Long time readers may remember the Akins Accelerator. If you don’t, the TLDR version is that it was a bumpfire stock for the Ruger 10/22 (the first I’d seen) except it had a spring to do the bumping. A sample was sent to ATF, who couldn’t get the thing to work, for approval. ATF initially […]

ATF prints 3D gun and it blows up on them.

Appeals court finds for the ATF. Decision here.

From Bill Aikins, court documents related to the Akins case are available here.

David has the details

Looks like Akins is suing the US and ATF.

I’ve covered the issue many times. Now, the press is covering how Bill Akins has been bankrupted by inconsistencies from the ATF: More than five years later, Akins is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. His business partner has severed ties with his company. His investors have bailed. He has a warehouse in Oregon filled […]

Lots of background on the case here. I noted that one of the directors resigned and cited he did not think case could be won. I got an interesting email this weekend from William Akins. Here’s the text: To the moderator of Say Uncle. Sorry, I do not know your name. Please let me know […]

Legal issues with the Akins can be seen at past posts here. Now, one of the directors of the company has resigned and cited that the case cannot be won as a reason why. I suppose all the folks who bought one now have a really overpriced stock on their 10/22.

Looks like the request for reconsideration was denied.

The ATF has started sending out letters in response to letters it received expressing concerns that the Akins is a machine gun. Here’s a sample letter. Short version: tough dookie.

Update at their site. They’re asking the ATF to reconsider and have cited the ATF’s own rulings. They are also asking for you to write a letter (and they have a sample letter). Background info here. Update: BTW, I hope the ATF reconsiders. I really want one of these things. Update 2: The law says […]

Here’s a link to their ruling, which is nothing new. It should be noted that if this ruling stands, it’s not a far stretch to assert that any semi-automatic firearm can be classified as a machine gun. Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them in. In this document, they give instructions and ask that you mail […]

The Akins Folks have posted the letter rescinding prior approval of the stock system for a Ruger 10/22 that facilitated bump-firing. They have the other approval letters and such too. Very inconsistent and, honestly, just made up as the ATF went along. Translation: Wait, it works? Then it’s a machine gun. By the rationale they’re […]

Should have bought one then. So says their site: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ATF DECIDES THE AKINS ACCELERATOR™ TO BE A MACHINEGUN Akins Group Inc. regrets to announce that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has reversed its position and has decided the Akins Accelerator™ to be a machinegun conversion kit, thereby subjecting it […]

Remember the Akins Accelerator? It was a spring loaded bump fire stock that mimicked full auto. Well, ATF said the non-working version they tested was not an NFA weapon. It didn’t work because tech branch couldn’t figure it out, supposedly. Now, the stock sans spring could probably be used for bumpfire, which is basically what […]

From David Codrea: During the briefing, the Chief Counsels Office provided a written brief and a PowerPoint presentation, which discussed automatically and single function of a trigger. The brief and PowerPoint presentation, based on the intent of Congress and the statutory text, detailed how even the Akins Accelerator was not a machinegun. However, Acting Director […]

The CSM: With lack of incentives, few Americans are giving up their bump stocks Why would they? Of course, if the proposed federal ban on them, in which the bureaucracy is making up law from nothing, goes through, a lot more people will be ex post facto criminals. IIRC, after ATF arbitrarily decided to ban […]

Bump stocks do not convert semiautomatics into machine guns. The fallout and eventual attempt to legislate these away (which seems to be ATF’s goal, as opposed to NRA who thinks ATF should reevaluate their ruling) will be interesting. If legislated away, what happens to those already in possession? I mean, you cannot add new machine […]

The ATF guy who greenlighed the bumpstock: We could not find a way to classify it as a machine gun Do you guys not remember the mental gymnastics you went through on the street sweepers? Or your various whoopsies, like with the Akins Accelerator or pistol braces. I guess they just weren’t committed enough this […]

Interesting. I wonder if that’s a giant rubber band? It was, after all, the spring that made the Akins Accelerator illegal.

Take an old Akins Accelerator stock and remove the spring. Cut the price in half. It’s a bumpfire stock now.

Today, this blog is nine years old. As is tradition, I like to look at the numbers: 30,957 posts 2,240,456 words 132,767 comments 11,220 tweets (5 of which are non-blog posts) 11,888,139 page views 6,202,916 visits 9,932 average page views per day 4,260 average visits per day 3:16 the average time, in minutes, a reader […]

Steve has a video of a new stock design that makes bump-firing easy. My first thought is that it sounds a lot like the Akins Accelerator. The stock even comes with a letter of approval from the ATF. Just like the Akins Accelerator did. But that didn’t stop ATF from later determining that the Akins […]

Look, I’m not breaking my rule on pointing out that fed agencies read my blog and then get all ZOMFG!!!eleven about. But, pro-tip, it’s called the Akins Accelerator not the Atkins Accelerator. Just doing my part to help or whatever so you’re not wasting my tax dollars.

The Star Bulletin: The FBI arrested two veteran Halawa Correctional Facility prison guards over the weekend for allegedly arranging to obtain a device that can convert semiautomatic rifles into fully automatic machine guns. Ronald Philip Lee Jr. was arrested Saturday when he accepted a mailed package containing the device, while Patrick H. Sonsona was arrested […]

I dig it: U.S. Congressman Phil Gingrey today introduced H.R. 1791, the Fairness in Firearms Testing Act. This legislation improves consistency and accountability in firearm testing by giving U.S. gun manufactures access to video documentation of their products’ testing at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). Video documentation will give firearm manufactures […]

Subgunner Walther1 on the ATF’s recent compliance plan for the Akins Accelerator: The ATF could use this as the mechanism to insure (sic) who has AA devices and then only allow amnesty registration by those that sent in the springs Or should I just start digging a hole in the back yard for my poor […]

I’d like to give a shout-out to my homie Ray-ray from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce Implementation Center. Given the ATF’s recent ruling that the Akins Accelerator is a machine gun after having ruled it wasn’t (be wary of fickle bureaucrats), there have been quite a few searches for Akins Accelerator landing at this site […]

Check out the Akins Accelerator. It is a stock/spring system for a Ruger 10/22 that offers a rate of fire of 650 RPM. It’s completely legal (except in Cali and Minnesota) as it is not a machine gun. Video here. A bit pricey at about $1,000 but much cheaper than than a pre-86 registered Ruger […]