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It Ain't Fair. It Ain't Equal

David Nunn
If we measure revolver barrels the same way we measure auto pistol barrels, that is, including the chamber, the barrels would measure considerably longer. A revolver and a pistol, each having the same length barrel, firing the same cartridge, the bullet from the revolver will travel further in the bore than the one from the pistol.

In the AR-style rifles, and darn few others, maybe no others, the lower receiver is the "firearm" and the serial numbered part. With nearly every other rifle, the upper receiver is the serial numbered "firearm."
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Comments

22 comments

Date Votes
  • spasmcreek
    question... is a shotgun barrel OFFICIALLY measured minimum of 18" barrel length from the front of the chamber or does that 18" include the chamber length...as in a chambered shell measured at the back of the shell to the front end of the barrel ???
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  • 11b6r
    Spasm- shotgun (and rifle) close action EMPTY. COCK the gun to withdraw firing pin. Measure from face of bolt to muzzle, preferably by inserting rod close to bore diameter and marking at muzzle. So says BATFE.


    Nonn- take a look at a Ruger .22 auto pistol- tell me which part is the gun (serially numbered) Same deal as an AR.
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  • Horse Plains Drifter
    Then to throw another wrench in the works, I have a Husqvarna(bolt action Mauser)30-06 that is serial numbered on the barrel, not the action.
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  • mrmike08075
    How about semiautomatic revolvers...

    Mike
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  • 11b6r
    Mike- Mauser C78 "Zig zag" or Webley Fosbery?
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  • mrmike08075
    Mateba for a modern interpretation

    Landstaad if you like blow back magazine fed

    Or maybe the Blake repeating bolt action rifle with removable revolving en-bloc 7 round cylinder packets - a bolt action rifle with a "hand" and a selector switch

    It's all good

    Mike
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  • select-fire
    Reason why a 3" .45 Automatic is actually around a true 1.75" or so barrel with the round in the chamber. Snubbie .45 . Not going to get as much ballistic energy or velocity out of that short barrel.
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  • MIKE WISKEY
    "take a look at a Ruger .22 auto pistol- tell me which part is the gun (serially numbered) Same deal as an AR"...........look at the Luger (with a 'L'[:D]), the lower is the 'firearm'.
    also, in Wisconsin (DNR)they measure a 'revolver' barrel from the firing pin to the muzzle
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  • mrmike08075
    So let's imagine a standard revolver cylinder

    The cylinder does not change - the bbl does not change - the frame does not change - they are immutable

    However I can put .32 S&W short - .32 S&W standard and .32 S&W long in the pistol

    In this example what would the bbl length be - a fixed number or a variable based on OAL of cartridge...

    Same equation with a shotgun - with a 2 1/2" shell and a 2 5/8" shell or a 2 3/4" shell

    Does my bbl magically change lengths based on the ammo

    Mike
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  • Rocky Raab
    It doesn't matter legally for a handgun because any barrel length is legal. But for a long gun, where barrel length is critical to legality, the only "fair and equal" measurement is muzzle to a fixed point: the breechface in battery.
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  • Mr. Perfect
    Like I've told my kids all their life: if you want fair, it comes in September.
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  • kimi
    quote:Originally posted by Horse Plains Drifter
    Then to throw another wrench in the works, I have a Husqvarna(bolt action Mauser)30-06 that is serial numbered on the barrel, not the action.


    [:D] To really lash things up, my 1883 Remington-Keene has it's serial number on the inside of the hinged trap door buttplate, but then it's antique! [:D]
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  • spasmcreek
    thanx...i'm good to go
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  • select-fire
    A lot of AR lowers are stamped Multi Cal. Uppers can interchange. My Sig 3000 has a ser. no. on the receiver. However Change out barrels can be bought in various calibers.. since it is a long action .308.
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  • Bottom Gun
    One of my Remington Nylon 66 rifles has the serial number on the side of the receiver cover. Another, the exact same Apache Black model, has the serial number on the underside of the barrel. A third AB model is pre-1968 and has no serial number. That's three variations of the same model.
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  • remingtonoaks
    quote:Originally posted by 11b6r
    Spasm- shotgun (and rifle) close action EMPTY. COCK the gun to withdraw firing pin. Measure from face of bolt to muzzle, preferably by inserting rod close to bore diameter and marking at muzzle. So says BATFE.


    Nonn- take a look at a Ruger .22 auto pistol- tell me which part is the gun (serially numbered) Same deal as an AR.


    This is a copy and paste of what Nunn wrote. He wasn't talking about pistols, he was talking about rifles

    In the AR-style rifles, and darn few others, maybe no others, the lower receiver is the "firearm" and the serial numbered part. With nearly every other rifle, the upper receiver is the serial numbered "firearm."
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  • David Nunn
    quote:Nunn- take a look at a Ruger .22 auto pistol- tell me which part is the gun (serially numbered) Same deal as an AR.


    I have a few Ruger Standard autos around here. All are serial numbered on the UPPER receiver. And they're pistols, not rifles.
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  • kannoneer
    Well, you learn something new every day. I have never heard of a revolver barrel length being measured from the firing pin to the muzzle.
    And, yes, barrel length does matter on handguns; some states require at least 4" for deer hunting. I am sure they mean barrel length, not barrel and cylinder length.
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  • Rocky Raab
    I forgot about hunting length. Thanks for reminding me.

    I can't imagine that they intend for the measurement to mean an extended firing pin. They assuredly meant to mean to the breechface. The difference would be only a few thousandths, but ensuring full protrusion and trying to disable a pin rebound system (if any) would be a huge complication.

    Whereas measuring to a flat and immobile breechface is simplicity itself.
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  • He Dog
    quote:Originally posted by Mr. Perfect
    Like I've told my kids all their life: if you want fair, it comes in September.




    Well, to be fair, in some states in August.[:D]



    Nunn, you are getting too old to be waiting on fair.[}:)]
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  • 0rangeD
    It's not very complicated, the barrel is a part of the gun. If you take the barrel out of a semi-auto pistol with a 4 inch barrel, the barrel will measure 4 inches. If you take the barrel off of a revolver with a 4 inch Barrel, the barrel will measure 4 inches. Admittedly the length of the actual Barrel can be slightly shorter then the barrel length measurement for some guns, but that should only be a small fraction of an inch.
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  • Rocky Raab
    Measured muzzle to where?
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