Extra long buffer tube on AR pistol?

[Balrog]

What would be the legality of an AR pistol with an extra long buffer tube? Its not a brace, and its not a stock. It would not be adjustable.

 

[reddog81]

Why make it longer if not using as a stock?

Are you asking about current rules or the proposed rules?

It seems like just a buffer tube would be fine if I'm recalling the proposed regulations correctly. Length of pull and length of gun all matter. You'd need to cross reference the hypothetical tube with the rules to see where it falls.

 

[CapnMac]

As a general rule, pistols are not regulated by 'size' per se.

Law simply says 'operable by one hand.'

Probably more of a question in whether the long buffer affects how the thing cycles.

 

[Balrog]

You could put a partition in the tube so a normal buffer spring could be used, and a screw on cap on the far end. The area created by the extension would be a storage compartment for accessories such as batteries and other small parts. Don't make it where a stock or brace could be mounted to it. Its just a buffer tube and storage compartment.

 

[AlexanderA]

The A2 rifle buffer has a spacer, for the 5/8" longer stock. I suppose you could stack these spacers, for a longer buffer tube without a stock. The internal length of the tube would remain the same.

Otherwise, you would have to have a custom-made buffer tube, probably with an internal spacer so that function would not be affected.

I fail to see the point of all this.

 

[Blackout_Scientist]

From my understating the only consideration with an extra long buffer tube without a brace is that it can get you to >26in with a 10.5in barrel. This can give you options for making a “firearm” vs a “pistol” by adding a vertical grip.

If your build is strictly a pistol, it doesn’t do anything except add length. Everything I’ve seen for length of pull and shooting from the shoulder concerns braces or attachments to the buffer tube, not the tube by itself.

 

[Balrog]

From my understating the only consideration with an extra long buffer tube without a brace is that it can get you to >26in with a 10.5in barrel. This can give you options for making a “firearm” vs a “pistol” by adding a vertical grip.

If your build is strictly a pistol, it doesn’t do anything except add length. Everything I’ve seen for length of pull and shooting from the shoulder concerns braces or attachments to the buffer tube, not the tube by itself.

So it seems like legally, it would be ok. Plus you get a storage compartment.

 

[AlexanderA]

If your build is strictly a pistol, it doesn’t do anything except add length.

It could change the point of balance, especially if you add weights within the unused portion of the extended buffer tube. It seems to me that the problem in shooting an AR "pistol" one-handed is that it's so front-heavy. If the point of balance is near the grip, it would be much more manageable.

 

[Tirod]

While the barrel length by the ATF is somewhat unspecified, some assembled lengths break at 26" with interpretations of legality on both sides. One thing supposedly locked in is that the ATF measures from the end of the buffer tube absent any other braces or additive parts, to the end of the barrel absent any muzzle device. Mine's 25.5" which means IIRC absolutely no VFG. If it was 26.5, then it may not fall under the legal definition of "pistol" which complicates things in other ways. State laws also apply.

https://www.atf.gov/file/154866/download

This is why a lot of us are standing pat on any pistol mods until this gets sorted out. Note carefully a lot of "pistol" parts are on sale, Now! at retailers.