Pistol barrel lengths and the law
I'll be the first to admit that I don't research every firearms law that doesn't involve what I am into. I was doing some thinking over the last few weeks (i.e. my thread about short-barrelled AR-15 uppers and whether or not they are compatable with AR-15 style pistols).
I know it's illegal (unless you follow all NFA rules/regs) to put a short-barrelled upper on a receiver that isn't registered as an NFA weapon. AR-15 style pistols feature short pistol-length barrels. What if you were to install a longer barrelled upper on a receiver registered as a pistol?
For example, what if you took one of the 10.5" barrelled upper receivers intended for legally owned NFA receivers and installed it on a receiver registered as a pistol? Wouldn't this be a back-door way around the NFA laws? Would this be illegal? I have no desire to own anything of the sort right now. The Army took away the mistique of military-style semi-automatic rifles and such. Sometimes things like this just stick in my brain until I get them resolved.
You'd essentially have a long-barrelled pistol instead of an illegal short-barrelled rifle. I say "illegal" because there's no way I'd be able to leagally own one of these in the fine state of NY.
I know it's illegal (unless you follow all NFA rules/regs) to put a short-barrelled upper on a receiver that isn't registered as an NFA weapon. AR-15 style pistols feature short pistol-length barrels. What if you were to install a longer barrelled upper on a receiver registered as a pistol?
For example, what if you took one of the 10.5" barrelled upper receivers intended for legally owned NFA receivers and installed it on a receiver registered as a pistol? Wouldn't this be a back-door way around the NFA laws? Would this be illegal? I have no desire to own anything of the sort right now. The Army took away the mistique of military-style semi-automatic rifles and such. Sometimes things like this just stick in my brain until I get them resolved.
You'd essentially have a long-barrelled pistol instead of an illegal short-barrelled rifle. I say "illegal" because there's no way I'd be able to leagally own one of these in the fine state of NY.
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AFAIK, there's no limit to how long a pistol barrel can be; if you have a pistol-registered AR lower, I would think you could put a 20"A2 upper on it, and it would still be a pistol...as long as you didn't put a stock on it.
A friend recently went the NFA route and turned his AR pistol into a SBR; all he did was add a stock after he got his paperwork back from ATF (and got his receiver stamped). But he originally built the pistol by getting the 8" upper and putting it on a pistol-registered lower (and, of course, only had a buffer tube sticking out the back--no buttstock).
Perfectly legal...as long as the receiver was NEVER registered as a rifle.0
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