Antique firearms 411

rkwjunior

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What year does massachusettes consider an antique firearm? I'm looking for a 1911, and with all the stupid restrictions, i think an antique 1911 would be the way to go. Anybody have any suggestions on how to get an old 1911 into this ridiculous state. If anyone has any info on getting any 1911 legally from out of state this would be great.
 
In what way would an antique be beneficial? You would need a license for the ammo either way, and you can probably find a new 1911 for less than an early military gun in good condition. I guess what I'm saying is, need more info as to your reasoning.

Also, welcome to NES [wave]
 
An "antiquue" pre-dates 1898 for determining whether it's a "modern firearm" or not, under federal law.

A "Curio or relic" is 50 years old or more. This is for C&R FFL purposes,

In mass, you have the FID/LTC thing to deal with. You could, in theory, you could get a black powder longarm to aviod the FID/LTC thing, but you need an FID or better to purhcase the powder and projectiles.

I'd be VERY cautious of pleading "it's an antique" on ANY arm here in the PRM. The minutae of the laws are not widely know, even to LEOs

IIRC, a cap & ball revolver requires an LTC.
 
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An "antiquue" pre-dates 1898 for determining whether it's a "modern firearm" or not, under federal law.

A "Curio or relic" is 50 years old or more. This is for C&R FFL purposes,

In mass, you have the FID/LTC thing to deal with. You could, in theory, you could get a black powder longarm to aviod the FID/LTC thing, but you need an FID or better to purhcase the powder and projectiles.

I'd be VERY cautious of pleading "it's an antique" on ANY arm here in the PRM. The minutae of the laws are not widely know, even to LEOs

IIRC, a cap & ball revolver requires an LTC.

fixed it for ya, 91 years makes a big difference [wink]
 
What year does massachusettes consider an antique firearm? I'm looking for a 1911, and with all the stupid restrictions, i think an antique 1911 would be the way to go. Anybody have any suggestions on how to get an old 1911 into this ridiculous state. If anyone has any info on getting any 1911 legally from out of state this would be great.

You won't find a 1911 that classifies as antique.

You could get a flintlock or percussion black powder pistol, or a musket or some mausers. You could get a blunderbuss (spelling?), the ultimate HD weapon (assuming it goes off and you only need one shot)
 
In mass, you have the FID/LTC thing to deal with. You could, in theory, you could get a black powder longarm to aviod the FID/LTC thing, but you need an FID or better to purchase the powder and projectiles.

I'd be VERY cautious of pleading "it's an antique" on ANY arm here in the PRM. The minutae of the laws are not widely know, even to LEOs

IIRC, a cap & ball revolver requires an LTC.

It was my understanding that any pre-1898 gun is a primitive firearm and requires no license, even it strongly resembles a modern firearm.

You mentioned some issues making it not a good choice for carrying, though.

On the other hand, pull a blunderbuss pistol on a mugger and anything could happen.

He pulls a 9mm and shoots you.

Or you shoot him.

Or he falls over laughing and you run away.

Or he is fascinated with the relic and your mutual interest in antique firearms results in forging a new friendship, in turn resulting in his decision to go to school, become an old-school gunsmith and become a productive member of society.
 
It was my understanding that any pre-1898 gun is a primitive firearm and requires no license, even it strongly resembles a modern firearm.

You mentioned some issues making it not a good choice for carrying, though.

On the other hand, pull a blunderbuss pistol on a mugger and anything could happen.

He pulls a 9mm and shoots you.

Or you shoot him.

Or he falls over laughing and you run away.

Or he is fascinated with the relic and your mutual interest in antique firearms results in forging a new friendship, in turn resulting in his decision to go to school, become an old-school gunsmith and become a productive member of society.

Yes, pre-1898 is antique. And they dont resemble new firearms, new firearms resemble old ones.

You would need an FID to get ammo or black powder, but the black powder can also be obtained in another state with a drivers license. I dont think MA requires you to have an FID to have it, only to buy it. (thats what I was told at a gun shop, and I never researched that because I have my license so I dont really care).
 
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My reasoning is, i don't want to buy any of the few 1911's that are mass compliant, i'd much rather buy an older 1911 that predates the 98' ban, but as we all know it has to also have been previously registered in Mass, which is like finding a needle in a hay stack. I saw some 70's and 80's 1911's for sale and i thought maybe they were considered antiques, if they are antiques it doesn't matter where it was registered, but of course Mass has that covered too. i guess i'm just mad at Mass for limiting us to certain firearms. I dont like to own what everyone else has, i want something unique.
 
If you don't want what everyone else has,get your C&R license. Like Mr Happy said, if it's 50 years old or older, it's C&R.
 
My reasoning is, i don't want to buy any of the few 1911's that are mass compliant, i'd much rather buy an older 1911 that predates the 98' ban, but as we all know it has to also have been previously registered in Mass, which is like finding a needle in a hay stack. I saw some 70's and 80's 1911's for sale and i thought maybe they were considered antiques, if they are antiques it doesn't matter where it was registered, but of course Mass has that covered too. i guess i'm just mad at Mass for limiting us to certain firearms. I dont like to own what everyone else has, i want something unique.

rkw, welcome to NES. [wave]

What you said above has me a little confused. Dealers are prohibited from selling certain guns in MA, but those restrictions don't apply to private sellers. Check out the classifieds. Over a period of time you'll probably find what you're looking for from someone who is willing to do an FTF (face to face) without a dealer. As long as you're properly licensed you're good to go.

Please check out this excellent thread for complete info about what you can and can't buy and how to go about it legally.

Best of luck to you in your search.
 
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