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handi-gun question

sharpshooter039
I know all the legal issues with non-regesterd handi-guns,,I know they can not be registered..My question is,,why can't you just rifle the existing barrel and make it legal. Its not that expensive a job, the barrels are plenty thick enough . I know a few gun smiths who do custom rifle barrels that could rifle the barrel in short order. Then it would be in the same class as a Contender or all the little 410 revolvers that are being made.
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6 comments

Date Votes
  • 1KYDSTR
    I believe that is because they are considered short barreled rifles and not pistols? Never much understood the whole smoothbore issue anyway.
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  • Nwcid
    Here is a letter from the ATF making it even easier to make them legal again, http://www.marblearms.com/pdf/GameGetterLetter.pdf
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  • sharpshooter039
    They were short barreled shotguns. they were to short in overall length and the barrels were under 18 inches. It is not illegal to own a receiver . It is not illegal to own the barrel, It is illegal to mate the 2 together. There are receivers for sale over on the auction side. In addition to the little shotguns, the gun also was offered .22 long rifle, .32-20 and possibly other calibers with rifled barrels. The original guns with rifled barrels do not come under the NFA.
    So why cant you rifle the short barrels,remark them something like 410/44 special and make them a legal barrel
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  • Nwcid
    quote:Originally posted by sharpshooter039
    They were short barreled shotguns. they were to short in overall length and the barrels were under 18 inches. It is not illegal to own a receiver . It is not illegal to own the barrel, It is illegal to mate the 2 together. There are receivers for sale over on the auction side. In addition to the little shotguns, the gun also was offered .22 long rifle, .32-20 and possibly other calibers with rifled barrels. The original guns with rifled barrels do not come under the NFA.
    So why cant you rifle the short barrels,remark them something like 410/44 special and make them a legal barrel




    If the rifled barrels are under 16" then they would be NFA items.

    What you are suggesting doing is exactly what the ATF letter I linked suggested. If rifled make the barrel(s) 16" +, if smooth make them 18"+ to be legal.

    Am I missing something?
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  • Bill DeShivs
    Handy Guns are classified as AOWs, not SBS. If you were to rifle the barrel on the .410 model, the gun would be a pistol.
    You can register the receiver as an NFA weapon, and add a barrel later.
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  • tsr1965
    quote:Originally posted by sharpshooter039
    They were short barreled shotguns. they were to short in overall length and the barrels were under 18 inches. It is not illegal to own a receiver . It is not illegal to own the barrel, It is illegal to mate the 2 together. There are receivers for sale over on the auction side. In addition to the little shotguns, the gun also was offered .22 long rifle, .32-20 and possibly other calibers with rifled barrels. The original guns with rifled barrels do not come under the NFA.
    So why cant you rifle the short barrels,remark them something like 410/44 special and make them a legal barrel




    If I am not mistaken, it is what the reciever was registered as, by the OEM, if it was a rifle, pistol, or shotgun, which dictates what it should, and can be. It is not just what you would like it to be. The only provision of going to conversion, is a pistol, to a rifle. However, once a rifle, it may not be changed back to a pistol, except for a few cases of the Thompson Center Contender Carbine kits.

    The other ways around it are thru the ATF for a SBS, or SBR.

    Best
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