AR 15 Stripped Lower Pistol vs Rifle

[upstech76]

I am going to be purchasing a couple AR15 stripped lowers on Friday for undetermined future builds. Does it matter if I mark the 4473 form handgun,rifle, or other? I plan to build a AR pistol at some point but don't know which if either of these lowers will be the pistol.

 

[adcoch1]

If you buy them from a gun store ffl THEY will fill in the 4473 with how they have them listed in there inventory. Unassembled receivers are an "other" category, not a pistol or a rifle.

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[WestKentucky]

The transferor (gun shop) will fill it out as an "other" and the reciever will essentially be treated as a pistol for background checks and such.

 

[ugaarguy]

As noted above, you, as the buyer, should not be making any mark below the signature and date blanks on the 4473. I would simply confirm with the dealer that they have them inventoried as frames or receivers, and will therefore be transferring them as other firearms, rather than pistols or rifles.

 

[Sistema1927]

One strange oddity to our silly laws is that if you first build that lower into a rifle you cannot later convert it to a pistol. If, however, you build it as a pistol then you are free to go back and forth between pistol and rifle.

Now, how anyone would ever know is beyond me, but nobody ever said that laws had to make sense.

Yes, as has been mentioned, that lower will be transferred to you as an "other".

 

[badkarmamib]

So, to stay "legal", build one as a pistol first. Then, move the pistol buffer tube over to the other one, and build that one as a pistol, and complete the first one as a rifle. That way, you are free to swap back and forth, or sell either one and use the other for either pistol or rifle. Just make sure to pull a <16" upper off BEFORE putting a stock on the lower

 

[taliv]

then you are free to go back and forth between pistol and rifle.

i don't believe that is accurate. once you turn it into a rifle, i don't think you can go back to pistol.

 

[grampajack]

I've always heard that all stripped receivers must by law be marked as "other." Still, it doesn't hurt to make sure. Just look at the form before he calls it in.

As far as I know, once you put a stock on it for any reason, or even just a buffer tube with the ability to take a stock, you've just a built a rifle and that receiver is forever more a rifle. I've never heard that you can go back and forth under any circumstances. I wouldn't be trying that, though, regardless of whether there's actually a loophole or not. It just leaves too much room for confusion, and too much opportunity for some critter at the ATF to try and make a name for himself.

 

[Acera]

From my understanding on reading threads here (quite a few) and other places.

If it starts as a rifle, it can only be a rifle, and can't be made into a pistol without paperwork.

If it starts as a pistol, it can be made into a rifle, then returned to a pistol legally.

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/r...red-rifles-rifles-configured-pistols/download


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[badkarmamib]

^^^ Beat me to it
Been discussed ad nauseum many places before, but here it is again:

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/ruling/2011-4-pistols-configured-rifles-rifles-configured-pistols/download

"Held further, a firearm, as defined by 26 U.S.C. 5845(a)(3) and (a)(4), is not made when a pistol is attached to a part or parts designed to convert the pistol into a rifle with a barrel of 16 inches or more in length, and the parts are later unassembled in a configuration not regulated under the NFA (e.g., as a pistol)."

 

[taliv]

i stand corrected. that's good news! thanks!

 

[upstech76]

Thanks everyone for the replies, will make sure the form is marked either "Other" or "Pistol".