Moving to MD, need to upgrade to HBAR

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  • Nov 4, 2018
    20
    Correct me if im wrong, but its not enough just to have a heavy barrel. You need to take off flash suppressor + ability to mount one. Get yourself a "muzzle break"
     

    mvee

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 13, 2007
    2,487
    Crofton
    Correct me if im wrong, but its not enough just to have a heavy barrel. You need to take off flash suppressor + ability to mount one. Get yourself a "muzzle break"

    You are wrong. :)
    The flash hider only matters if you were to have a folding stock
     

    Hawkeye

    The Leatherstocking
    Jan 29, 2009
    3,971
    Correct me if im wrong, but its not enough just to have a heavy barrel. You need to take off flash suppressor + ability to mount one. Get yourself a "muzzle break"

    You are wrong.

    A gun is banned in Maryland if:

    *It is on the "named" list or is a copy of a rifle on that list OR
    *It fails the "copycat assault weapon" test, which means it
    * Is a centerfire, semi-automatic rifle capable of accepting detachable magazines, AND
    *Is less than 29" in OAL OR
    *It has more than one of:
    *A flash suppressor
    *A grenade launcher
    *A folding (NOT collapsible) Stock​


    There is nothing at all in our law about the "ability to mount" a flash suppressor. Having a flash suppressor only matters if it's a centerfire, semi-automatic rifle that accepts detachable magazines and which also has either a folding (not collapsible) stock or a grenade launcher (not a lug, an actual launcher).
     

    Ranchero50

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 15, 2012
    5,411
    Hagerstown MD

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    Do any of the legislators see how stupid this law is? Can you explain how an HBAR would fire differently from a non-Hbar?

    ONE MORE TIME.

    The list goes back to the late 80s, and was Federal law from 1994 - 2004.

    The Colt Match Sporter HBAR was exempted from the Federal ban, because it was a target rifle, and the left wanted to show it was not against "legitimate" use of firearms such as hunting and target shooting.

    The Colt Match Sporter HBAR was the ONLY target AR-15 available at the time. But the laws mentioned copies and imitations.

    When MD passed FSA2013, MD State Police, under the copies and imitations clause, determined that any HBAR was exempt from the ban.

    It is not about lethality or anything. It was that match firearms were not banned back in the day.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    Just get ANY HBAR upper. ONLY have the HBAR upper on the rifle any time you are in MD.

    If you go shooting outside MD, take your original upper, enjoy, but make SURE you put the HBAR upper back on before returning to MD.

    If you later move out of MD, feel free to sell your upper to another poor soul moving to MD. :D
     

    freebird

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Jan 11, 2013
    336
    Do any of the legislators see how stupid this law is? Can you explain how an HBAR would fire differently from a non-Hbar?
    Would it kill fewer Students, people of color, and Handicapped people? WHoops, forgot women and LGBT XYZ types.

    And to answer the OP, Rock River sells uppers and I have 2 but never fired them, but they look legit, might have to
    take a punch and stake some nuts...they went in the 'build box' with all the other lowers I bought before 2013
    $475 or so, surely Hbars couldn't be much more.

    The ban on AR15's is where to focus your angst. Be HAPPY there's an "HBAR exception", no matter the (non) logic behind it.
     

    byf43

    SCSC Life/NRA Patron Life
    Order the barrel 'kit' from Windham Weaponry that is MD compliant.

    Upper receiver block. Barrel wrench. Torque wrench. Bench vise.
    Proper grease (off the top of my head I can't remember name/number).

    About an hour of time. A little patience.

    That's all that's needed.
     

    Hawkeye

    The Leatherstocking
    Jan 29, 2009
    3,971
    ONE MORE TIME.

    The list goes back to the late 80s, and was Federal law from 1994 - 2004.

    No it wasn't. The Maryland ban list is totally separate from what was the Federal ban.

    The Colt Match Sporter HBAR was exempted from the Federal ban,

    Not by name, though.

