MidwestPX

Interesting...not quite what I was expecting as I figured the 30rd mag would have enough internal clearance.

Quite good, IMO. Their barrels generally deliver a good bit of value.

Yeah, I've heard that. I heard some places were charging $60+ last year during the drought. I've had angry customers call/email in the past to ask/tell me to do something about it but honestly, that's not my place. The "S" in MSRP is "Suggested".

Mags fitted with the revised design block are going out today to you WASR guys to see if that'll fix the problem. If so and they pass our testing phase, they'll get incorporated into all AK mags going forward.

Another thing about being a B&M gun store is you live on the upsell. You don't necessarily make your money on guns unless it's a hot item like a PMR30. You make your money on accessories. The guns draw people in and you sell them a cleaning kit, magazines, etc. I won't divulge specific markup percentages but one of the reasons why over 90% of NJ gun stores I've cold called pick up our limited capacity mags is because we leave enough meat on the bone for them to justify investing in the product lines. If you own a gun store and you aren't suggesting accessories for even guns you transfer, you're doing it wrong.

If he's a smaller store, he may also not have access to as good of pricing as the seller. Buying groups can add quite a few points to a dealer's bottom line but to get in, you have to show a history of multimillion dollar, profitable years, go through an interview, be voted in, etc. It's a thorough vetting process though once cleared, can open up margins a bit, even on new firearms.

That's actually dead on. If Glock catches a dealer advertising a price for less than MAP, they'll get put on a Do Not Sell list which all of Glock's distributors enforce. I've seen this happen with many brands. Larger manufacturers like Glock hire firms to help police and enforce their MAP. These people scour the internet, gunbroker, and even visit B&M stores to make sure MAP is being adhered to. Glock goes so far as to say the price on the tag is considered advertising and Glock dealers are not allowed to price them below MAP. That isn't to say they can't sell them for less (there are some brands that are like that too and it's completely legal) but it is most of why dealers put "Contact for price" or similar in ads.

Typically, the AK's looser tolerances relative to the AR are heralded as a benefit but this is one of those exceptions. I expect some lessons to be learned and will do my best to minimize customer pain. This is why prior to releasing them, they were sent to multiple shops and fitted and tested with as many AKs as possible. That's how we learned about the IO guns and having to fit the mags to the rifle by inserting and extracting the mags. If I'm understanding correctly, your carrier is flat on the underside which wouldn't affect a single stack mag? If carriers are modified for double stack mags, my guess is a little material is shaved off to create a subtle point similar to an AR carrier. Any additional info you can provide would be much appreciated. We'll start testing the modified blocks later this week to see if we can reliably make these changes without running afoul of #16.

Thank you for the data point!

Acceptable mark up is what the market will bear. Too much and people won't buy, too little and shop won't keep lights on. "Acceptable" is subjective as your ability to see, handle, and physically check out a firearm prior to purchasing has a different value to different people. You may also receive service at the LGS that you won't at Buds such as being shown how to maintain and service your firearm. The LGS may also be of assistance should your firearm have issues/malfunctions.

It sounds like there might be some manufacturing tolerance in the rifle at play. I'll look into revising the block to see if we can't absorb it in the available follower travel without slipping into #16 territory.

Is yours also a WASR?

There should be 0.085" of play between loading #15 and where the follower hits the block which is supposed to be enough room to seat a full mag and charge the rifle. I just grabbed three random mags and tested them in a CAI NPAP. All three had a scratched first round but charged. If you want, I can swap your mags out for ones that have been tested?

Just tried it from my HTC One running Jelly Bean and my Chromebook so I'm not sure what the issue could be?

In what sense? Functionally, it shouldn't be any different from a standard FCG. Legally speaking, I wouldn't want to explore it and be the test case for either BATFE or NJSP. Post sample machine guns are destroyed or sold if I give up my SOT. Which I don't see happening for 50-ish years by which time either private firearms ownership will be completely abolished or the BATFE will be abolished.

I can convert any semi-auto lower to a full-auto configuration with a few minutes and a mill. Installing the auto sear requires removal of material from the interior walls of the lower and drilling the third pin hole over the selector. I'll snap some pics of a converted lower that I did later today/tonight.

Installing the M16 FCG minus the sear can result in an uncontrollable burst. I believe ATF Tech Branch has proven this. As for installing the sear, yes, it's more than just drilling the third pin hole and in every lower I have come across, has required removing material from the interior walls of the lower. A pretty simple job with a mill. But for legal purposes, the second that third pin hole is drilled regardless of any other operations done to a finished AR receiver, it is considered a machine gun.

Not quite. 01 FFLs are allowed to conduct gunsmithing activies. 07s are able to do everything an 01 can as well as manufacture firearms. "Manufacturing" in the eyes of the ATF is a rather broad activity though. Taking a complete upper and a complete lower then pushing the two pins together is considered manufacturing by the ATF. Installing a LPK in a stripped lower is considered manufacturing too because the FFL is adding value to the firearm prior to sale. Interestingly enough, I believe painting/refinishing is not manufacturing but gunsmithing.

That's a DD MK18 upper on one of my house branded machine gun lowers. Recoil feels a little sharper than my LMT SBR (not pictured) but I haven't really tuned it via buffer weights and action springs. Huge FOV when looking through the optic. I actually do not like Aimpoint Micros due to tube size. I used Comp M2s for awhile then when the SRS came out, I picked one up to check it out. Grabbed another before the 2014 price hike. Self-charging plus that integrated Bobro mount rounds out a very nice optic IMO. I love my job

It was a really nice day today so I grabbed a couple of my rifles for a pic

Unfortunately, it costs significantly more to make these than AR PMAGs and I almost decided against wholesaling these to dealers. The only way I could make it work was to create 500-1000 blocks at a time and hold those on-hand (which in material cost turned out to cost double what was originally forecasted). The blocks also take significantly longer to make than those used in the AR PMAGs. I may look at doubling the production capacity (twice the tooling cost) just to be able to knock these out faster in the future.

You can send them to me. I'm a licensed 07/02 that manufactures machine guns as part of normal business.

So having read that previous thread, my advice for those affected who paid with a credit card is the same as provided by Steve/remixer: File a chargeback right away. Even if he doesn't have the money in his linked bank account, you will get the money from your issuing bank and they'll take the money from his account. Even if it's zero or negative, they'll get the money and then the bank that has that account will go after him to get the money to clear the negative balance. If he has another account with that bank, they'll take it from that account. In any event, you the purchaser get your money back. Had I seen that thread earlier, I would have remarked that refunds should hit your card within two to four business days. With the exception of one instance when Payment Alliance, the merchant processor I was using at the time, had some internal screwup where the refund I issued was not passed on to Global (the system/company that moves the money). This happened in Jan/Feb of 2013 and affected a number of merchants.

Federally speaking, you are allowed to own the select fire FCG if you don't own an AR or firearm that would accept them. With ARs, the machine gun is the lower receiver once the sear pin hole is drilled.

There's your answer