Gyrojet ammo, Destructive device?

[milktree]

A Gyrojet shoots 13mm (.512") rockets.

The "bigger than .500" part would generally make it a destructive device, except that there's an ATF exception for the ammo and gun making them legal. (and C&R, despite being less than 50 years old)

But ammo is thin on the ground, and very expensive.

So, would it be legal to manufacture it?

It would be pretty damn expensive and time consuming to do it since each one would need to be made on a lathe and the cap with angled holes made on a mill, and the propellant probably isn't just Estes model rocket propellant, but that's not the point. Would it be legal?

 

[jhrosier]

Right near the end of production, the Gyrojets were changed from 13mm to 12mm to avoid the DD classification.
The system had multiple other issues that ensured its' eventual demise.
The cost of ammo, poor accuracy, inadequate power, and the likelihood of starting a fire sealed the fate of the Gyrojet.

I knew a Gyrojet collector back in the '70s. We burned up a couple dozen rounds test firing one of the pistols at an indoor range and darn near burned down the building when the still-burning rounds got into the target litter at the backstop.

BTW, MBA also made carbines and spearguns that used the Gyrojet for propulsion.

Jack

 

[milktree]

Right near the end of production, the Gyrojets were changed from 13mm to 12mm to avoid the DD classification.

Indeed. The 13mm ones are still legal without Federal paperwork because of a specific exception by the BATF.

The system had multiple other issues that ensured its' eventual demise.
The cost of ammo, poor accuracy, inadequate power, and the likelihood of starting a fire sealed the fate of the Gyrojet.

Hey, I never said it was a good gun!

I knew a Gyrojet collector back in the '70s. We burned up a couple dozen rounds test firing one of the pistols at an indoor range and darn near burned down the building when the still-burning rounds got into the target litter at the backstop.

Wow, "a couple dozen rounds" is like $2,500 now.

You can see why I'm curious about the legality of making them.

BTW, MBA also made carbines and spearguns that used the Gyrojet for propulsion.

I didn't know about the spear guns; The most useful thing to come out of it all was flare guns, because they were able to make it up through the Vietnam jungle canopy. I think the technology is still used for that.

 

[jhrosier]

....Wow, "a couple dozen rounds" is like $2,500 now. ....

At the time, Gyrojet rounds were about a buck apiece.
We were still livin' large because $25 bucks would buy about 500 rounds of milsurp .303 Brit.

Jack