    The "named list" in the old Federal ban was this:

    H.R. 355 said:
    (b) Definition of Semiautomatic Assault Weapon.--Section 921(a) of
    title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
    following new paragraph:
    ``(30) The term `semiautomatic assault weapon' means--
    ``(A) any of the firearms, or copies or duplicates of the
    firearms in any caliber, known as--
    ``(i) Norinco, Mitchell, and Poly Technologies Avtomat
    Kalashnikovs (all models);
    ``(ii) Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and
    Galil;
    ``(iii) Beretta Ar70 (SC-70);
    ``(iv) Colt AR-15;
    ``(v) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, and FNC;
    ``(vi) SWD M-10, M-11, M-11/9, and M-12;
    ``(vii) Steyr AUG;
    ``(viii) INTRATEC TEC-9, TEC-DC9 and TEC-22; and
    ``(ix) revolving cylinder shotguns, such as (or similar to)
    the Street Sweeper and Striker 12;
    ``(B) a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a
    detachable magazine and has at least 2 of--
    ``(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
    ``(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath
    the action of the weapon;
    ``(iii) a bayonet mount;
    ``(iv) a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to
    accommodate a flash suppressor; and
    ``(v) a grenade launcher;


    The key here was that, at the time, the interpretation of "or copies or duplicates of the firearms in any caliber" was exact copies, kind of like an even more strict version of the current MSP "interchangeable parts" interpretation. The HBAR Sporter was allowed because it was determined not to be an "exact copy" of the original Colt AR-15 in the named list since it lacked certain features and passed the feature test that's lower down in the copy above.

    The Maryland named ban list actually predates the Federal ban. Maryland created the category of "Regulated Firearms" in 1989, and THAT is where the list of formerly Regulated / now banned rifles comes from. The original text of the bill that created the category of Regulated Firearms was even more strict than the list we ended up with, (and Peter Franchot pushed it hard) but it was amended with "help" from law enforcement officials and that's when the exemption for the HBAR got put in place.

    That list got enacted in 1989 as the "Regulated Firearms" list, and the text of that list was copy / pasted in to FSA2013 when they wrote that to ban all of those rifles, so the HBAR exemption was brought over.

    So Maryland's banned rifle list has nothing to do with the Federal 1994 AWB, and in fact pre-dates it.
     

    dreadpirate

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 7, 2010
    5,521
    Cuba on the Chesapeake
    The law is not foolish, and people need to stop saying it is.

    HBAR barrels are for competitive target shooting. When Dianne Feinstein's staffers drew up the Ban List (based on the pictures in a copy of Gun Digest) back around 1988, the Colt Sporter HBAR was the target rifle of choice for AR competition.

    Yes! Why do we complain? Would you like to see Maryland more like CA and NY??
     

    dreadpirate

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 7, 2010
    5,521
    Cuba on the Chesapeake
    Unfortunately, I am moving to Maryland from Virginia in the coming months and need to switch my Armalite M-15 / MOD SPR 1 to HBAR to be compliant. I was originally just going to upgrade the barrel to an HBAR one but this seems like it might get basically as expensive as just buying a cheap upper after purchasing all the tools, parts etc. Plus I have never replaced a barrel before so worried that I may screw up the rifle after all is said and done.

    Any suggestions on cheap uppers? Or would swapping the barrel out be the way to go? Its a nice upper and Id hate to never be able to use it unless I go back to Virginia to shoot. It has a 18in .223 Wylde 1:8 barrel with what appears to be a rifle length gas system for reference. Its been hard to find the same type of barrel with an HBAR stamp on it.

    The only one I have found is this one, but id much rather have a black barrel:
    https://www.primaryarms.com/B18SS223WMED-18

    Thanks for any help!

    Are you staying in MD for a long time? If not; just get another upper to use while in MD, and keep the original for the day after you leave MD.
     

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