Select Fire HK93 Conversions
The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibited the import of HK33 (as well as HK53) rifles for civilian ownership in the U.S. because of their status as machine guns. As a result, a number of HK93s (and possibly a small number of HK43s) were used as hosts for full-auto conversions for civilians who wished to own an HK33/53 select fire rifle. Up until the passage of the McClure-Volkmer Act, a Class II manufacturer could convert an HK93 in one of two ways. He could either drill a hole in the receiver to accommodate the attachment of a push-pin style "S-E-F" grip frame housing, or he could modify a semi-auto trigger pack and use a clipped and pinned "S-E-F" grip frame housing. The flapper/paddle magazine release was usually installed on these rifles at the time of their conversion for added authenticity. Sometimes, the receivers were even remarked or restamped to say "HK33" or "HK53". For an HK53 conversion, a gunsmith had to cut the barrel of an HK93 down to 8.3 inches and re-thread the muzzle.
The Hughes Amendment in the Firearm Owners Protection Act prohibited the ATF from accepting any new registrations of machine guns for civilian ownership after May 19, 1986. Due to their scarcity and the fact that no new HK33/53 rifles can be produced for the civilian market, the value of these Title II firearms keeps going up year after year. The average price for one of these HK33/53 conversions is about $15,000. Those that have the push-pin style grip attachment are considered to be the most authentic reproductions of factory HK33/53 rifles and thus command a premium.
Read more about this topic: Heckler & Koch HK43
Famous quotes containing the words select and/or fire:
“The director is simply the audience. So the terrible burden of the director is to take the place of that yawning vacuum, to be the audience and to select from what happens during the day which movement shall be a disaster and which a gala night. His job is to preside over accidents.”
—Orson Welles (1915–1984)
“A young person is a person with nothing to learn
One who already knows that ice does not chill and fire does not burn . . .
It knows it can spend six hours in the sun on its first
day at the beach without ending up a skinless beet,
And it knows it can walk barefoot through the barn
without running a nail in its feet. . . .
Meanwhile psychologists grow rich
Writing that the young are ones’ should not
undermine the self-confidence of which.”
—Ogden Nash (1902–1971)