Show Changes and the Challenge of Form Processing

I’ve returned from Kentucky after representing the NFATCA at the bi-annual Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot. Also representing the NFATCA were board members Curt Wolf, Bob Landies and Robert Segel. There have been significant changes for the event that have been evolving for quite some time now. I’d like to brief you on those changes and also what was discussed at our regular Thursday afternoon meeting at “The Creek.”

Knob Creek Format Change

First up is the really big news: Beginning with the spring event, Knob Creek will be morphing into a two-day show. Set-up for vendors will still happen on Thursday. It’s the rest of the show that changes! The show will be open from 9:00am until 9:00pm on Friday and Saturday. There will be a night shoot on both days to help entertain the crowds. Vendors may begin tearing down after 9:00pm on Saturday, or, vendors may choose to come back Sunday morning for tear down. Knob Creek will provide security overnight and through 11:00am on Sunday. Most are viewing this change as being responsive to the changing atmosphere of the event and are eager to see the change be well-received.

Attendance was fairly strong during this fall production. Savvy buyers were snapping up deals on parts kits and accessories. Some machine guns did change hands, as well. There was a gentleman who had a table full of rotary 26.5mm flare launchers that looked like something from a science fiction movie. Those seemed to draw a lot of attention, and I believe he sold all but one or two (he had dozens). The weather was damp and cold. This was actually a good thing! There were no pesky fires started on the mountainsides by tracer fire and no stoppages as a result. The line was hot and rolling, and the crowds seemed to be very much into all the lead going down range. The dust was held down, mostly as a result of the very much appreciated concrete floor installed under the pole barn. The morning invocations went as expected. And the always tongue-in-cheek bake sale to raise funds for the Kentucky Diabetes Network was a success.

NFATCA Current Events

The Thursday meeting held by the NFATCA in the range house reviewed current events on the minds of everyone. Curt Wolf reviewed the proposed changes in administration of ITAR from State Department to Commerce Department. Although not complete, these changes are welcome and needed. However, Curt rightly pointed out that manufacturers of NFA items such as suppressors and machine guns will still be regulated by State, along with the continued need for complicated registration and payment of onerous fees. We will continue to advocate via various avenues for the reduction or elimination of this burdensome regime, especially for those who do not export. I also detailed the challenges currently being experienced by many with forms processing. It is true that Form 1 is back online with the eForms system. It is also true that the NFA Division is still not capable of receiving electronic fingerprints. As a result, using eForms for a Form 1 will require a somewhat complicated “dance” that entails a portion of the process online, a receipt of a cover letter for use with hard copy fingerprints and then mailing in of the fingerprint cards with the cover letter. It is hoped that the NFA Division will be able to fine tune this process and then return Form 4s to the eForms roster in short order. The NFA Examiners appear to have broken the backlog of most of the transfer and making applications. Dealers are reporting Form 3 approvals in terms of days or hours. End user processing is still problematic, though. Some forms have been languishing for a year or more. And some current submissions are dealing with a reported bottleneck at FBI for background check processing. NFATCA has a scheduled meeting with ATF senior management and will obtain more detail on the FBI logjam. The capacity crowd at the meeting in the range house/snack bar was strongly encouraged to make sure to get out and “vote red” in the upcoming election. The reminder should not be necessary, though. As NFA enthusiasts, we should always vote in every election, and we should always make sure that we are voting for candidates that support the Second Amendment. The meeting wrapped up with a complimentary BBQ dinner, provided by Knob Creek proprietors, Kenny & Tracy.

The NFATCA attends many events each year to ensure effective membership outreach. Fall and Spring Knob Creek, SAR West, SHOT Show and the NRA Annual Meeting are always on our roster. If you are attending any of these events, make sure to stop by and say “hi.” We’d love to hear from you. As we pass 15 years of service to the NFA community, we want to thank you for your continued support. If you already are a member, thanks! If you are interested in becoming one, you can sign up at nfatca.org today.

