals ready for a call to action. That call never came luckily and now everyone saw dollar signs. The Federal and State agencies of the US weren't going to buy massive amounts of WW2 subguns and AKM's from the 1960's, and machine guns couldn't be imported for civilian use anymore, so how could they make money? The world was generally at peace and foreign buyers weren't really looking to gear up. The US civilian is the largest consumer of firearms and ammunition outside of military use and tapping into that market would be a life line - Americans love the unobtainable and now that the USSR was done it was time to cash in. Their solution? Follow the BATFE's own destruction guidelines turning what was once a civilian prohibited MG into a parts kit while at the same time ending it's life as a firearm in the eyes of the law. This opened up a whole new world of possibilities.
The Unobtainable Now Within Reach
MP40's, StG-44's, AKM's, MG-42's, 1919A4's - the list of parts kits flowing into the country exploded. The Global Arms Trade found a new buyer, besides eternal hot spots of conflict, for what was considered otherwise undesirable for sale abroad in the 80's to today. Combined with the massive realignment of allies in the wake of Soviet dissolution and changes by their respective military forces, arsenals were cleaned out to make way for new materiel and updated calibers. Firearms that were otherwise out of reach for the average citizen were now arriving to retailers and distributors in the form of parts kits. A whole cottage industry was born at the same time. One man shops reverse engineering the receiver scraps to manufacture new receivers, retailers sourcing all of the accessories to go with these kits, and manufacturer FFL's opening the doors to build these new kits for sale. Civilians in the US, barring any state and prohibited possessor restrictions, are within their legal 2nd amendment right to build their own firearm for personal use as long as it isn't a machine gun subject to the NFA (all of the other NFA restrictions apply and require filing for the appropriate excise tax). These parts kits were now the DIYer's dream - build your own semi automatic PPSh-41 in your garage and be the envy of all of your shooting pals. Most of these early parts kits were saw cut and still included original barrels meaning they were easy to build and the end user didn't have to spend much to have a new range toy, mostly due to economy of scale.
On July 13, 2005 The BATFE wrote an open letter to all FFL's in the US stating that the importation of barrels for firearms not deemed to have sporting value, this term being a key factor of the 1968 GCA, or otherwise prohibited was over. Form 6's would no longer be approved under the "repair or replacement" clause and the days of parts kits with original barrels was over effective September 10, 2005. Title 18 was once again amended against the average US citizen not only with the end of barrels but also with the introduction of provision R in section 922. This provision made it a crime to create a rifle or shotgun that was a facsimile of a firearm otherwise prohibited from import using more than a proscribed amount of imported parts. Once again, none of these changes took effect against Federal or State agencies and the US civilian bore the weight of regulation. It would seem that the parts kit market was going to dissolve and become another closed chapter in American Firearms Culture. It didn't. More domestic manufacturers geared up and started turning barrels, making small parts, magazines, and other required parts. The originally unobtainable was still within reach.
Destruction Diagrams and the Market Today
Saw cut parts kits today are incredibly sought after and go for premiums that can be eye wateringly high. They haven't met the oxy torch and, for the most part, are in as original condition as is possible. In the past this was the normal destruction procedure as outlined by the BATFE. Simply run the receiver of whatever firearm you're destroying into a band saw or cutting disk of an angle grinder and it is no longer a firearm. That makes sense, wouldn't you agree? Its no longer capable of firing - its in pieces! Somewhere along the way, unfortunately, the destruction standards were changed due to a saw cut being "readily repaired" and the torch cutting standard came about. Three cuts are to be made across the receiver with a minimum of 1/4" of material displaced, with most styles of firearms having their own respective cut locations outlined by the BATFE. It's this style of destruction, required by the BATFE, that can make people question their fellow collector's sanity - who would buy some cut up chunks of steel and wood thrown in a bag? The answer has always been to have the otherwise unobtainable. A military surplus parts kit is the closest most average citizens will ever get, barring some very good financial planning, to having their own example of a firearm that is prohibited from import or NFA registration due to the restrictions of the last 90 years. It is a fun and exciting project to create a semi automatic firearm, following all legal practices, from a pile of parts that is otherwise overlooked when laid out on a gun show table. It's a chance to recreate and own a piece of history that you, personally, resurrected like a Phoenix from the ashes.
At the time of writing in 2023, the parts kit market is once again facing tighter restrictions at the Federal and State level. And, as always, none of these restrictions have any effect on Federal and State agencies. In the past three years the term "Ghost Gun" has been used ad nauseum to define a firearm made by a private citizen exercising their Constitutional Right. Its a buzzword that has sadly gained traction among the mainstream media and created the basis for even more legislation working against the citizens of the United States. There have been redefinitions of terms such as "frame", "receiver", "gunsmith", and other ludicrous tactics to further hamper the firearms community. There have been States mulling the need of NICS checks to buy 3D printers. There is a clear and recognizable pattern over the last 90 years of restrictions only getting tighter. Parts kits might not be a closed chapter today but who knows where the community will be in the next 5, 10, or 15 years. At the same time as these restrictions are creeping closer, there has been a volume of high quality and highly sought after parts kits arriving on the market. Many original Russian AKM, Maddi, StGw-57, and more are coming in to the country and would be the crown jewels of many collections. With all of the restrictions of the past 90 years combined with the ever present influence of media on politics, how long will these kits be available on the market?
