r/Firearms 21d 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.

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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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r/Firearms May 03 '25

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

151 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 20h ago

KelTec going KelTec things

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940 Upvotes

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

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


r/Firearms 4h ago

Love my oldies

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50 Upvotes

r/Firearms 5h ago

Question CZ P10 series vs Glock and M&P

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30 Upvotes

Does it hold up compared to the 2 most reliable pistols on the market?


r/Firearms 20h ago

My shots are going low to the left any advice?

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429 Upvotes

r/Firearms 3h ago

$200ish 12 gauge

17 Upvotes

Mossberg Mavericks are going for $250+ these days. Would y’all recommend any particular brand sub $250 or should I just go used?

Thanks!


r/Firearms 8h ago

Question Zeroing a stock Ruger 10/22 iron sights

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18 Upvotes

I just got my new Ruger 10/22 and took it to the range today to try it out. I'm loving it, but I noticed it shoots a bit high and to the right, using CCI standar velocity 40gr and also RWS club 40gr. I'm shooting at a target 50m away (almost 55 yards for my American brothers, I'm from Spain) with iron sights and just putting the gun over a table, no bipod or anything.

My question is how do I zero my iron sights (I heard that 20 yards is the best), since I'm somewhat new to this kind of rifles. Thank you in advance and any suggestions are welcomed.

By the way, I also bought a 25 magazine, the BX-25. I heard mixed opinions about it's reliability, but I will see when they arrive.


r/Firearms 1d ago

Pawn Shop Pickup - Eotech 512 - $40

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329 Upvotes

Not a bad deal. Needs a new battery compartment and I’m good to go!


r/Firearms 1h ago

What parts are on this gun and can they be made or bought?

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Upvotes

r/Firearms 14h ago

FN 22 Browning

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27 Upvotes

Just inherited this. Did some research and……with these markings, very very interesting


r/Firearms 20h ago

Went in to file for a suppressor, left with this gem cause ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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80 Upvotes

Hi-Point CF380.
Never thought they were legal in my state cause of the Saturday Night Special law… so when I saw one at LGS for the first time ever I decided yolo


r/Firearms 58m ago

Real or fake ?

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Upvotes

Was offered it in a trade


r/Firearms 3h ago

Question Favorite big game bullets for 30-06?

3 Upvotes

Building my own ought six, interested in what you guys are running. Primarily hunting black bear in the pnw, but I’ll have a spike elk tag in my pocket as well. Curious to see what you all think/run.


r/Firearms 20h ago

What do you carry? I’m rocking a Glock 19 with open sights. I see so many people carrying Red dots with lights, how do you do it?

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55 Upvotes

r/Firearms 1d ago

Video Just installed Old Reliable with a super saftey

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

276 Upvotes

Hodge podge build I put together in 2021 I recently put a 60 dollar ss in. Absolutely adore it I have about 5k rounds on this rifle i will probably beat 10k by early next year I'd say. Thankfully psa makes spare a1 barrels now


r/Firearms 20h ago

My Gats Prepping For Lethal Weapons TX

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39 Upvotes

Fulling leaning into a euro trash theme… /s


r/Firearms 1h ago

H3 buffer

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Upvotes

Do I need to adjust this H3 buffer with an Allen key before installing? If so, what’s best practice?


r/Firearms 2h ago

Question How Far Do You Want A Long Gun To Be Useful Out To?

2 Upvotes

I’m going to get into long guns soon or just guns with 3 points of contact in general.

Whenever it comes to the conversation of barrel length, the main points/arguments I always see being made are about effectiveness at range. Shorts barrels suck blah blah.

My question is, what barrel lengths are peoples default, and how far of a defensive shot do you think you’ll actually HAVE to take as a civilian? How far do you NEED a rifle caliber to be useful out to?

I hear people say a gun is useless/bad because of its ballistics at an absurd range like 400-800 yards. Could this be LARP? Or just personal preference?


r/Firearms 1d ago

Snagged this today 😎😎

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53 Upvotes

Perfect condition!


r/Firearms 3h ago

Scar 15p

0 Upvotes

Seems like a lot of FFLs are running deals for them for under $2k, especially in 5.56. Were they just not selling, having issues or is a Gen 2 maybe about to drop?


r/Firearms 1d ago

Pawn shop score

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46 Upvotes

Ruger Mark ii target


r/Firearms 1d ago

Question Regarding inheritance and ownership.

47 Upvotes

I’ve recently learned from that my grandfather left a never used MP-40 he seized from a factory during WW2 to my father. The problem is he neglected to include it in his will. My father then passed and neglected to put it in his will too.

Since learning all this I’ve found the paperwork showing we’re allowed to own this firearm, approved by the ATF and what not. That’s no problem. I’ve checked its condition and given a gentle cleaning, basically treating it as the collectible museum piece it could be.

I’ve been in contact with the ATF and, if I am understanding everything, the biggest issue is ownership. Because it wasn’t in the will, I need to ensure any other potential parties relinquish rights to it. My father had a brother and sister. His sister is deceased, her kids don’t want the gun, and I’m absolutely sure his brother (my uncle) won’t either.

So from what the ATF agent I spoke to said what I need is to get letters confirming they forfeit any claim to the firearm. At that point I can then either donate it to a museum or sell it if I so choose.

The problem for me is I can’t seem to find anyone who can tell me HOW to get these letters. Do I need to hire a firearms attorney, is there some sort of an official form, do I just need to write up a letter myself in get them to sign it? How do I go about this?

If anyone could give me some guidance I’d really appreciate it!


r/Firearms 10h ago

Question the clean circle-dot or the one with cross marks?

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2 Upvotes

Just curious—which of these two reticles do you guys prefer: the clean circle-dot or the one with cross marks? I’m leaning toward the cross-marked one because my eyes seem to pick it up more easily, but that may just be personal preference. Is there any practical difference between them?


r/Firearms 15h ago

Meridian Defense AK-101 5.56 or WBP 556SR

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5 Upvotes

Since the AK reddit won't let me post this question.