Fall in Central Kentucky; mild weather, the leaves are beginning to turn their autumn colors: just beautiful. Approximately thirty miles south of Louisville at the Knob Creek Range in West Point, the smell of campfires, burning gun powder, accompanied by the sounds of machine gun fire and a Huey helicopter flying over: simply outstanding! The weather was very pleasant for the 2010 fall shoot; temperatures in the mid to high 70s, clear blue skies, lots of sunshine and accompanying dust that comes with dry weather. The dust can be annoying, but it’s still better than mud, which at the Creek is usually one or the other.

The Show

One of the big attractions at Knob Creek is the huge gun show, located inside the pole barn and the surrounding out buildings. All the major dealers in the country set up at the show, and whatever NFA or military related item you are looking for can probably be found there. Ammunition was plentiful this year and in most cases reasonably priced. By Sunday, many of the vendors were sold out of the more popular calibers. Also reappearing after a prolonged shortage, were reloading components to include reasonably priced primers and powder.

Some unique items were being offered in the show, including Dan Richardson’s M1903 Springfield rifle fitted with a very rare Pederson Device. The Pederson Device was a top secret “wonder weapon” developed during World War I to convert the bolt-action ’03 rifle into a semiautomatic weapon firing a short .30 caliber pistol cartridge. The device fed from a vertical 40-round magazine that extended upward from the receiver. The war ended before the Pederson devices were fielded and all were ordered to be destroyed shortly after the war ended. The Pederson Device and rifle are for sale and if interested call Dan at (423) 596-4180. Mark Mann who does business as “The Rifleman” had a pair of rare Broomhandle pistols on his table, an original Chinese made .45 caliber model and a German-made slabside – a large ring hammer C96 produced for the 1899 Italian Navy contract. For more information contact Mark at (478) 784-2767. For MAC fans John Thedford of NFA Firearms, had an original Powder Springs .380 caliber, Ingram Model 11 submachine gun, serial number 60, and an RPB operational hardcase on his table. NFA Firearms (239)-200-5600.

Part of the draw to the “Crick” for many is to become reacquainted with old friends and make new ones. Many new and familiar faces were present including Knob Creek regular, renowned author Dolf Goldsmith. In addition, Linda Farmer and her son Jeremiah were there. Many “old timers” will remember Linda from the days when she and her late husband J.D. Farmer, founded and ran Hard Times Armory. Linda was also a part of the National Firearms Association that was started in 1987, to represent the NFA community after the 1986 machine gun manufacturing ban.

Many new, innovative firearms products were seen at the show that included the Tactical Brass Bag by TacticalBrassRecovery.com. The high capacity, collapsible brass catcher bag (holds up to 240 5.56 cases) is designed to be used with an AR-15 style weapon fitted with a Picatinny rail system. The brass catcher does not harm the weapon’s finish or interfere with any optics or mounts. The folks at MGI were present with their innovative modular upper and lower receivers for the AR-15/M16 family of small arms. The MGI modular system makes the popular rifles easily adaptable to numerous calibers and magazines in minutes by changing out the magazine well and barrel. The company also offers a number of related upgrade products for the rifles including a quick-change barrel system. MGI can be reached at (207) 945-5441 or visit their website at www.MGImilitary.com. Troy Edmund of the BarrelXChange was offering his latest innovation, a 76-round drum magazine for the 5.45 AK-74 rifle based on the easy to load “Chinese” pattern drums. For more information on the AK-74 drum and other products visit their website at www.barrelxchange.com. The folks from the Shotgun News and Small Arms Review magazine were both at the show handing out complimentary issues of their respective publications.

Sub Gun Matches

One the other side of the Knob Creek facility, the subgun matches were held with a course designed to delight and challenge the shooters. Over the years the skill level of the shooters has increased dramatically. Just observing the finesse and accuracy of many of the competitors is enjoyable, their skills honed by many hours of practice preparing for the semiannual event. Top shooter/fastest time was Andy Blaschik using a Beretta PM12, competing in the open bolt/optic sights category. Andy’s time was a blazing 45.78 seconds. The second best time of the day was 61.56 seconds recorded by Todd Louis with an UZI, competing in the open bolt/iron sights group. Jeremy Parker took top honors in both the closed bolt/iron sights and closed bolt/optic sight classes using a 9mm M16 with times of 73.71 and 69.29 respectively. Top female shooter was Joyce Carrere with a Port Said (Swedish-K) in the open bolt/iron sights class with a time of 131.92 seconds.

