As far as firearms go this is my understanding:
If it was made prior to 1899 it's generally considered an antique. However cartridge firearms for which ammunition is readily available are NOT considered antique. . . .
Can you cite an ATF ruling or regulation that says an antique isn't an antique if it take readily available ammo?
Firearms Verification
National Firearms Act Definitions
Antique Firearm
26 U.S.C. § 5845(G)
For the purposes of the
National Firearms Act, the term “Antique Firearms” means any firearm not intended or redesigned for using rim fire or conventional center fire ignition with fixed ammunition and manufactured in or before 1898 (including any matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap or similar type of ignition system or replica thereof, whether actually manufactured before or after the year 1898) and also any firearm using fixed ammunition manufactured in or before 1898, for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade.
I think perhaps you're confusing the National Firearms Act with the Gun Control Act. The NFA deals with evil guns like machine guns, short-barrel rifles, short-barrel shotguns, AOWs, silencers, etc. Ordinary rifles and shotguns are not under the purview of the NFA.
Here is what the GCA (Gun Control Act) says about antiques:
(16) The term “antique firearm” means—
(A) any firearm (including any firearm with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system) manufactured in or before 1898; or
(B) any replica of any firearm described in subparagraph (A) if such replica—
(i) is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition, or
(ii) uses rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition which is no longer manufactured in the United States and which is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade; or
Please note that the ammunition stuff only applies to paragraph B, which addresses REPLICAS. So, a gun manufactured after 1898 could be considered an antique if it is a replica of something made prior to 1898 so long as it uses obsolete ammo. None of that changes the fact that paragraph A states that ANY firearm made prior to 1899 is an antique. The modern ammo language of paragraph B does not apply to paragraph A.
