So the first thing to know about the Yankee Boogle is that its construction and ownership is a felony even if you don’t own a gun! This site cannot present more specific details on how to make it because providing such information gets website owners in serious trouble. The goal of this article is to provide background information.
If you’re really interested in 3D printing a Yankee Boogle the information is out there, but use TAILS and boot your laptop off of a disposable Linux image and use DuckDuckGo (not Google) from a random cafe. Create a throwaway email address from a provider like ProtonMail so that you can “register” on various sites and continue to learn more.
What’s an “auto sear”?
A “sear” is a “device”. An “auto sear” is a device that allows for automatic fire.
What is a Yankee Boogle?
The Yankee Boogle is a piece of 3D printed plastic designed in such a way that it can be dropped on top of the fire control group and over the AR15 safety to allow for fully automatic fire. The only other thing you need for it to work is a capable bolt carrier group.
Where did it get its name?
The Yankee Boogle is named after the Boogaloo movement:
Wait… you can just drop in a piece of plastic to turn an AR15 into a machine gun?
Yep. Before 3D printers, it was done with a specially twisted piece of coathanger, it’s been possible ever since the Armalite model 15 was released in 1956.
The device pictured below is how you can turn a coathanger into a felony.
The shoestring pictured below is also a felony.
But plastic isn’t as tough as even coathanger metal, how can it work?
The 3D printed part pictured above applies pressure to one of the components of the fire control group, depending on where the Bolt Carrier Group is as it slides back and forth over the top of the device.
It’ll probably start failing after several magazines are fired, but that little piece of plastic is surprisingly effective at holding down the part it needs to. It’s small, easy to install / take out and fits in your pocket without catching on the car keys, making it an effective and modern twist to an old idea.
But, I thought an AR15 already was a machine gun? AR stands for “Assault Rifle”, after all…
This is just ignorant: AR15 stands for “Armalite model 15”, and there are very many parts elements that differentiate the civilian model from the military model.
The civilian AR15 is a semi-automatic rifle, so you don’t have to handle and throw a bolt back and forth between shots. It’s a customizable, modern rifle that can hold a magazine of cartridges (not to be confused with “bullets”).
“Assault Weapons” were banned from 1994 to 2004 and the ban arguably had little impact on gun violence in the US. This article doesn’t go into those details, but simply arms the reader with appropriate conversational terms that they may discuss what might be more effective… or not. Any martial artist can demonstrate that a pencil is an “assault weapon”, so don’t just throw that term around, it doesn’t mean what you think it means.
What’s a Bolt?
In many rifles, the bolt is the part that lifts up and moves back to chamber another round, and is then drawn forward and locked down in preparation to fire. Thus the term, “bolt action rifle”.
What’s a Bolt Carrier Group?
A BCG is a core component of the AR15 rifle – it’s a grouping of components that includes the bolt, above, but in a system making the loading of the next cartridge automatic.
When this mechanical grouping moves back, it automatically unlocks, ejects the spent brass, chambers a new round and locks into position, ready to fire again. In a semiautomatic rifle, the Bolt Carrier Group is what allows it to fire in semi-automatic OR fully automatic mode, depending on the rifle you have. As such, not all AR15’s are full-auto capable.
The image below shows two different BCG’s – if you have a Yankee Boogle, a traditional trigger assembly and a full-auto capable BCG, you have a “machine gun”. Rifles known as “duty grade” or “mil-spec” have a full-auto capable BCG. Does this say civilian? That’s a “No”, because civvy BCG’s aren’t capable. Of course you can buy one, but that’s not the default.
The Surefire Optimized Bolt Carrier is an example of a commonly used – and profoundly beautiful – mil-spec BCG. The technology that goes into this one component is extraordinary.
Why are you sharing this information?
Because it’s information, and without information you’re ignorant.
Many believe that people should be ignorant – we don’t need people learning how to create devices to trivially create machine guns, right?
Here’s the thing: how are you supposed to speak intelligently about firearms if you don’t know this has been done since the 50’s? How can you create practical laws knowing that a rubber band can be used instead? What are you going to do, make rubber bands felonies? 3D printers are not the threat here.
After this article, you now know that AR does NOT stand for “Assault Rifle”, and you know that it’s always been trivial to make rifles full-auto “machine guns”. Now you also know that “military style assault rifle” are just scary words used to describe what’s been around for literal generations. Don’t run around mouthing off about how “assault rifles should be banned”: they already are – thank you Bill Clinton – and it didn’t have any statistical affect whatsoever on gun deaths. Still, full-auto rifles are already illegal, but that doesn’t stop criminals from using rubber bands strategically… or 3D printing 1″ by 1″ pieces of plastic.
It’s not possible to add meaningful controls to society when you’re ignorant about the firearms you’re trying to control. This information is both good and bad, like anything it’s up to the reader to use it correctly.