Machine Gun Rentals

Following the trail to the opposite side of the subgun match range, is the machine gun rental range, where spectators, for a modest fee, are afforded the chance to fire their choice of weapons from a wide variety of popular machine guns.

The Huey Helicopter

Up near the KCR campground area, the folks from the American Huey 369th Organization flew in from Peru, Indiana to offer Creek attendees rides in their Vietnam era Bell UH-1H “Huey” helicopter number 70-16369. The official name of the Bell helicopter is the Iroquois, but it became better known by its nickname “Huey” derived from its model designation UH-1 (Utility Helicopter). The sight and unique sound of the Huey made it an indelible icon of the Vietnam War. Huey 369 was originally assigned to the 498th Medical Company where it was first utilized as a Medevac Air Ambulance or “Dustoff” aircraft during the Vietnam War. The Huey helicopter has been credited with saving the lives of many battlefield casualties by quickly evacuating wounded troops out of harm’s way to rear area medical facilities for treatment.

The Firing Line

The firing line was bristling with machine guns and small-arms of every description, including several of the crowd-pleasing miniguns and cannons. Despite the increase in price and decrease in availability of ammunition experienced in recent times, it was certainly not evident by the amount fire being put on the targets downrange. Knob Creek range personal kept the shooters supplied with numerous targets to include vehicles, appliances and boats… rigged with explosives. Diligent KCR range officers were present to keep everyone safe. The night shoot, which is like a fireworks display on steroids, was awesome as usual with the sight and sound of thousands of tracers, incendiary rounds and huge explosions lighting up the Kentucky sky. The Saturday night shoot can only be described as exhilarating, and something that one just doesn’t grow tired of seeing.

Other Area Attractions

While visiting the Knob Creek Range there are other interesting things to see in the surrounding area. The Fort Knox Army base “Home of Armor” is just southwest of Knob Creek on the Dixie Highway (route 31W) near the city of Radcliff. For visitors, the facility features the General George S. Patton Museum and the United States Gold Bullion Depository. Unfortunately, the Patton museum is currently being down-sized and many of the exhibits are being transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia. Despite the change, there are still a number of interesting displays. On the way to Fort Knox there are numerous surplus stores scattered along the Dixie Highway. Traveling north back from Fort Knox on the Dixie Highway, just a few miles past Route 44 that leads to the Knob Creek range, is Mark’s Feed Store located in Valley Station. Mark’s is famous for their outstanding barbecue rib dinners and southern hospitality and is a favorite eatery of many Knob Creek shooters and vendors.

The Knob Creek shoot and show is a semiannual event held in April and October. If you are interested in attending there are more details on their website at http://www.knobcreekrange.com/ as well as a list of area motels. Be advised that motel reservations need to be made well in advance of the event. The Knob Creek spring shoot is scheduled for April 8, 9 and 10, 2011. Eye and ear protection is highly recommended.

One of the many things that the NFATCA continues to monitor are the statistics and particulars on NFA transfers. Many of you remember the days of transfers that took, on the norm, 10-12 months. The last thing in the world you would do is call and check the status of your own transfer because you didn’t want to disturb the process. Those days made you feel helpless. Thank goodness those days are long gone.

When the NFA Branch moved to Martinsburg and Ken Houchens, as the new NFA Branch Chief, took this bull by the horns and things seemed to change overnight. Most of us went from being scared of our examiners to developing a good relationship with them. At that time the NFATCA actually went to Martinsburg and presented the examiners with a special plaque recognizing them for their excellence in getting a better handle on transfers for the entire community. At the height of the best times that we have seen, Form 3 transfers were taking a mere 5 days and Form 4s were handled in 22 days, once at the Branch. Did we get spoiled by all of this? You bet we did!

