Hello, I have been looking for a semi-automatic rifle with some sort of historical value to it for a few months, but as prices have risen I feel that I have been priced out of the market. I then found a site, militarygunsupply.com, with a wide range of parts kits, which seem like an inexpensive way to get a nice rifle. The first thing to catch my eye was a Bren kit for 300 dollars including a barrel. Here is a link I also found a site that sells all sorts of spare parts here Now I know next to nothing about these sort of things. Would these two sites provide everything I would need to assemble this gun? Would I be able to assemble this gun, having zero knowledge or experience assembling or even cleaning guns? If not, do local gunsmiths generally offer this service? The original site also has many other kits (here), which may be better suited to my knowledge and experience. I have $550 to spend all told. Thank you for your time, and sorry for the large number of questions.
Surley you need to read this, "With certain exceptions a firearm may be made by a nonlicensee provided it is not for sale and the maker is not prohibited from possessing firearms. However, a person is prohibited from assembling a nonsporting semi-automatic rifle or nonsporting shotgun from imported parts. In addition, the making of an NFA firearm requires a tax payment and approval by ATF. An application to make a machinegun will not be approved unless documentation is submitted showing that the firearm is being made for a Federal or State agency" That is off of the federal firearms regulations reference guide. If you are to make a functioning firearm out of imported parts kits is unlawful. Just wanted to make sure you know that. And to answer your question most of the parts kits that you buy have had the receiver of the firearm cut or is missing. so if you were to find a receiver then yes you could assemble it quite easily
Thanks for the response Is it safe to assume that all these kits are composed of imported parts and therefore illegal to assemble?
here's the deal. You can assemble a parts kit, but a bren kit is not a semi-kit out of the box. You need to mill some parts and do stuff that an "average joe" won't know how to do. Plus, as pointed out, you need to replace some parts with US parts to make it legal anyway. You are better off just saving more and buying a bren that has been semi-only modified and built being "parts compliant". The guys that build these kits do it for fun, not really to save money. You will save a little, but only if you have a shop fill of milling tools and the experience to NOT mess it up while building/modding everything. How much do you plan on spending? Maybe we can help find you something good in your price range...
