antique firearm

An antique firearm is a gun (or other device designed to expel projectiles) that was made in 1898 or prior, or a replica of such weapon, or a black powder muzzle-loading weapon, provided that it does not use readily available conventional ammunition. See: United States v. Tribunella, 749 F.2d 104 (1984). Federal law provides two primary definitions for antique firearms. Both are part of an overall regulatory scheme that seeks to limit the regulation of weapons that are ill-suited for violent acts. The Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(16), defines an antique firearm as: 

  • Any firearm (including any firearm with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system) manufactured in or before 1898; or
  • Any replica of any firearm described [above] if such a replica — 
    • is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition, or
    • uses rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition which is no longer manufactured in the United States and not readily available in ordinary channels of commercial trade; or
  • Any muzzle loading rifle, shotgun, or pistol, which is designed to use black powder, or a black powder substitute (added by the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1999). 

This definition also explicitly excludes weapons that incorporate a firearm frame, or receiver, any firearm that is converted into a muzzle loading weapon, or any muzzle loading weapon that can readily be converted to fire fixed ammunition. 

The definition under the National Firearms Act (NFA) codified at 26 U.S.C. §5845(g) differs from the GCA in structure but only has minor differences in substance. The NFA does not have specific black powder provisions; nor a replica qualifier for the cutout for fixed fire ammunition weapons that were manufactured in or before 1898.

[Last reviewed in May of 2026 by the Wex Definitions Team]

Wex