If you had the occasion to go to Knob Creek in October last year you would have seen the new NFA Branch Chief Ed Saavedra explain that Form 4s were holding at 4 months in 2009. In a later article I will detail an interview with Ted Clutter who has taken the lead as the NFA Branch Supervisor and is holding the line of this tidal wave that takes transfers 4 months as best possible with the resources that are available.

Prior to the Knob Creek meeting, resources at ATF and the NFATCA pondered on why the transfer times are running at the rate they are. We all knew that with a new President that the rush was on. NFA purchases went through the roof and purchases of the AR family of rifles were unprecedented. After the election panic and with the fall of the economy everything came to a screeching halt. Not only did the panic purchases come to a full stop but prices began to fall. The decline of disposable income and the fear of a complete collapse in the economy caused an interesting phenomenon in purchasing. Most of the NFA community decided not to spend their disposable income on high end items and instead spend their money on more affordable items, such as suppressors, short barreled rifles and similar more affordable items thereby holding on to as much cash as possible. At least that’s what appeared to be happening. To verify this, we decided to study the overall numbers and present those to our readers on what was actually happening with the types of NFA transfers during the last five years.

If you carefully look over the statistics in the following chart there are some amazing conclusions that can be drawn on how the presidential election and the economy have affected our community.

It is especially interesting to see that the more economical NFA items have increased dramatically. Also of note is how the pace in purchasing machine guns has drastically slowed as compared to any of the other five years. Additional surprises are also apparent in silencer purchases and short barreled rifles over previous years. Take into consideration that short barreled rifles and silencers are more affordable and still being made, it is no wonder that machine gun purchases have fallen off over the last year.

The last point of interest is how this work load has affected the ATF examiners in Martinsburg. Since 2006 their job has been, with the same number of resources, almost unmanageable. Taking a look at what happened for the total in 2009, it is no wonder that the NFA Branch has been forced to institute a multitude of new practices to keep pace with the increases in form processing. It is also important to understand that this chart only addresses Form 4s. This combined with the many other forms that are processed by the NFA Branch has put the NFATCA and ATF at the table together on many occasions to address how the NFTCA can better communicate issues to the community to assist the Branch. Working together has proven to help us both in better managing submission and processing.

On multiple occasions since the inception of the NFATCA we have had the privilege and the honor of working closely with the NFA Branch to better understand and assist the Branch whenever possible.

Still wondering what we do for our community? Continue to follow our updates in future articles to see exactly “What we have done for you lately,” or come join us and make a difference at www.nfatca.org.

Text & Photos by Jeff W. Zimba

As I am writing this, I have just returned from the Fall 2003 Knob Creek and am in the process of laying up this January 2004 issue. This is extremely late in the game for adding anything to an issue but we felt that there were so many new products there you should know about that we would make a major exception.

Vector Arms (of the famous Group Industries Uzi project) was in attendance with their new V53 project. The V53 is a semi-auto version of the HK53 machine gun. These rifles are offered in a legal 16-inch barrel length or as a registered short-barreled rifle with the original barrel length. They also had their new V93 rifle on display. The V93 is their version of the HK93 rifle. The pieces we looked at had a plastic trigger housing, paddle magazine release and were of excellent quality. Keeping in the Vector Arms tradition we have become used to, these guns looked nicer than any of the other HK clones this writer has had the opportunity to handle to date. Vector Arms, Inc., Dept. SAR, 270 West 500 North, North Salt Lake Utah, 84054. Tel: (801) 295-1917, Fax: (801) 295-9316. Website: www.vectorarms.com.

