Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

Ar-15 with a 14.5in barrel.

smile_for_me7465
Is it true you will need a ATF stamp and must be 21 years of age to own a Ar-15 with a 14.5in barrel?
0

Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • llama
    Yes, under 16" is a SBR ...

    Of course, you could just silver solder on a flash hider that brings total barrel length up to/over 16" ...

    Also be aware that some states consider rifles with an OAL under a certain length to be "pistols" as far as possession, etc.
    0
  • Mobuck
    Unless the flash hider is "permanently attached" returning the barrel to 16"+. So what do you gain? The length of the flash hider while losing 100fps.
    0
  • tsr1965
    smile_for_me7465,

    Well, it depends on how your gun was registered and if it has a butt stock on it. If it was registered as a pistol when it was originally built, and built as a pistol, with no butt stock on it, then no, it is legally considered a pistol. If you put a butt stock on it, then it is considered to be an SBR-short barreled rifle, and needs to have a Tax Stamp from the BATFE. I believe the BATFE(Federal) minimum age for owning a firearm is 18 years of age. That can change from state to state.

    Best
    0
  • DRP-AZ
    Note that a standard birdcage FH on an M4 (14.5" bbl) still measures less than 16".

    The M855 round is optimized for 14.5" bbl, it wasn't some number they pulled from thin air.
    0
  • 11b6r
    TSR- a NFA firearm cannot be transferred to anyone under 21. Federal law. It is not a rifle, and not a shotgun, so it is "other".
    0
  • Txs
    quote:Originally posted by DRP-AZ
    The M855 round is optimized for 14.5" bbl, it wasn't some number they pulled from thin air.Not meaning to hijack, but the M855 round was developed in the late 70's - when 20 in. was our standard military rifle's barrel length - and was in fact an offshoot of 5.56x45 squad automatic weapon development going on during that period.

    The shorter barrelled M4 rifle didn't arrive on scene until the mid-90's.

    It's true this specific barrel length wasn't randomly selected, but it was in fact due to the goal of making an M16 type rifle which was as compact as possible and 14.5 in. was the minumum length which still allowed use of an M203 40mm launcher.
    0
  • CSI21
    Txs is correct,
    we switched ammo to make the M249 function correctly.
    0
  • DRP-AZ
    This makes my eyes cross. The point of the 62gr ammo was penetration. No other reason. The 16" bbl offered no performance advantage over the 14.5" bbl with the M855.

    MY M249 runs just lovely on 55gr ammo, for the record.
    0
  • Txs
    quote:Originally posted by DRP-AZ
    The point of the 62gr ammo was penetration. No other reason.

    MY M249 runs just lovely on 55gr ammo, for the record.As FN was working on their 5.56x45 squad automatic weapon design (the Minimi) they also developed the SS109 round in order to give this cartridge additional range, longer tracer burn and increased penetration capability to better serve this weapon's role.

    In the mid-80's their SAW design was adopted by the US as the M249 and around the same time this round was adopted as the NATO standard 5.56x45 load for all weapons of this caliber - with the US designating it M855.

    In short, this load wasn't even a US design, let alone optimized for the 14.5 in. barrel of our M4. This rifle wasn't developed until 10 years or so after we adopted the M855 round.

    The M249 will of course 'run' okay on M193 ammunition, but - per US military directives - it should only be used in emergency situations. M193 is designed to be fired from the slower twist rate barrels found on obsolete US weapons and gives very poor accuracy from the M249's much faster 1/7 twist barrel.

    In other words, if you have to use this ammunition in an M249 you need to take into account the max effective range of your weapon is seriously decreased. Nothing lovely about that.
    0
  • dfletcher
    quote:Originally posted by tsr1965
    smile_for_me7465,

    Well, it depends on how your gun was registered and if it has a butt stock on it. If it was registered as a pistol when it was originally built, and built as a pistol, with no butt stock on it, then no, it is legally considered a pistol. If you put a butt stock on it, then it is considered to be an SBR-short barreled rifle, and needs to have a Tax Stamp from the BATFE. I believe the BATFE(Federal) minimum age for owning a firearm is 18 years of age. That can change from state to state.

    Best




    Just a bit of (i hope accurate) elaboration, constructive possession applies regarding SBRs. If one has in their possession only a shoulder stocked AR lower that is or has been configured as a long gun and a 14.5" upper then although not attached constructive possession applies and the person is in possession of an SBR. A person would avoid SBR constructive possession if they also had in their possession an AR configured as a handgun or a shoulder stocked AR lower that had never been configured as a long gun - although my guess on the latter would be it's a tough one to prove, that your shoulder stocked AR lower never had a long gun upper attached and was still, for lack of a better term, "handgun eligible".
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity

Didn’t find what you’re looking for?