Okay im confused.

What EXACTLY is a zip gun?  I know they are illegal.....but why is it legal for you to make a gun from an 80 percent lower?

Can you make a gun from a 0% receiver as long as it doesnt violate any NFA laws?

are you familiar with the "Build it yourself" forums?

Or the "Legal" forum?


They answer these question there.

You are in GD where you will get answers much faster....but also less accurate.

SGat1r5

tagged so I can know what a zip gun is

Quoted: tagged so I can know what a zip gun is

A zip gun is basically any gun you make out of whatever parts you find that will fire one round.

Kind of like sticking a shotgun shell in a pipe, and that pipe in another pipe with a nail.

Sgatr15

PS  Do NOT make a "zip gun" as they are ILLEGAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS Do NOT make a "zip gun" as they are ILLEGAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But why?????

If making one  from a zero percent lower isnt illegal why is making one from "laying around parts" illegal?  Doesnt that contradict itself?

A zipgun ends up falling into Class III territory (AOW, if I'm not mistaken), because of it's design/function.

If you want to take the time to build something that looks and functions like a normal firearm, then you are building a normal firearm (as long as you aren't building full-auto, SBR, etc).  Building a (non-NFA) firearm for your own use, is legal.  The BATF website has a FAQ page that gives some info on the subject.

Quoted:  Do NOT make a "zip gun" as they are ILLEGAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If an individual went through the paperwork hassles and paid the tax to register the zip gun as an NFA weapon (before beginning construction), wouldn't it then be legal?  A lot of trouble and expense for a gun that probably cost less than $10 in materials, and is probably just as likely to blow up as it is to fire, but some people get the idea that they just have to have the oddest things.

I seem to recall a magazine article (from the days long before the AWB) about a company that was making and selling pen guns as registered NFA items.  A lot of money for something that was almost absolutely useless, but they apparently found a few people that 'just had to have one'.

"zip' gun"


a homemade pistol, typically consisting of a metal tube taped to a wooden stock and firing a .22-caliber bullet.

I believe that several companies are currently selling pen guns. I somewhat remember seeing an ad in Shotgun News that had one advertised by Lauer Weapons, the makers of DuraCoat along with some of their supressed  stuff. An expensive conversation piece.
Rich