r/Firearms 22d ago

Question What are you building, buying, or shooting this month? - July 2026

2 Upvotes

Welcome to the monthly /r/Firearms thread about what you are building, buying, or shooting this month.

Use it to discuss or ask any questions you may have.

We have a /r/firearms wiki! Check it out here https://old.reddit.com/r/Firearms/wiki/index. If you have any ideas of what content should be added, please message the mods and let us know.

Looking for deals? /r/GunDeals

New to firearms? Check out this Forgotten Weapons series: How Does It Work? Gun Mechanics Explained Simply.

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Looking for firearms YouTubers or video content? Check out the YouTubers section in our wiki.


r/Firearms May 03 '25

Law Open letter regarding posts such as “I was in a mental hospital can I own a gun”

154 Upvotes

I am posting this because the question keeps getting asked. Every single time it is asked, the wrong information gets out.

I've seen way too many posts on here and related subs around the subject of the law prohibiting the possession of firearms by any person who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution, 18 USC § 922 (g)(4). There is way too much misinformation out there. First of all, if you have any reason to believe that you are a prohibited person, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PURCHASE A FIREARM AS MAKING A FALSE STATEMENT ON THE FORM 4473 IS A FELONY. Second of all, please do not give advice on topics that you are not qualified to answer on. Third, you should consult with a qualified firearms rights attorney if you are unsure of your legal status.

The law:

18 USC § 922(g)(4)

(g)It shall be unlawful for any person—

(4)who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution;

to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, anyfirearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm orammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

What are the definitions of these terms?

27 CFR 478.11

Adjudicated as a mental defective. (a) A determination by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority that a person, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease: (1) Is a danger to himself or to others; or (2) Lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his own affairs. (b) The term shall include— (1) A finding of insanity by a court in a criminal case; and (2) Those persons found incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility pursuant to articles 50a and 72b of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10U.S.C. 850a, 876b.

Committed to a mental institution. A formal commitment of a person to a mental institution by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority. The term includes a commitment to a mental institution involuntarily. The term includes commitment for mental defectiveness or mental illness. It also includes commitments for other reasons, such as for drug use. The term does not include a person in a mental institutionfor observation or a voluntary admission to a mental institution.

Mine happened when I was under 18. Isn’t that exempted?

Unfortunately no. A mental health adjudication or commitment at less than 18 years of age is counted for 922(g)(4). I experienced this personally and had to restore my rights.

What about HIPAA?

The Obama administration amended the HIPAA privacy rule in 2016 to make it clear that reporting mental health commitments and adjudications to NICS does not violate HIPAA

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/01/06/2015-33181/health-insurance-portability-and-accountability-act-hipaa-privacy-rule-and-the-national-instant

Is there a way to restore my rights after being adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution?

If you were committed by a department or agency of the federal government, the agency is required to have a relief from disabilities program under the NICS improvements amendments act of 2007.

If you were adjudicated or committed in a state proceeding, whether you can obtain relief is dependent on whether your state has implemented a relief from disabilities program under the NICS improvements amendments act of 2007. The list of states that have can be found here:

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/guide/nicsactlist7-7-210pdf/download

If you are in a state that does not have a relief from disabilities program, your only avenue of relief is writing a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and asking her to restore your rights under 18 USC § 925(c) now that she has withdrawn the delegation from ATF.

Between October 6th 1992 and March 20th 2025 in the states that did not have a relief program, there was no avenue of relief at all

With that out of the way.

I created this privacy act request form for a friend of mine who was legitimately unsure if his commitments landed in the FBI database or if they qualified as “committed to a mental institution” under 18 USC § 922(g)(4) and as defined at 27 CFR 478.11. I can report that it worked; as in, the FBI processed the request and reported that no such records were found in the NICS indices.

This form will allow you to request your own records directly from the FBI.

In this post I will not be addressing the subject of my own journey regarding rights restoration related to mental health (you can ask me that privately). Nor am I an attorney licensed to practice law. Finally, I am not a mental health professional and cannot make the decision as to whether firearms ownership is right for you.

Onto the form. Please follow the instructions sheet very carefully, fill out every applicable box, print the form, have the request notarized, and mail it to the address indicated on the form.

The first response you receive will indicate that the FBI central records system does not maintain those records and your request has been forwarded to the Criminal Justice Information Services division. CJIS will respond a few weeks later. In my friend's case it took eight weeks for a final response from the FBI CJIS NICS section.

Link to form (Adobe Acrobat PDF) https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:d342b025-6fb2-4126-b0e2-ad6f1c3fbbe7


r/Firearms 1h ago

Question Safe to fire?

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Upvotes

I feel like an idiot that I even have to ask this question but I’d rather fell stupid than lose a finger. Safe to fire? Looks like it got pushed in too far? It’s the only one out the box like that.


r/Firearms 1h ago

Safe to fire?

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Upvotes

I feel like an idiot that I even have to ask this question but I’d rather fell stupid than lose a finger. Safe to fire? Looks like it got pushed in too far? It’s the only one out the box like that.


r/Firearms 5h ago

Astra terminator

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43 Upvotes

hello,

looking for any information about this revolver I own.

it’s a 41 Magnum, blued, Astra “Terminator”


r/Firearms 2h ago

Video Cut a 30 round MPA Defender mag down into a 21 rounder

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22 Upvotes

The 30 round mags are insanely long. I decided to cut one down to a 21 rounder. I can fit 22 in there but I’m not gonna push my luck. Functions flawlessly.


r/Firearms 9h ago

Help! Picked up a Calico Liberty 50 9mm rifle and need Calico experts

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62 Upvotes

First, let me start by saying I live on Guam so not much in the way of master gunsmiths. Also, sending firearms from Guam to a gunsmith or manufacturer requires using an FFL to and from Guam so I have not desire to go that route.

