Reply #21: There's no difference between a pre-ban and a post-ban AR-15

[slackmaster]

In terms of converting it from semiautomatic to fully automatic. Expiration of the ban WILL NOT make that conversion any easier.

Here's a link to an article that shows the differences between the semiautomatic AR-15 rifle and its selective-fire cousin, the military M16. The fire-control components of the AR-15 - Selector lever, disconnector, hammer, bolt carrier, etc. - are intentionally designed to fire only semiautomatically. Note that in most cases you would have to add metal to change the AR-15 version of a part to the M16 version.

Simply replacing those parts with their M16 counterparts is not sufficient to make the gun fire more than one round per trigger pull. Installing a standard M16 automatic sear requires a permanent modification to the lower receiver, at a minimum drilling a hole with great precision. Once you've done that there is no way to un-drill the hole without it being detectable. You will have turned an expensive rifle into a legal hot potato that can never be used or transferred or even kept without risking serious jail time.

http://www.ar15.com/content/legal/AR15-M16Parts /

This is typical of the level of difficulty you'd encounter in trying to convert most semiautomatic firearms to fully automatic. As I noted previously, the conversion argument is a red herring in this discussion because the AW ban did nothing to make an illegal conversion more difficult.

All modern semiautomatic firearms that are legal for sale in the USA have been intentionally designed to make a full-auto conversion diffidult.