Counting Parts for 922(r)

See also: Sporting vs Non-Sporting Firearms

The United States has a lovely bit of import law, Title 18 USC § 922(r), which prevents most of the more interesting rifle designs from being directly imported into the US. The import regulations are commonly referred to as "922(r)" in gun circles.

In order to legally build a non-sporting rifle out of a parts kit (or modify a 'sporting' rifle to include 'non-sporting' features), no more than 10 imported parts may remain in the final product. This is generally done by replacing foreign-made parts with domestically-built parts.

When you Don't Bother with 922(r)

• 922(r) does not apply to NFA items. If you do the paperwork to turn a legal weapon into an SBR or AOW, you no longer have to worry about parts count.

922(r), magazines, and constructive possession

TheDrickel, of Calguns, has pointed out to me a very favorable letter from BATFE. The letter in question is scanned in as two pages (page 1 and page 2). In this letter, it is stated that constructive possession does not apply to magazines, when using magazine parts in order to achieve 922(r) compliance. This is very nice, because conventional wisdom in the past has been that if your rifle needs US-made magazine parts in order to be 922(r) compliant, that you had to convert ALL your magazines to have the same number of domestically built parts in order for it to count.

Generic 922(r) Checklist

Note: This checklist is generic, and contains all the parts which 922(r) is concerned with. TGW has specific checklists for certain types of rifles. If you happen to have one of those rifles, you should consult the rifle-specific checklist instead of this generic one.

The specific pages are:

• AK Family rifles
• FAL Rifles
• G3/CETME Rifles
• Saiga Rifles (Yes, they're really AK's, but I've had more than one person get confused)
• SKS Rifles

The sum of all the check boxes in the form below will automatically add themselves up as you click and unclick them. This allows you to easily consider how to bring your rifle into 922(r) compliance with non-sporting features by providing you with a component count. Bear in mind that not all rifles actually have all of the parts on this list - for instance, the AK-47 combines the operating rod and gas piston into one component. If your goal is to render a rifle 922(r) compliant, it is essential that you have an ATF-approved list of the counted parts for the rifle in question.

The list of parts which 922(r) counts is:

	Part
	Receiver
	Barrel
	Barrel extensions
	Mounting block (front trunion)
	Muzzle attachment
	Bolt
	Bolt carrier
	Operating rods (cocking handle)
	Gas piston
	Trigger housing
	Trigger
	Hammer
	Sear
	Disconnector
	Buttstock
	Pistol grip
	Forearm, handguard
	Magazine body
	Follower
	Floorplate

TOTAL IMPORTED PARTS COUNT:

-- SeanNewton - 17 Jun 2007