Did you know that the ATF has the ability to remove NFA firearms from the NFA? These NFA firearms can be transferred as non-NFA weapons without the need to get the ATF involved. The firearms the ATF exempts from the NFA vary wildly. Most are antiques, lots of pre-1899 firearms, and my favorite, the curio department. Curios are unique weapons that are historically significant or just weird.
I think most gun owners know that there are a smattering of Hi-Powers and C-96s that can be used with an original stock without being an SBR, but that’s just the beginning. The majority of these firearms tend to be Winchester lever actions with 14- and 15-inch barrels, but amongst the lever actions and Hi-Powers are a number of fascinating NFA-exempt weapons.
Beretta 92SB With 93R Stock
One of the coolest NFA-exempt firearms is a roster of 27 Beretta 92SB handguns produced for the LAPD during the 1984 Summer Olympics. Ever since the Munich massacre, security at the Olympics has tightened up. Why the LAPD needed stocked handguns, and only a few dozen, are lost to the sands of time.
What’s known is that the LAPD didn’t use them because they weren’t ready in time. Beretta sold 25 of the 27 and kept two of them. Those 25 guns have a specific serial number range, and that range is the only exempt models. The stock used by the 92SB is the Beretta 93R’s and folds in half for easy transportation. These are technically SBRs that have been removed due to their status as curios.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Gun
This seems to be the only NFA-exempt firearm that comes from a television show. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was a spy-centric television show from the 1960s. The show was very Bond-like, with numerous fun and futuristic gadgets. The U.N.C.L.E. spies carried specialized Walther P38s. These guns featured scopes, barrel extensions, and stocks.
The production even made a full-auto version, which caught the attention of the Treasury Department, which fined the production 200 dollars for violating the NFA. There is a total of six specialized Walther P38s, but only one is NFA-exempt and is tied to serial number 122283.
OSS Glove Pistol
The OSS Glove Pistol or the Sedgley Mk 2 is a leather work glove mated to a single-shot .38 caliber pistol. The gun was intended to be issued to Marines and Sailors who were clearing brush on their island-hopping campaign. If they uncovered a hidden Japanese soldier, they could react by punching him, and when you punched with this gun, it fired the .38 Special round.
The Glove Pistols never took off, and only 50 to 200 were produced in total. On the NFA, these would be considered AOWs. Not only because they are disguised guns, but because they are smoothbore guns. The good news is they are exempt and ready for clearing your yard of brush and WW2-era Japanese soldiers.
Gyrojet Rocket Guns
The Gyrojet series of rifles and pistols is one of America’s most well-known weird guns. Instead of firing standard ammunition, these semi-automatic firearms fire micro-sized rockets. Technically, they are rocket launchers. These guns launched projectiles fairly slowly at first, but they gained speed quickly.
They were still anemic. The max velocity is coming out to 1,250 feet per second. These models weren’t all that accurate, or powerful, or effective. They didn’t last long and have become extremely rare. The 13mm variants are NFA-exempt but extremely rare, and ammo is even rarer.
S&W Model 40 Light Rifle
In World War 2, the Brits were famously outgunned. They had their famed Lee-Enfields, but no submachine guns, no carbines, and were one of the forces still using revolvers. The Brits wanted a carbine for defending the island, and S&W contracted with the Brits to produce a semi-automatic 9mm carbine.
S&W designed them around the American 9mm round, and the Brits were using a much hotter 9mm. This led to cracked receivers, so S&W reinforced them. They produced anywhere from 950 to 2200 Light Rifles. The majority were scrapped after the war, and a few remain in private hands as collector items. The 9.75-inch barrel makes it an SBR.
U.S. Small Arms Knife Pistol
Knife pistols come and go. They are designated as AOWs since they fall into that disguised weapons category. The U.S. Small Arms Knife Pistol is a simple folding pocket knife with a single-shot .22 firearm built in as another part of the folding design. The fairly standard design gives the impression of a basic pocket knife.
The idea behind the U.S. Small Arms Knife Pistol is simple: it’s designed for hunters and trappers who need a quick and quiet way to dispatch wounded game. It’s not quite devious, and it makes sense to remove this little fella from the AOW list.
Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Type 4 Naval handgun
I could only find one real short-barreled shotgun, or I guess technically a shotgun-based AOW on the NFA-exempt list. The stockless Type 4 Naval handgun was one of many last-ditch weapons designed as the war ended. The Type 4 Naval handgun acted as both a flare gun and a double-barreled, handheld 12-gauge.
It sounds so flipping cool! Sure, it might break your wrist, or at the very least make it a little painful, but who wouldn’t want to put some mini shells through one of these things? Last-ditch weapons weren’t known for their quality, so I wouldn’t be the guy putting a full-powered 12-gauge load through the gun. Sadly, these are extremely rare and expensive, so it won’t be in my safe anytime soon.
NFA-Exempt – The Joy
All guns should be NFA-exempt. The NFA is such a crapshoot of a law. As you can see, there are SBRs, AOWs, SBSs, and similar platforms. We don’t see any machine guns, sadly, and I don’t think the ATF will ever exempt a machine gun. At least there are some NFA-exempt weapons that fall into my favorite category of guns, weird ones.
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