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Replica "Antique" cartridge-using firearms and the internet
Chuck Michel has a memo on the issue. A cartridge-firing modern replica of a pre-1899 firearm can still be an antique, and thus not a "firearm" for GCA purposes, if it is chambered for cartridges which are no longer manufactured in the US and which are not available in the "ordinary channels of commercial trade." The question is whether the internet has made rare cartridge sufficiently available to where antique status may be lost for some replicas.
Not sure how much of a problem this might be, as the replicas I can think of use cartridges that are available thru ordinary channels. Maybe .50-90 and .50-110? If "ordinary channels" means via local gun shops, those would qualify, but be at risk since there are some companies offering loaded cartridges.
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56-50 Spencer was hard to come by until the demand for that ammunition generated a market for it. So in cases such as that at what level of production does the ammunition become readily available?
What I'm curious about is purchasing a black powder revolver such as a Pietta Remington 1858, then a .45LC conversion cylinder (a part, not a firearm) for it, making the gun a cartridge firing handgun in a modern (albeit really old) caliber. The "gun" itself is not a "firearm" and can be purchased via mail order. The conversion cylinder is also not a firearm and can be purchased at the same time.
Some "loophole," eh?
I can't think of any off-hand, either. I mean there are some incredibly old and rare European black powder cartridge calibers, but I can't think of any for which replica firearms are currently being made. Maybe some have been made in the past few decades, but I can't think of any of those, either. Certainly millions of replica cap and ball, and muzzleloading firearms have been imported from Italy, Spain, and elsewhere, but those aren't at issue.
I suppose it is possible that some of the high end Sharps replica makers are chambering some of them in some of the really obscure and rare Sharps calibers. Come to think of it, that is probably the deal. Actually though, I didn't realize a replica chambered in a caliber like that could also be classified as an antique. Gun laws often just don't make any sense.