I bougth this dewatted FN IAI years ago. It has a Canadian rear sight, body cover, hand guards, sling, bayonet w/scabbard, grip and trigger group. What would be a fair price for it? Thanks!
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I bougth this dewatted FN IAI years ago. It has a Canadian rear sight, body cover, hand guards, sling, bayonet w/scabbard, grip and trigger group. What would be a fair price for it? Thanks!
Hello:
Noted that you're in Canada.
Was your rifle semi-auto only or selective (full auto) fire? If semi-auto only, then it could probably be considered like a drill rifle. A FAL "Dewat" of any type is probably worth much more to somebody in England where such things are bartered, sold and traded all the time. In the United States on the other hand, we have lots of parts kits and semi-auto receivers around so to build into working rifles.
Firearms classified as "Dewat" (De-Activated War Trophy) in the United States were weapons that were once full auto or selective fire and made otherwise non-functional by way of prescribed federal guidelines.
Before NFA rules changes in 1968, citizens in the U.S. could own and possess a "Dewat" without any paperwork. After that time, those with "Dewat" "machine guns" and other inoperable full auto weapons needed a certificate or some sort of form or registration paper from the Federal Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms bureau to own. There was a certain amnesty period for both functional and dewat weapons to either register or be destroyed. Had a friend with a couple of "Dewats" with one being a Model 1921 Thompson and the other a German MP44. Though welded in specific places, both required transfer paperwork from ATF. By having the ATF registration paperwork for the DEWAT, it is legally possible in the United States to then "Re-Activate" that weapon under NFA and IRS regulations to a fully functional weapon.
If the "Dewat" FN-FAL was a selective fire version with original receiver and other components and not papered within the United States, then it is totally illegal on this side of the border. The gun would be considered "contraband" and subject to confiscation by the Feds. To get it into the U.S., I believe that the upper receiver would need to be destroyed or kept in Canada. The way it works out in the U.S. is that once a machine gun . . . always a machine gun.
Located the following info from an NFA related WEB site.
Canada, to my knowledge is a much different story with these gun laws as well as Great Britain where welded up full auto weapons are considered to be simply non-guns.Quote:
Folks who are around NFA guns for very long will find there are still a lot of DEWAT guns that were never registered during the Amnesty, and are now contraband unregistered machine guns. Folks have them in closets, up over the mantle... They can be stripped of parts, to make a parts set, and have the receiver thrown away. Torch cutting the receiver into 4 or more parts may be acceptable; you would have to contact ATF to find out the current standard for "de-mill"ing (short for demilitarize) a receiver; a de-milled receiver is not a firearm, it is scrap metal. A receiver only cut in half may well not be scrap; ATF has prosecuted folks where they could duct-tape together the receiver and get the gun to fire. Best to check on this before proceeding. The U.S. v. Staples, - U.S. - (1994), decision should end such ridiculous prosecutions, now the feds must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, you knew the gun was subject to the NFA, ie you knew it was a machine gun, that it could fire more than one shot with a pull of the trigger, and so on. But even if there were no prosecution, you could lose the receiver and or parts to a forfeiture, if ATF though it was in fact a machine gun, and it was not registered.
Thanks for the information.
Hi Oatmeal Savage,
Canadian FNs were mostly FN C1A1s which were semi auto only and FN C2A1s which were full auto with a folding bipod forearm. Yours sounds like a dewalt C1A1 if it is a matching Canadian FN and not a put together. It should say so on the receiver if its a C1A1. As such its worth more in Canada than in the US or Britian. An Australian L1A1 sold here recently for $450 but then had to be deactivated. I'd suspect yours would be at least $200 more depending on condition. If your interested in selling I could could try to contact a friend that specializes in Canadian FNs. You would need to post more pics and a description.
Cheers,
dastier
Hi Oatmeal Savage,
My friend the C1A1 expert says that if it is truly a Canadian FN you can tell from the serial number. It should also say C.A.L. on the receiver. Depending on condition it could be worth much more than a L1A1. (more than at least $400+ above the price of a L1A1). However he cautioned that a number of Indian guns were 'Canadianized' and are worth much less.
Dastier, take a look at the pic on the post. The gun is an Ishapore Arsenal rifle and he even says so. All he said was it has Canadian parts on it as listed. Oatmeal Savage;Let's not speculate on shipping this rifle anywhere outside Canada or likely as not that would be the last you would see of it. The India guns aren't worth much as a dewat OR as a seviceable rifle. Most of them arrived in well worn shape. The guns couldn't be rebuilt very well because of the mixture of metric, imperial and unknown thread pitches in the parts. On the other hand it's not junk. If the rear sight is working and in decent shape, it alone could bring $100. They have simply dried up. The half body covers too. Probably another $100 there. The breech block carrier looks Canadian(no zig zag cuts in it?) and if not too buggered up maybe another $100. I doubt you want to play games with parting it out, so why not just put it up for bids with the info provided and see what you get? Otherwise maybe put it on a friend's table at the next gun show and see. It may fit right into someone's life just as it is!
Hi Browningautorifle,
Like I said I'm no expert on FNs, my friend is. I read IAI as 1A1 as in C1A1 since Oatmeal Savage went on to describe the Canadian aspects of it. I agree that if its a Ishapore Arsenal rifle then its worth is in its Canadian parts. My friend tells me he bought Ishapore Arsenal FNs for $150 as they are generally worn out and were poorly maintained.
Most of the ones that showed up here in Victoria were so worn out the police wouldn't allow registration! Those guns got scrapped. $150 would probably be about correct and then you don't have to worry about any legal loopholes developing about selling parts.
I realize this post is old but do you still have the DEWAT?