Valkyrie Arms had one of their latest innovations at the show on display. They are now manufacturing a semiautomatic version of the Sten. They are making plans to offer the MKII, the MKIII and even the MK V at a later date. The model they had on display looked as nice as their new M3A1 Semiautomatic Carbine (see feature on page 19 in this issue) as far as aesthetics. I am pleased to report that there will be many other new projects by Valkyrie Arms coming to light in the near future. Valkyrie Arms, Dept. SAR, 120 State Avenue, N.E. No. 381, Olympia Washington, 98501. Tel: (360)4824036. Website: www.valkyriearms.com

Doublestar Corporation unveiled their latest project at the Creek. They are now manufacturing their own Colt 1911 style receivers. These will be “tricked out” before they are shipped to set them apart from some of the other manufacturers. The details are still being hashed out at this time but they will be making their formal announcements about these very soon. Doublestar Corporation, Dept. SAR, Box 4671, Winchester, Kentucky 40391. Tel: 859-745-1757. Fax: 859-745-4638. Website: www.star15.com

JT Distributing is now offering a long awaited rail interface system for the M60 and its variants. It utilizes three military standard 1913 rails, one on each side and one on the bottom. These rails will accept many of several accessories available. JT Distributing, Dept. SAR, Box 430, Winchester, Kentucky 40391. Tel: 859-745-1757. Fax: 859-745-4638. Website: www.jtdistributing.com

The LULA magazine loader/ unloader line has been expanded to include the AK-47/ Galil series of magazines. One loader fits all, and the sales people said that the only problem encountered was one obscure East German manufactured magazine not in use in the US. This is quite an accomplishment considering the variety of AK and Galil magazines out there in calibers 7.62×39 and 5.56. GTS LLC, 2001 Clay Street, North Kansas City, MO, 64116. Tel 816-221-9117 Ext 11. Website: www.globaltactical.com LULA mag loaders are also available at www.longmountain.com.

A new Glock folding foregrip was showcased at Knob Creek by Todd A. Brueckmann. This new, lightweight system requires two 3/32 inch holes to be drilled into the polymer frame of the Glock. Use on a Glock 18 machine pistol would not change status, however the installation on any of the semi automatic Glock pistols would require registration with the ATF as an “Any Other Weapon”. TBA Suppressors, Tel: (804) 550-3159. Email: tbasuppressors@erols.com

For all you who like the big guns, there were three of the latest .50BMG designs there.

Cobb Manufacturing had their Cobb FA-50 at the show. This is their new straight-pull, magazine fed bolt-action rifle. It utilized the proven Armalite AR50 muzzle brake and their lack of felt recoil was popular with many of the shooters in attendance. This rifle uses a 10-round detachable magazine and boasts bolt-action accuracy with follow up shots much faster than traditional bolt-action designs. Cobb Manufacturing, Inc. Dept. SAR, P.O. Box 2344, Kennesaw, Georgia, 30156. Tel: 770-590-0044. Fax: 770-590-0081. Website: www.cobb50.com.

Walter with Safety Harbor Firearms had his usual tables with Serbu Firearms in the back of the pole barn and had a few variations of his innovative Ultramag 50 AR-15 upper receiver with him. His design is a replacement upper receiver in .50BMG. The thing that separates his design apart from some of the other upper receiver caliber conversions is that his utilizes a 3-round detachable magazine. With a 22-inch barrel it weighs approximately 12 pounds. Safety Harbor Firearms, Inc. Dept. SAR, P.O. Box 563, Safety Harbor, Florida, 34695. Tel: 727-725-4700. Fax: 727-724-1872. Website: www.ultramag50.com.

The .50 caliber Viper single-shot bolt-action was on display in the vendor’s tent area. This interesting bullpup design utilizes a 29″ barrel yet has an overall length of only 52.5 inches. The most interesting feature to this writer was the ability to completely disassemble the rifle with absolutely no tools necessary. Another unique feature is the built-in safety mechanism that sets the action to “safe” every time the action is cycled. It also has an interlocking mechanism that prohibits it from being disassembled with the bolt locked into battery.

Bluegrass Armory
Dept. SAR
P.O. Box 57
Richmond, Kentucky, 40475
Tel & Fax: 859-625-0874
Website: www.bluegrassarmory.com.