Lahti L-39 anti tank gun legality

[PoliteSociety]

Hey guys. I have an opportunity to snag a Lahti L-39 anti tank gun. He said it's functional. Everything im seeing on research says it's a DD and needs to F4 to me. Can anyone confirm?

 

[PoliteSociety]

Pretty sure their a fed after their follow up texts

 

[Villafuego]

Without the 20mm bbl., it's a Title-1 / Non-NFA firearm...... just like M-79's and M-203's

 

[Kramer]

I would ask to see the current Form 4 for verification of NFA registration status.

 

[PoliteSociety]

He said he had no docs for it. I asked about F4 status, he said he didn't have one and if I bought it he would just "forget about the sale"

 

[Mackjack]

I believe some were converted to 50 cal so there would be no form 4. Otherwise…. Something doesn’t sound right. Need more details

https://www.proxibid.com/Firearms-M...0-cal-Anti-Tank-Rifle/lotInformation/32355742

 

[Mackjack]

He said he had no docs for it. I asked about F4 status, he said he didn't have one and if I bought it he would just "forget about the sale"

This sounds pretty bad…. Entrapment perhaps

 

[DistalRadius]

If it is a complete gun in 20mm, it is absolutely a DD.

 

[BWE Firearms]

If it is complete, it is a DD and should be registered. Tell him you will buy it but without the barrel but you know someone who wants a barrel. Have him pull the barrel. sell you everything but the barrel. Have a friend buy the barrel. Once you get the Lahti, register it on a form 1 as a DD build. Once approved go get the barrel from your friend, install it and then you have a registered legal Lahti. A lot of people don't like this but it is legal on your part, the seller is currently in possession of an illegal DD.

 

[PoliteSociety]

If it is complete, it is a DD and should be registered. Tell him you will buy it but without the barrel but you know someone who wants a barrel. Have him pull the barrel. sell you everything but the barrel. Have a friend buy the barrel. Once you get the Lahti, register it on a form 1 as a DD build. Once approved go get the barrel from your friend, install it and then you have a registered legal Lahti. A lot of people don't like this but it is legal on your part, the seller is currently in possession of an illegal DD.

I thought about doing this. It's all just a little fishy and I don't want to draw any unwanted attention to me or my collection of toys.

 

[Mackjack]

If it is complete, it is a DD and should be registered. Tell him you will buy it but without the barrel but you know someone who wants a barrel. Have him pull the barrel. sell you everything but the barrel. Have a friend buy the barrel. Once you get the Lahti, register it on a form 1 as a DD build. Once approved go get the barrel from your friend, install it and then you have a registered legal Lahti. A lot of people don't like this but it is legal on your part, the seller is currently in possession of an illegal DD.

That’s a good idea!

 

[BWE Firearms]

I had a customer get into a deal like this. Told the seller take the barrel off and he would buy it. Seller said OK then when the buyer went to pick it up barrel was still on it. He said nope and the seller tried everything he could to have the buyer take possession. Buyer called ATF to report it and never heard a word about it. It was probably an attempted sting.

I've had people try to sell me supposedly unregistered machine guns before. I always have them come over and I will buy it, if the price is right of course. When they get to my shop I wont even touch the gun I just point to the bandsaw and tell them to cut it in half then I will buy it. They usually always get weird then. The best one was the time I got an FBI buddy of mine to come over for the deal. He was actually interested in the parts. When the buyer showed up I could tell they new each other. The buyer just started fumbling his words and said he decided not to sell it. I told the buyer I didnt think I could let him leave with an illegal machinegun and my buddy was an FBI agent and should arrest him. My buddy kind of started stammering and came up with some kind of excuse for not arresting the seller. Me with a shit eating grin on my face the hole time. I even offered to call the local ATF to straighten it all out. Its fun to screw with government agents.

 

[Kramer]

I believe some were converted to 50 cal so there would be no form 4. Otherwise…. Something doesn’t sound right. Need more details

https://www.proxibid.com/Firearms-M...0-cal-Anti-Tank-Rifle/lotInformation/32355742

Yes, many were converted to 50 BMG by the owners. Many years back, Sam Cummings of Interarms fame, the original importer of the 999 20mm Lahtis, had around 250-300 converted to 50 BMG by Charles Erb. He was upset that his imported Lahtis were being used for criminal activity.

Back in 1965 Joel Singer and his gang bought two Lahtis from Interarms and had them shipped to upstate NY. He had a feeling that they were being watched so he broke into the shipping company over the weekend and took his guns, then went on to rob a Brinks location by shooting a hole through the vault wall. They got $430,000 (about $3.3 mil today) and Singer did get caught. This was the basis for the Clint Eastwood movie "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot".

Around the same time, the fBi came across another gang that was going to do the same type of robbery, but they were stopped.

 

[pjm204]

How is the person asking you to pay for it/receive it? My experiences with this type of situation in the past have not been ATF stings but rather someone trying to scam me out of money. When I reported them to the ATF, they said "just don't buy it".

 

[root]

If anyone knows about these and the different legal builds and numbers out in the public's hands it would be Kramer.

Along with the loading data for said 20mm

 

[Gaujo]

Yes, many were converted to 50 BMG by the owners. Many years back, Sam Cummings of Interarms fame, the original importer of the 999 20mm Lahtis, had around 250-300 converted to 50 BMG by Charles Erb. He was upset that his imported Lahtis were being used for criminal activity.

Back in 1965 Joel Singer and his gang bought two Lahtis from Interarms and had them shipped to upstate NY. He had a feeling that they were being watched so he broke into the shipping company over the weekend and took his guns, then went on to rob a Brinks location by shooting a hole through the vault wall. They got $430,000 (about $3.3 mil today) and Singer did get caught. This was the basis for the Clint Eastwood movie "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot".

Around the same time, the fBi came across another gang that was going to do the same type of robbery, but they were stopped.

Looking up these robbers made for a good read. Is it possible to reload these shells? I would think you'd need a whole scaled up loader and hardware.

 

[chili17]

Looking up these robbers made for a good read. Is it possible to reload these shells? I would think you'd need a whole scaled up loader and hardware.

Yes, you can reload them and yes, you do!