legal length of shotgun
what is the legal length of a shotgun barrel- 16 or 18 inches? also doesn't the shotgun have to be a certain length too? (from the end of the barrel to the end of the stock) My buddy is looking at "cowboy" compatition. Thanks for settleing this arguement!!
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Minimum legal length of a shotgun barrel is 18 inches.
Minimum overall length of the whole gun is 26 inches.
Best to allow at least a half inch of safety margin when sawing one off.
18" is legal, 17.99 is not. So go for 18.5 and the he will be ok if he misses at 18.49".
Every once in a while you will see a Swedish Mauser Carbine with a "nozzle" on the muzzle end of the barrel. That is because the 18" minimum used to apply to rifles as well as shotguns and the '94 had a 450mm barrel = 17.7" They later revised the minimum length to 16" for rifles only.0 -
Hawk nailed it. Measure the barrel length by cocking the gun (so firing pin is not protruding). Insert a wooden dowel that is NEAR the bore diameter until it bottoms against the breach face. Mark dowel at muzzle, withdraw, measure, and Bob's your uncle.
As Hawk said- shotgun must be at LEAST 18/26 overall, a RIFLE must be at least 16/26 overall, with the exception of a few classic firearms that the ATF exempted (certain Winchester Trappers with 14 in bbls, etc)0 -
The above is correct. Shotgun barrel must be 18" long by Federal law, and most states have similar statutes as well.
Overall length has to be 26", but in FIRING configuration. In other words, if the thing folds or disassembles to less than 26", but you can't readily fire it folded or disassembled, its still OK.
Also, just to confuse things a tiny bit, there is a FEDERAL legal provision to own a short-barreled shotgun, so long as the appropriate paperwork is done, and the gun in question is registered as an NFA gun.0
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