Go ahead and watch this video.
I am still confused.
I am confused because besides the 26 inches overall, I thought rifles needed to be classified by the barrel length of 16 inches and longer. Now, I may have missed it, but I think he shows a rifle above the 26 inches overall but with a 14 inch barrel as if it were legal as in Non-NFA legal. Again, I may have misinterpreted so it would be my fault, not the video’s.
Do we have anybody who has done a good video or graphic guide between Non-NFA, SBR and AOW and whatever other permutations are out there? I mean something that actually quotes law & regulation and shows on an example weapon? This is why I am not warming up to the idea of eventually going for the Pistol AR.
No video but over 26″ , less than 16″ barrel is classified as a firearm not a pistol or rifle. Can have a stock and a hand grip. It’s a government rule probably better if it doesn’t make sense
I don’t believe a “firearm” can have a stock but can indeed have a forward grip. All of the firearms in seeing sold have pistol braces.
Over 26″, less than 18″ SMOOTHBORE barrel is a firearm.
If it’s got a rifled barrel it’s a rifle, pistol, SBR or AOW.
Over 26″, less than 18″ SMOOTHBORE barrel which never had a shoulder stock mounted and cannot be readily concealed is a firearm.
If it’s got a rifled barrel it’s a rifle, pistol, SBR or AOW.
If it ever had a stock it’s a rifle, shotgun, SBR or SBS.
If it can be concealed it’s a pistol or AOW.
You kind of check the boxes of what it has and what it doesn’t and the flow chart will take you to where you need to pay for a stamp.
The other foot hasn’t fallen on these “firearms” yet, but I suspect it’s coming the first time someone is arrested with one concealed on their person. Suddenly they’re all going to be AOW.
It can have a rifled barrel, see jkb’s comment below.
Freedom Shop here in CT was selling tons of these with a state police love letter saying it was ok because by federal law, it wasn’t a pistol, it wasn’t a rifle, and it wasn’t NFA and by state law it wasn’t an assault weapon. These are firearms with rifled barrels.
Also I should add this has been in the works for some time. BATFE were doing appointments to check pistols/firearms that were potentially sold with folding braces as early as last year. I personally know one individual and know of many others who received letters from BATFE informing them their pistol/firearm may not be in compliance with the law due to incorrect measurements at time of sale with a folding brace, and to setup an appointment for a measurement.
All feedback that I have heard about this experience was the BATFE agents were overall bro teir, generally younger, and helped you correct the issue if you were not in compliance.
Barrel length is measured in from breech face to the end of anything permanently attached.
So a 14.5 inch barrel with a pinned and welded 1.5 inch flash hider or muzzle brake is 16 inches. If the flash hider is just threaded on, it’s not permanent and isn’t included in the OAL. He said his flash hider was pinned and welded.
Back in the 90’s before AR pistols were a thing, the coolest gun to have was an 11.6 inch barrel with a pinned and welded 5.5 inch flash hider so it looked like the old CAR-15 XM-177 Colt Commando.
The barrel extension is not part of of the AOL for an AR barrel. The proper way to measure is to drop a dowel down the bore on a closed bolt so the dowel rests on the bolt face.
Pistols can have any barrel length with an OAL under 26 inches.
Rifles have to have 26 inches AOL and a 16 inch barrel. (This is an issue with bullpups, the FN had to have a longer than 16 inch barrel to meet the 26 inch OAL.)
Firearms are guns that have a 26 inch OAL but barrels less than 16 inches rifled or 18 inches smooth bore.
Vertical grips on pistols are AOW’s. Vertical foregrips on rifles and Firearms are legal.
Let Adam Kraut explain:
TLDR: Don’t put a Vertical Foregrip (VFG) on a pistol.
Measure from the end of the pistol buffer tube (no brace) to the end of the muzzle (no flash hider or muzzle brake) and less than 25″ is a pistol with a 10.5″ barrel like mine.
