Finding Pre-bans

Gually

Gually

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Hey NES,
So I'm new to shooting and new to the forum. I bought my first gun a few months ago (M&P Shield Plus - very happy with it) but within the next few months I will be in the market for another toy or two, in particular a pre ban carbine (Massachusetts so 1998 or earlier if im not mistaken) of some kind and I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions of specific guns, any gun shops in or near Western Mass with a pre ban selection, websites etc to check out? Or any tips of what to look for/anything to avoid?

I've seen some individuals with some pre ban AR's for sale and I'm sure they're great but most that I've seen are upwards of $2500 and I'd prefer a budget option under $1500.

Thanks guys!
 
I had luck in the past buying prebans on gunbroker. Often times a dealer (in the cases I saw the most, a pawn shop) will list a preban and not mark it as preban. A simple serial lookup can confirm when it was made.

If you want to pay used prices for old guns without the huge preban markup, thats my best suggestion. Might take a few weeks to snag one, but last time I was looking they were there.
 
Do yourself a favor and one Saturday morning take a nice relaxing ride to "The Mill" in Littleton. Yes, it's a little bit of a haul for you, but you'll be happy you did.

As to price, just remember that new AR-15s technically cannot be sold in MA, so the ones in circulation will demand a premium price. Though I think $2,500 is on the high side. I've seen them running around $1,800 here on the forum. +
 
There's a gun shop local to me that will have pre-bans, and he'll advertise them as such, but people around here (MO) seriously, don't know what "pre-ban" is, and don't really care, so they don't command the price that they would there. So, you'll find nice Colt Sporters for $1,200 or so. With FB and the various pages one can find, I'd think it would be fairly easy to find what you want so long as you have a competent FFL that will receive it for you.

I keep an eye out for preban stuff and have directed a lot of said items up that way.
 
Spartan65 said:
Fudd lore! Stop Fudding.
Click to expand...

Might be "Fudd" lore, but it's lore that 99% of gun shops in MA are following. Hence why I mentioned the mill and you'll notice I didn't say it was a "law". Just "technically" due to the AG's BS. For a new shooter all this is semantics and overload. Want to buy an AR, go to the mill or look on the NES classifieds.
 
Rockrivr1 said:
Might be "Fudd" lore, but it's lore that 99% of gun shops in MA are following. Hence why I mentioned the mill and you'll notice I didn't say it was a "law". Just "technically" due to the AG's BS. For a new shooter all this is semantics and overload. Want to buy an AR, go to the mill or look on the NES classifieds.
Click to expand...
The problem is that there's no "technically" about it.

The AG impotently threatened to persecute prosecute dealers who don't follow her extra-legal interpretation. Some dealers follow that guidance out of an abundance of caution. Others refer to the law as written. Still others land somewhere in the middle.

Technically, you can buy any firearm that's not a so-called Assault Weapon. Technically, this includes Colt AR-15s that are in a compliant configuration.

Making incorrect statements because they're simpler than the correct ones is especially fraught when you're talking to newbies who don't even understand that there's a needle here to thread.
 
Mesatchornug said:
The problem is that there's no "technically" about it.

The AG impotently threatened to persecute prosecute dealers who don't follow her extra-legal interpretation. Some dealers follow that guidance out of an abundance of caution. Others refer to the law as written. Still others land somewhere in the middle.

Technically, you can buy any firearm that's not a so-called Assault Weapon. Technically, this includes Colt AR-15s that are in a compliant configuration.

Making incorrect statements because they're simpler than the correct ones is especially fraught when you're talking to newbies who don't even understand that there's a needle here to thread.
Click to expand...

Don't want to derail the thread but lets face facts. The AG wants to be governor and she doesn't want any bad publicity in the ramp up to the election. Hence why she's doing nothing about what is going on at the mill. Don't get to comfortable and take that as an admission that she knows it's a no win situation. The soon to be AG, Andrea Campbell, is an anti gun zealot and has stated so several times already. When she's put into office the folks at the mill better be ready for the legal battle that will ensue. It's not an if, it's a when. As you stated lets not just sit with Technically. There's a huge fight on the horizon and we all better be ready for it. Oh and for the record, I'm one of the FFLs at the Mill. We better be ready.
 
Rockrivr1 said:
Don't want to derail the thread but lets face facts. The AG wants to be governor and she doesn't want any bad publicity in the ramp up to the election. Hence why she's doing nothing about what is going on at the mill. Don't get to comfortable and take that as an admission that she knows it's a no win situation. The soon to be AG, Andrea Campbell, is an anti gun zealot and has stated so several times already. When she's put into office the folks at the mill better be ready for the legal battle that will ensue. It's not an if, it's a when. As you stated lets not just sit with Technically. There's a huge fight on the horizon and we all better be ready for it. Oh and for the record, I'm one of the FFLs at the Mill. We better be ready.
Click to expand...
For 6 years she has done nothing because the law is not on her side. She was happy to rest on the apparent success, a springboard to bigger things.

After the election, laws might change. At which time, there may be a valid attack vector. Until then, the law remains what it is.

But I'm still just a spectator who wishes the best of luck to anyone who might find himself in the ring.
 
SHOCKNAWE said:
View attachment 672484


This store had a shit ton of legit pre bans when I was there over the summer, probably worth a call
Click to expand...
I bought from them and had a good experience. They tend to be busy and can’t get to the phone a lot but I think they have a lot of listings on armslist so you can get a feel of what they have, or better yet just go to the Mill and enjoy!
 
Rockrivr1 said:
Don't want to derail the thread but lets face facts. The AG wants to be governor and she doesn't want any bad publicity in the ramp up to the election. Hence why she's doing nothing about what is going on at the mill. Don't get to comfortable and take that as an admission that she knows it's a no win situation. The soon to be AG, Andrea Campbell, is an anti gun zealot and has stated so several times already. When she's put into office the folks at the mill better be ready for the legal battle that will ensue. It's not an if, it's a when. As you stated lets not just sit with Technically. There's a huge fight on the horizon and we all better be ready for it. Oh and for the record, I'm one of the FFLs at the Mill. We better be ready.
Click to expand...
That’s why should not tuck our dicks like you boomers did in the 80’s (ok not you personally)

Good luck to them with Bruen. They can Go ahead do it try to ban them just to be pee pee slapped back into line.

And I’ll support you and those FFLs at the mill the best I can.
 
TJ4 said:
I bought from them and had a good experience. They tend to be busy and can’t get to the phone a lot but I think they have a lot of listings on armslist so you can get a feel of what they have, or better yet just go to the Mill and enjoy!
Click to expand...
I didn't buy anything, I'm not in the market for a 40 year old overpriced rifle but as always the Mill is a fun place to look around for sure
 
Spartan65 said:
That’s why should not tuck our dicks like you boomers did in the 80’s (ok not you personally)

Good luck to them with Bruen. They can Go ahead do it try to ban them just to be pee pee slapped back into line.

And I’ll support you and those FFLs at the mill the best I can.
Click to expand...

As you said, it'll all depend upon what the MA Legislators do when they get back into session. They've vowed to enact more legislation to regulate firearms so it'll be interesting to see what that entails. The overall problem I see is that suits in the court system are slow. That is the downside to trying to fix crappy legislation even if it goes against the latest SC judgements.
 
Spartan65 said:
That’s why should not tuck our dicks like you boomers did in the 80’s (ok not you personally)

Good luck to them with Bruen. They can Go ahead do it try to ban them just to be pee pee slapped back into line.

And I’ll support you and those FFLs at the mill the best I can.
Click to expand...
THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STOP USING THAT SLUR
Angry Old Boomer Blank Template - Imgflip
 

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