Hello,
i have a question , how does the law look at
pre 89 ARs , the trigger group and bolt carrier .wasnt most of them M16 parts . i read somewhere that if you have just one M16 part then it is considered a m16 , but there must be thousands of these rifles out there in the public.
Thanks to all that reply

TargetShooter2

Yes there are , I bought a PCR 00 from Oly Arms a couple weeks ago , it had a preban barrel and upper receiver on it , the only way I knew was I was out shooting with a Aarmorer buddy from FT lewis and he took one look at it and told me the barrel assembly und upper receiver ( But not the bolt carrier and the bayonet lug was milled off !) was from a production overrun from Colt , it has a 1/7 twist and the barrel is chrome lined . He says you can see the same barrel markings on first run M16A2s and is quite a tack driver with SS109 ammo but not so good with M855 nato ammo . So if you run across one don't sweat it , ATF has other things to do .

man... so much mis-information out there.
 
First, there was no ban on US made AR15s in 1989.  The 1989 ban was an import ban.  An AR15 should not have any M16 parts in it.  Some very early guns had M16 trigger group parts.  No big deal to modify these to AR15 configuration using a dremel tool.  

Mortech:  There is no such thing as a preban barrel or upper receiver on an AR.  A barrel is a barrel.  Neither your upper or barrel are considered M16 parts.  Nor are they pre-ban or post-ban.  That's like saying your hand guards are an M16 part... or a preban part.  Now if the front sight had the bayo lug on it the lug itself shouldn't be on a postban.  Many manufacturers ground the ears off or the ground the lug down all together.  And contrary to what Mortech says, if you have some M16 parts in your AR do change them out or modify them.  Sure ATF probably won't burn your house down but it can get you in hot water.

There actually is a 1989 ban on AR's - but only in California, where the AR-15 is banned by name (unless previously owned, and registered as an 'assault weapon').