Go over 26″ (11.5″ barrel) and now it’s a firearm even with a pistol buffer tube. Whether you can put a VFG on it I can’t say, to me it’s still a pistol with a longer barrel.
Unless you ABSOLUTELY have to have one for some stupid reason, 11.5 inches is the shortest you should go on a 223/5.56 barrel. It takes 11 inches to burn all the powder.
The difference in velocity between 11.5 and 14.5 inches is like 100 fps. the difference between 7.5 and 11.5 is like 400 fps and YUGE muzzle blast.
J, the 10.5″ barrel is the most common/inexpensive length available.
For example it’s the longest pistol class barrel at PSA.
Yes it is, but that doesn’t make it the best length. A lot of rifles have 24 inch barrels but 26 is better for belted magnums. Just because it’s the most common doesn’t mean that it’s the best.
Didn’t say it was the best, just the most common.
PSA, the junk they sell should be outlawed. The crackheads assemble thous should be arrested
Funny. I have friends shooting 3 gun with PSA and no issues.
Of course, they belong to The Poors and can’t afford AR 15 impregnated with the sweat of Larry Vickers and costing $3,000
Negative, 400 fps from 11.5 and 14.5 , rule of thumb is 100 fps for every inch after 11.5.
There appears to be a local maximum around 11″. Other than that, on average the velocity changes more per inch at shorter lengths and less per inch at longer lengths.
Here’s the source, you want the charts near the end of the article.
http://www.sadefensejournal.com/wp/barrel-length-studies-in-5-56mm-nato-weapons/
So put a HORIZONTAL forward grip on it.
ANGLED foregrip… Not “Horizontal”… There would be no point in adding a horizontal foregrip to a firearm, as this is what the Handguard is used for.
Braces will be iligal anyway soon as they are adjustable and everyone shoulders them. The loop hole will close soon. Men SBR anyway, kids brace. Braces are stupid, hope they outlaw them soon anyway
Wut?
Is there anything else you want arbitrarily banned, oh great and wise decider of things?
Oh, okay.
Well, you be a man and increase the cost of your gun by 33%, almost a year’s wait for permission to build or buy it, and be required to inform if you take it across state lines.
My inner child will be at the range having fun with an AR pistol.
SBR is a pain in the ass legally, which you must know because you obviously have one and are extremely cognizant of compliance.
A pistol or firearm is much less complicated legally and you don’t need to do all the fun things like:
Get a permissions slip to bring it out of state.
Prevent users other than whomever manufactured it from accessing it without direct supervision.
Pay $200 for one.
Subject yourself to long wait times for one.
The list can go on. There is virtually no advantage to a SBR over a pistol or firearm.
Let me guess… You were all for the bump stock ban, too… 🙂
Oh cool. I guess my cousin with cerebral palsy who uses a brace to allow him to shoot his AR from his wheelchair can just be SOL right? He’s not normal, so screw him and his 2A rights, because bRaCeS R StOoPiD, right? ??
Miguel, I believe Joel Persinger is who you are looking for. He makes videos on a You Tube channel. The name of his channel is ‘Gun Guy’. He also has a video pod cast. https://gunguy.tv/ Joel regularly features agents from the BATF.
Rifle: any firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder. I.E. any firearm with a stock.
SBR: any RIFLE with a barrel shorter than 16″ OR an overall length shorter than 26″.
Pistol: any firearm designed to be fired with one hand. I.E. one grip and no stock.
AOW: a “catch all” classification encompassing any firearm designed or capable of being concealed, excluding rifled barrel handguns and pistols. This includes pistols with 2 grips (designed to be fired with two hands, not one, but still concealable. Therefore they dont qualify as pistols and fall under the definition of AOW) or any non pistol firearm under 26″ in length.
Non NFA regulated “firearm”: literally the other side of the “catch all” classification encompassing everything over 26″ that does not meet the definition of “pistol”, “rifle”, or “shotgun”.