Is the only way to use assault rifles and other weapons like that by joining the military?

Think and Grow

First, lets look at the term "Assault Rifle". You do know that this is not a term from the shooting community, it instead was a creation of the Clinton Administration used to help ban some guns.

The closest thing in the gun world refers to a rifle out of WW2 from Germany, the Sturmgewehr 44, or Storm Rifle. The term "Assault Rifle" has been extended by the media to include all current mid power semi auto rifles. It might be an acceptable term if they had limited using it on the selective fire versions.

Some more basic information. This class of rifle shoots medium power cartridges. They are in the power range of the first small bore center fire cartridges such as the Winchester 30/30. In fact, the AK47 is lower in power than most lever action deer rifles, and the cartridge for the M16 is only legal for varmints in most states. These cartridges are only about half as powerful as the military cartridges of WW2. You do not want to try and take dangerous game with these cartridges, they just will not get the job done.

As to owning an "Assault Rifle" there are three choices.

The first is to own the real thing, a selective fire weapon. To do this, you fill out a bunch of paperwork, get the permission of your local law enforcement, get fingerprinted, summit all the paperwork with the $200 transfer tax, pay the current owner thousands of dollars for one of the legal ones, and wait about three months for approval. If approved, the gun will be transferred to a special FFL dealer in your state, where you can pick the gun up.

The second is to buy a semi auto clone of the gun. It will look like the real thing, has many parts in common, but is designed so that you will need a full blown machine shop to make it full auto. It will fire the same wimpy cartridge and take the same mags. To get one of these, you find a regular FFL dealer in your area that has one in stock, give him your money, and go through the 4473 instant background check. If you pass this check, you take the gun home.

The third option is to buy one of the non gun look alikes. These look quite a bit like the real thing, are made out of plastic and junk metal, can be somewhat dissembled, and will fool someone at about 50 feet. The advantage is you give someone the money and they give you the toy.

Other options are to buy a real WW2 era full power rifle. Get a Garand or a FN49. You could also buy a full power semi auto sporting rifle like the Browning BAR. More power, same rate of fire, and they look good.

David

I'd just go down to my local gun range, they have automatics for rental.

zephyr

Owning a gun requires great responsibility whether it's loaded or not. It is a lethal weapon, not a toy or keepsake, and so must be secured at all times. You can buy replicas for display for your intend if you like handling them. These replicas are exact samples of the real thing but cannot load or fire a live round.

Kevin F

In some states you can buy "civilianized" versions of assault rifles , meaning those that are incapable of firing in fully automatic mode. Fully automatic being over rated in my opinion. The M-16 I used when I was in the Air Force was capable of that. Now they have a 3 shot burst setting that makes for greater accuracy. Fully auto firing has a tendency for your shots to climb up and to the right. There is a lot more to joining the military than carrying weapons. There are federal licenses for carrying automatic weapons. I had one authorizing to carry concealed when I was a police officer. A rare few gun dealers have them. So with your motivation your chances of getting one is slim at best. Unless you are looking for a career in Law Enforcement (and plan on joining a SWAT team) enter the military

scarecrowman176

Well I really dont know. Im sure you could in Texas haha. But if not in your state im sure like the guy above me said some gun ranges have automatics for rent. In fact, I saw a thing on a show called Weapon Masters were theres a shooting range somewhere in the U.S.A that has almost all types of automatic weapons. From AK's to SAWS they had it all haha.

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