Quote:
Originally Posted by mpipes
The Chinese started importing semi-auto AKs and SKSs in the early 1980s. Same for Yugoslavia, Finland, Israel, Hungary, and Romania. HK-91s, -93s, and -94s were being imported in large numbers. There were multiple manufacturers of AR clones. Full autos were not banned until 1986, but there were multiple gunsmiths capable of converting semi-autos to full; still are. FALs were being imported. There were domestic manufacturers of FALs and semi-auto M-14s. Semi-auto Steyr AUGs were being imported.
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A few FN FNCs were coming into the country, too. In the Twilight universe, the AR-18/AR-180 might have seen more success than it did in the real world.
(Also, as a point of order, full auto was never entirely banned. The Hughes Amendment to FOPA '86 cut off the transfer of full auto weapons to civilians if those weapons were manufactured after the date the law took effect, but anything built before then remained transferable under the existing provisions of the NFA. This is why full auto is prohibitively expensive today - constant supply, increasing demand. The process itself is no more onerous than the one for the transfer of a suppressor or short-barreled rifle or shotgun. It's just that prices start around $10k.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by unipus
Just before my time, but I believe the AR-15 was actually not supremely common prior to the 21st century. Sure, there'd be more than a few around, but it wasn't until rails were added and marketing around the black rifle really took hold later on that they became as overwhelmingly popular as they are today. Anecdotally I recall a lot more scare stories of "AKs on the streets" back then than examples I can think of of privately owned Armalikes
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Let's not forget that favorite of ex-US Special Forces tooling around in black vans, the Mini-14!
- C.