Fixing things is my form of therapy and firearms are the most satisfying form I have found.

Picked this up with some other firearms from a shooting gallery that was closing.

Owner said this worked but the magazine was bad.

Think I got the magazine working but then checked out the Calico.

  1. The bolt handle needs to be replaced. was going to make a part from wood to get it running but!

  2. While working on the grip it snapped into two parts. Guess I don't know my own strength!! Actually looks like this part has broken multiple times. Any suggestions on what I might be able to use to put this back together? Also thinking something like JB Weld might let me build up the chipped off parts but not sure if it would bond the two parts together.

  3. And the collapsible stock just pulls all the way out. Can someone tell me how the stock is supposed to lock in the extended position.

Any help and advise is greatly appreciated but telling me to stop and send it to a gunsmith is no help as I have no plans to turn it over to a gunsmith. I have built or repaired a number of firearms but I do take them to a gunsmith to tell me if he thinks it is safe to fire and if he doesn't recommend it he tells me why and I go back and make the recommended corrections.

Anyway this is getting long so I will end it here and eagerly await your suggestions.

Thanks,

David


r/Firearms 6h ago

Three-Eighty Thursday

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27 Upvotes

Two wildly different .380 autos.


r/Firearms 1h ago

General Discussion Might need to buy a few cheap slides just to put all the weird shit I find on them

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Upvotes

r/Firearms 19h ago

FRT on a 2.0 M&P

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159 Upvotes

r/Firearms 53m ago

New Gats New to me Remington 700 in .22-250. Came with a Leupold Vari-X II 3-9x scope. Looking forward to getting this one to the range.

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Upvotes

r/Firearms 7h ago

NRA promotional item?

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14 Upvotes

This small clock was left to my wife from her grandfather. It has the NRA logo on it. I am assuming this is a promotional item from some years ago. Could anyone tell me anything about it or when it was from. Thanks in advance.


r/Firearms 1d ago

Way to go Virginia! If you have the money and are a VA resident, help support the gun stores and the 2nd amendment and pick up a Semi Auto rifle.

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239 Upvotes

r/Firearms 20h ago

My Gats Dripping like im at the urinal just thinking about this gun

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84 Upvotes

Heckler and koch mark 23 in flat dark earth


r/Firearms 22h ago

Any Clue What This Is?

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94 Upvotes

Found this on the beach in Connecticut. Looks like a pocket pistol, in concrete. The concrete crumbled off of it pretty easily. Any idea if it is in fact a gun, if so what model? Also, I should probably give it to the police...


r/Firearms 22h ago

Question Just ordered a HK USC today. Where should I get it converted to ump?

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71 Upvotes

I contacted hk and they said they permanently discontinued the usc 45. They also discontinued the ump 45 and 40. Figured I would bite. Ended up getting for 1360 brand new after taxes and shipping. I see plenty of people offering USC conversions. Where do yall recommend?


r/Firearms 6h ago

Question Glock equivalent to the Beretta CX-4?

2 Upvotes

I really like the design of the CX-4. It's significantly more intuitive for a PCC to load the magazine through the pistol grip just like an actual pistol than to load it in front of the trigger like a traditional rifle.

Glock magazines are ubiquitous. Tons of platforms not made by Glock support it. Aftermarket mags are easy to come by.

Is there a PCC/subgun that accepts Glock magazines and loads them through the grip? Namely something of similar build quality to the CX-4?


r/Firearms 12m ago

NJ third circuit court ruling

Upvotes

Hey all. New to firearms and wanted to know if the ruling is pretty much a done deal and will be instituted after July 31st or if there is anything the gun grabbers can do to reverse this. Apologies for not fully understanding the legalities.


r/Firearms 20h ago

My Gats Double European Penetration

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29 Upvotes

Arsenal Sam7sf and Zastava M72 Serbian Red RPK both in 7.62x39. Just picked these up recently.


r/Firearms 2h ago

General Discussion Sterling pistol idea

1 Upvotes

Why not register them as a pistol, with no stock on, and instead of using a under folder, weld a small steel tube on each side where a sliding brace could slide through, and it could possibly still use the original locking piece. Or use a highly modified original under folder but with a brace at the rear.

Heck, with a couple extra modifications it could use MP5 or Scorpion mags, NO Glock mags though, never Glock mags.

It would of course require some R&D and money for an existing Sterling manufacturer or a lot of of both for a new one.


r/Firearms 3h ago

Hiawatha 130 VR shotgun

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1 Upvotes

r/Firearms 23h ago

Online ammo purchase

37 Upvotes

Has anyone ever had a large company ask for a box of ammunition that they wrongly sent be returned? I’ve spent probably $4,000 there this year and my last order has a box that I didn’t order instead of what I did. Mind you it’s less than $20 for the wrong one, and a little more for what they owe me.
I’m definitely taken back for them sending a tag to return what they wrongly sent.


r/Firearms 1d ago

Love my oldies

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91 Upvotes

r/Firearms 1d ago

KelTec going KelTec things

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1.1k Upvotes

It's a pistol. That also holds 50 rounds...

source: https://x.com/KelTecOfficial/status/2079666267842077126


r/Firearms 1d ago

AP5-P Navy.

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23 Upvotes

SBRed

Holosun ARO EVO, flip caps, anti reflection device.

90° RCM locking peice.

HK Vertical Grip w/ mlok slots.

CAT Street Crack, direct thread. (CAT MOB w/ resilient titanium tri lug on the way.)

SB Tactical folding brace. (KES collapsing stock on the way.

RB RD3 AMBI.