I am trying to learn more about how you can legally own MG’s. Is there any other way besides buying a pre 86 MG or becoming a business and a FFL and paying for a SOT to get post 86 samples.

I remember hearing something once about a FFL/ SOT reassembling or rewelding MG receivers that had been torch cut to ATF specs. Can regular citizens own / buy them or only a SOT? If I have something wrong please explain it to me.

Thank in advance for the help.

A post-'86 manufactured machinegun may be owned as an asset of a corporation.

I leave the rest of the research to you.

I think you mean a pre-86 manufactured machinegun.  Post 86 would require the SOT/FFL.

Can't believe I made it before "join the military"... So.. join the military.

You can own one by committing a felony. I dont advise this (nor am I suggesting it).

Yeah, I don't think that counts.  Though I did enjoy the time she was assigned to me...

You could always try and find one of those "whole town for sale" real estate deals, purchase the entire town and install yourself as Chief of Police.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/real-estate/2017/09/06/chance-buy-whole-town-south-dallas

Your one man department could then technically buy a post sample machinegun(s).

Unfortunately there are no financial shortcuts in this game.   For 99% of the general population the cheapest/easiest option is to buy a transferable gun for ~$5K to $50K.

For the other 1% there is the FFL/SOT route, which affords reduced cost pre-samples in limited numbers, and cheap post samples that you never really fully "own" in the traditional sense given all of the restrictions and licensing requirements.

Well done!

Search "transferable machin gun" and "NFA".

Read and learn and hopefully have the money to enjoy!

One could always move to another country with different laws. No NFA. No pre-'86 thing. Maybe some other regulations, though.

Best idea I have found so far.  Make friends with people who own MGs.

+1 transferables.

That’s the same strategy I have with lake erie fishing boats and good hunting dogs!  Unfortunately I still don’t have any friends with any....

You really have 3 options:

Transferable - MGs manufacturered and registered with the ATF prior to may 19th 1986. Entry level is around $6k for a cheap subgun, $10-30k will get you most assault rifles like a AK, M16, HK, etc... and the fun belt feds start around $35k and go all the way up to $100k+

Pre-86 Dealer Samples: You must have a FFl/SOT dealer license to buy these but if you dont renew your license you can keep them as a civilian. The selection of these are limited and as a rough rule of thump they are maybe 1/2 the cost of transferable MGs.

Post-86 Dealer Samples: You must have a FFl/SOT dealer license to buy these. You will be able to buy brand new MGs are dealer cost, however the catch is you must be a legit business and you need to have a law letter, which is a signed letter from a CLEO that says you are demonstrating a MG they are interested in buying. Easy if you live in a rural pro 2A community and you are buddies with the Sherriff. Not so easy if you live in a liberal urban area and have no LE contacts. You can get non-law letter MGs which become available when a dealer goes out of business, the catch is they usually sell for a bit more than MSRP and the selection is limited. Finding a M16 this way is easy, finding a beltfed or other specialty firearm will be much more difficult. You will also have to pay $500 a year to do this.

You can also do a FFL/SOT manufacturing license but it is a lot more expensive to maintain, i believe its $1000. You also have to have the skills and tools to make your own MGs, you cant buy existing MGs. Easy if youre making a M16 from a semi-auto lower, bit different if youre trying to make a 240B which requires you to rivet, weld, and do a variety of other things most people dont know how to do.

IMO if you just want to buy 1 or 2 common MGs go the transferable route. Personally I work a 50+ hour a week job and make it to the range a few times a year. i barely have time to shoot the two MGs I own, let alone dozens of them. I also dont have time to run a part time business on the side just so I can have a large collection of MGs. And instead of paying $500-1000 a year to basically "rent" post sample MGs my transferable go up in value by that much each year, its like being paid to shoot them!

But if you are dreaming of having a walk in safe full of MGs, and running a little side business is your passion then a FFL/SOT is probably the way to go.

I believe you could get some by opening a DoE approved Nuclear Power Plant too. Seems like a lot of trouble though...

Buy a private island in international waters
Create your own country
(probably easier than starting a DoE nuke plant)

To buy no law letter post samples you actually need to fall into the later manufacturer category you mentioned.

"Dealers" aka FFL01/03s are not eligible to buy no law letter "going out of business" post sample.  You need to be either a "manufacturer" or an "importer" such as  07/02, 08/01, 10/02, or I believe an 11/01.

My understanding is that the more common guns (like HK sears, and M16) are more popular with the importers who can buy no law letter samples but cannot "make their own" like an 07/02 could.  Other guns like factory G18s, M249s, etc. are appealing to both manufacturers and imports who wants a factory example vs. conversions.

If no law letter posties were available to 01/03s they would probably command pricing more in line with Pre-Samples.

You don't have to control a DoE nuke plant. Just win the contract to provide security for one, and your security firm can have post-86 MGs for the duration of the contract period.

Live in a Foreign Trade Zone (or at least have a business there) to contain your toys "technically" outside of the U.S. (but physically located by a U.S. port).

Be an employee of a government agency and obtain CLEO (or agency head) approval to buy whatever you want (for official use) and register it to the agency. No restrictions, no taxes, no SOT renewal, no 5320.20 for interstate travel, and expedited transfers. If you can obtain delegation for CLEO signature/authority, even better. It could be better than being the actual CLEO depending upon your level of job security. CLEO positions are always political.

I didn't realize that. Kind of makes getting a FFL/SOT dealer license pointless unless you have a contact in LE who will give you the letters.

I would agree that if your hypothetical goal/aspirations is to collect a stable of post-sample machineguns than the 01/03 route is certainly the much tougher row to hoe, especially if you don't have LE contacts for love letters.  

That said, manufacturer licenses come with additional zoning and compliance hurdles to jump over and there is the ever present ~$2000 annual "ITAR" registration fee hanging over your head that you may or may not be forced to pay.

If you look at a site like fflgeolocator and you can see how many dealers vs manufacturers vs importers vs DD manufacturers there are out there.   I presume most of this FFl type distribution is zoning, compliance, and license cost based.  

If FFL types  were all the same cost and effort than everybody might as well get the gold standard license which is the 10/02 (manufacturer of destructive devices) which pretty much lets you buy and build whatever you want.  The big downside is that the type 10 license is the FFL fee is $3K, plus SOT, plus ITAR so it gets up there in cost in a hurry.  Some folks do it though even if they have no real DD business.   Around the corner from me is JJFU who is a Type-10/02 and to the best of my knowledge has no real legitimate Type-10, DD business.  However, I suspect the owner has plenty of disposable income.....so why not.

Many folks can easily get an 01 FFL out of their house if zoning permits it and for many 01 holders its worth the $500 SOT fee to be able to do higher margin NFA transfers along with the side benefit of being able to get pre-sample machineguns at reduced costs as well as other NFA firearms like silencers, SBRs, etc. on a tax free and much faster transfer time Form 3 transfer.

In my mind if you have any interest in NFA firearms and already have an 01 FFL, paying the $500 fee for the SOT seems like a no brainer to me.  It takes less than 1 NFA transfer a month at current market NFA transfer fee rates to break even on the SOT fee.

If the BATFE offered individuals a $500 annual "Expedite Fee"  where my F4s/F1s were processed on the same sub 30 day timeline as a Form 3 (and I still paid the $200 taxes) I would highly consider it.

From what I've seen, contract awards are even more political than CLEO appointments.  That said, both take place "In the Room Where It Happens".  [Ref, the musical "Hamilton"].

MHO, YMMV, etc.