lucky34

Were there ever any M2 GI Carbines that were not fully auto? A friend has asked me for help in finding the value of several guns left in his parents' estate. One looks like an ordinary M1 Carbine, but is designated M2 on the receiver ring. The stock has a slight recess at the left side of the receiver where I believe a selector switch would be. . . there is no such switch. The bbl is stamped with "INLAND MFG DIV GENERAL MOTORS and the date 5-45," and the receiver is stamped "INLAND DIV and the serial no." Could this gun have been made from parts of other carbines?
Is the receiver of an M2 different than that of the M1? Can it be fully auto without the switch? If this gun is not registered i.e. there is no paperwork making it legal to own, what is the process for acquiring such authorization? . . . . ANYBODY?

ANY INFO IS APPRECIATED. . . AND THANKS!

dfariswheel

Some M2 carbine receivers were possibly not assembled into full-auto rifles, but not many, since the full-auto carbine was very much in demand in Korea and Vietnam.

Most M2 Carbines were Inland, made in 1945.
It's almost certainly not a parts gun, and unfortunately, it's worth a LOT of money.
I say "unfortunately" because........

Now the bad news.
The M2 Carbine receiver is exactly like the M1 carbine receiver. The ONLY difference is the "M2" stamp instead of the "M1" stamp.

The bad news is, as far as the US government is concerned, "Once a machine gun, ALWAYS a machine gun".
This means that even if ALL you have is just the bare receiver, no bolt, no barrel, no trigger assembly, it's STILL a machine gun and is illegal.

It CANNOT be "unmade" or in any way made legal. It makes NO difference if the receiver is assembled as a semi-auto, the Feds still consider it a machine gun.

There is NO way around this.

If the receiver was never registered, it CANNOT BE registered now.
Years ago, the ATF had a "grace period" during which full-autos could be registered, but this period is long since past, and the AFT will NOT allow you to register one now.
Not fair, but that's the way it is.

In your case, you're only option is to contact the ATF and make arrangements to surrender the receiver.
This is not a big deal, and no one is going to kick your door down.
Now that a lot of old Vets are passing on, their kids are opening footlockers and duffel bags and finding all sorts of ordnance and weapons.
The AFT is fully aware of this and don't make a big production out of complying with the law by surrendering it.

If you feel uncomfortable doing this personally, ask your lawyer to handle it for you.

DO NOT listen to any advice saying to just shut up and just keep it, or to grind the "2" off the receiver and keep it.
This is ILLEGAL and if caught, a Federal prosecutor will very happily get you 10 years in Federal prison for illegal possession of a machine gun.

What you CAN do before turning it in, is to strip all the parts, including the barrel off and either sell them, or buy a surplus receiver and have a gunsmith assemble you a new carbine.

You need to VERY CAREFULLY explain all this to your friend.
This is NOT a joking matter, and the Federal government takes this quite seriously.
To be clear: Unless the rifle was registered, it can ONLY be turned in to the ATF. There is NO way he can legally keep it, and attempting to do so will land him in jail for some hard time.

rhm0351

A family friend in Houston, who was a Ranger in WW2 and eventually retired from Houston PD has two M2s in his gun cabinet that are converted to semi-auto, as well. He has the parts sitting next to them to return them to full-auto. He says he swapped a guy in the parking lot of the Houston gun show in the 1960s a Thompson SMG for the two M2s because he liked their lighter weight more.
-R

dfariswheel

If found out, he'll be saying "Hello" to his new husband "Bubba" in the Federal lockup.

Federal and State prosecutors take great pleasure in hammering people with illegal automatic weapons.

You haven't done him any favors either.
If you've stated it right, how hard do you think a law enforcement officer reading this would have tracking him down?
How many retired PD WWII Rangers worked in Houston?

rhm0351

Thanks. Neither he nor I are real concerned about it. It will all get straightened out in his will when they are passed to someone.
-R

Bill Caldwell

Did He Say...."WHEN THE POLICE BREAK THE LAW THEN THERE IS NO LAW"??????

Bill Caldwell

rhm0351

Sure guys.

Jim Watson

Oh, great, so he plans on croaking and leaving his hot weapons to some heir to sort out. I just hope junior is knowledgeable enough to turn them in or discreetly scrap them. I figure the next generation at the latest will see universal firearms registration and on site inspection (as they do in England) and they will turn up if he keeps them.

I know of several such cases and one guy here has already ended up in jail. Turned in by a vindictive wife in a scorched earth divorce.

Bill Caldwell

JIM WATSON,
Can You beleive the man traded Me a 1928 overstamped Thompson in the violin case with drum mags for two raggedA$$ Gi carbines????? And then the ammesty comes along and for a couple hundred bucks and some paperwork it's legal. Was that a good trade????

Bill Caldwell

buddy_fuentes

Wild Bill, is this the trade you were telling Larry and I about? If it is...real small world!

Buddy

Jim Watson

Yes, Bill, that was a good trade.

Now let's fire up the Wayback Machine and take all such stuff back to 1969 when the amnesty ran for six months after GCA '68 went in. I had a college classmate who amnestied a Maxim gun then.

dfariswheel

I've always had a "thing" about the amnesty.

The Gun Control Act makes controlled guns a TAX matter.
You get nailed for not paying the taxes, (the failure to register is sort of a side issue).

A standard principle of law is, "The citizen MUST be given the opportunity to obey the law.
Since the BATF will not ALLOW someone to comply with the tax and registration law, I've always thought it would be ruled un-Constitutional if challenged high enough.

It just sounds wrong to tell citizens it's a crime to have an unregistered gun, BUT we won't allow you to register it.

Jim Watson

I agree, but not even the NRA will fight for tommyguns.

As I recall, you did not have to pay the transfer tax on a gun you registered under the amnesty, but if you sold it, they would charge double.

When the $200 tax was put in, it was 80% of the price of a Thompson. They KNEW a ban on automatics would be unconstitutional, so they applied a confiscatory tax.

191145A1

I think anyone figuring to turn in an M2 receiver would be well-advised to turn in just the bare receiver and salvage all other M1 parts. Any M2 fire-control parts can be legally sold as long as they are not a complete set. Plenty of guys have M2s and are always looking for replacement parts. Carbine parts are sky-high and it would be a shame to lose a $300 barrel because you didn't take it out of the receiver. Since the receiver is scrap anyway, the barrel can be removed by putting it in a vise with wood jaw covers, clamping down on the flat. Then you can use any big wrench you want on the receiver to screw it off the barrel. It's best to shape the wood jaws so they fit the barrel profile.