Noob question

Hawkeye · Apr 16, 2015

reckless1911 said:
One last question, how exactly would I buy a specified pistol lower??

It's been mentioned, but if you buy a factory new stripped lower that has never been built into anything at that point it is technically an "other," (no matter how it was transferred to you - some people think that it matters that the "Other" box on the 4473 was checked, but it doesn't) and you may build it into whatever you want. As has been mentioned, if you build it into a pistol FIRST you may then later build it into a rifle and then back to a pistol, but if you build it into a rifle FIRST then it is a rifle forever and you may NOT make it into a pistol, ever.

I bought 4 stripped lowers preban in 2013 so I dont know what they would be considered.. rifle or pistol.

They are an "Other," as they lack any of the defining features that make them legally either a pistol or a rifle, so they are "Other Firearms" until you make them into something else.

dontpanic said:
Stripped lowers are "other" and can be built into any legal configuration. This includes a pistol.

Exactly.

Bikebreath said:
Someone please comment on a 14" barrel with a 2" thingie, (flash hider?)

As long as that "thingie" is permanently attached (i.e. pinned and welded) to the barrel, it counts as a 16" barrel and you may use it to build a rifle. (You could also put it on a pistol lower and just have a pistol with a really long barrel.)

Pinecone · Apr 16, 2015

dontpanic said:
Stripped lowers are "other" and can be built into any legal configuration. This includes a pistol.

Not all stripped lowers have been transferred as Other.

You have to look at your 77R or 4473 paperwork to see how they were classed.

Pinecone · Apr 16, 2015

Bikebreath said:
Someone please comment on a 14" barrel with a 2" thingie, (flash hider?)

If it is permanently installed (silver solder or pinned and welded) it is measured as 16"

The BATFE method of measuring barrel length is to take the assembled firearm, with the bolt/slide/breech closed and stick a wooden dowel into the muzzle euntil it bottoms out. Mark it at the muzzle, and remove and measure.

So depending on the how the bolt/slide/breech closure happens, the barrel length could be shorter or longer than what appears to be the physical barrel.

Pinecone · Apr 16, 2015

Hawkeye said:
It's been mentioned, but if you buy a factory new stripped lower that has never been built into anything at that point it is technically an "other," (no matter how it was transferred to you - some people think that it matters that the "Other" box on the 4473 was checked, but it doesn't) and you may build it into whatever you want.

Do you hae ANY documentation that this is true?

If the 4473 or 77R say it is was a rifle when transferred, do you want to do battle, in court, with BATFE?

outrider58 · Apr 16, 2015

Pinecone said:
If it is permanently installed (silver solder or pinned and welded) it is measured as 16"

The BATFE method of measuring barrel length is to take the assembled firearm, with the bolt/slide/breech closed and stick a wooden dowel into the muzzle euntil it bottoms out. Mark it at the muzzle, and remove and measure.

So depending on the how the bolt/slide/breech closure happens, the barrel length could be shorter or longer than what appears to be the physical barrel.

^^This^^

Hawkeye · Apr 16, 2015

Pinecone said:
Do you hae ANY documentation that this is true?

If the 4473 or 77R say it is was a rifle when transferred, do you want to do battle, in court, with BATFE?

There is an ATF letter out there that states that a receiver is a rifle only after it has been built into a rifle, and that if the receiver has never been built as a rifle that you may build a pistol out of it. It makes no reference to which box is checked on the 4473.

The text of the letter (and a pdf of the original) is here:

https://www.guntrustlawyer.com/2011/11/can-i-make-an-ar-15-type-pisto.html

Pinecone · Apr 16, 2015

That letter does NOT address having a stripped lower that was sold as a rifle in the paperwork.

And it repeated talked about BARRELED as a rifle, which has nothing to do with it. I can make a 20" barreled pistol.

Biggfoot44 · Apr 17, 2015

Every stripped lower *ought to* have been checked as an "other", but that doesn't mean that some weren't checked as Rifle or Pistol anyway. The above arguement might work for you in court, but I won't volenteer to be a test case over somthing so easily avoided.

But we left out one more catagory of firearm that could be made from a stripped lower, an Other Firearm. Key defining characteristics = made from a virgin reciever that has never been a rifle OR pistol, no shoulder stock, greater than 26in OAL. Same principles as the 14in non-NFA "resembles a shotgun' .

Yeah , it kinda resembles an AR Pistol , just a little longer OAL, and why bother ? Since it's not a pistol, you can add a vert fore grip w/o becoming an AOW. Of course Md being Md, having anything with bbl triggers the transport provisions relating to handguns.

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