H&R M16
I am looking for more information on a NFA weapon. It is a H&R M16A1, marked property of U. S. Government. I am told it registered as an amnesty gun. Does any one have more information on what the anmesty gun program was? And also the upper receiver was swapped, are there any H&R uppers available, what would be the casting marks? Thanks, Mark.
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Mark, I love questions like this one...but I wish we were face to face to talk at length. Here is a VERY brief look at the 1968 Gun Control Act Amnesty Program: When the GCA was passed penalties for illegal possession of NFA friearms were going to be increased from the usual slap on the wrist and "register it today please", to $10,000 or 10 years in prison. This gave many folks who had grandpa's 12 ga sawed-off in the attic or a WWII war trophey MG quite a scare!
To be fair to everyone, the GCA allowed for a three month amnesty period from October to Decemeber, 1968. Posters were placed in Federal Courthouses, Federal Buildings and Post Offices explaining the program...along with some neat little line drawings of Thompsons and the like. These posters themselves are VERY collectable- I've been looking for an original for years. All amnesty firearms were registered using Form 4467 and it 54,529 were filed during the program. Interestingly the GCA allows for more amnesties, the Sec. of the Treasury can order one at any time. There was only one however.
4467 guarenteed in writing that any NFA firearms registered during the amnesty would be exempt from further investigation, it was blanket. This amnesty period is the source for most registered M14 and M16 rifles as people who "liberated" them from Uncle Sam could register them and be exempted from follow up prosecution. The amnesty is also the reason you will find a LOT of machineguns in states- like California- where there should be very few. The amnesty registered weapons were never to be reported to state or local agencies- this is privaleged tax information and cannot be shared. Do you understand the amnesty program? This is a brief over view but it should suit our purposes.
Now then, the only amnesty registered M16's that I have ever seen were Colt's. The reason is that Colt was the lead manufacturer during the period prior to the GCA-68. H&R did not even sign its first contract with the government for 240,000 M16A1 rifles until December, 1968...the same month the amnesty ended. Although pre-production H&R M16's were available for testing at the end of December, series production did not begin until well into 1969. All H&R M16's run in the 2 million serial number range. I have no idea what the casting marks look like on an H&R upper.
If the M16 in question was registered as an amnesty gun it would have been done out of policy. There were about 6,000 additional amnesty registration forms processed after the close of the program...one as far as 1988! These were people who claimed they filed the papers but the BATF lost them or other reasons like that. US Property marked machineguns bring HUGE premiums and an amnesty registered H&R M16 would be a true treasure. Try to find out more information about it and pass it along.
Mark T. Christian0 -
Mark
If that poster Is the one that says "Illegal Unless Registered with Bureau ATF" and has Line drawing of Thompson, Sawed Off Shotgun, Sawed off ba rifle, Broomhandle with stock, etc let me know
I have an original and will try and find it
stubtail@sbcglobal.net0 -
Wow, great explanation of the amnesty.
I would be interested in knowing the real story behind this. The only other possibility that I can think of is that this rifle was given by the Feds to a LE agency, and that it was "liberated" from the agency. (This would, of course, make it contraband, not an amnesty gun.) There is no legal way that an M16 given to a LE agency can be owned by a civilian.
One thing is for sure: all amnesty guns have ATF paperwork. Can you ask the owner to let you see the Form 4? No one would think such a request rude. Actually, ATF recommends that Class III owners carry a photocopy of their Form 4 with the gun to prevent any misunderstanding by LEOs.
Neal0 -
Thanks for the information Mark. If the H&R contract started at two million, the my gun is at the start serial number range, #20089xx, so I guess that would fit into the beginning of the contract, and the end of the amnesty program. It is registered and transferable, so it must have been registered during that time. Is there anyway to trace when it was registered?
This gun is marked as a M16A1, cal 5.56mm, it has the raised rail around the magazine release, and is small take down pin. It is black and appears to be painted. It has a colapsible stock but that's easy to change, I really would like to find a H&R upper for it, but I haven't be able to as of yet. Partly due to I'm not quite sure what to look for.
Did H&R make complete guns, or just parts? Do you know of any books that list the different manufactures for the M16's and assorted uppers or other parts. I have come across different casting letters on uppers, but I don't know what H&R would be.
I tried searching the internet for more information on the amnesty program, but came up blank, any sugestions where to look.
Thanks for all you help and sharing you knowledge.0
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