NFA upper receiver buying???

[SilentStalker]

Ok, I had a question concerning NFA laws. According to the law a rifle or anything containing rifling must be at least 16" to avoid NFA rules, or the rifle itself with telescopic stock fully extended cannot be under 26". I could and would do the whole NFA thing but it is cheaper not to so for this build I am trying to bypass that. My question is can I order like say a 11.5" complete upper without NFA applying? The reason I am asking is because if that was mounted on the lower I am putting it on then even though the upper is 11.5" the lower with stock fully extended and 11.5 upper together is 26" so I am not sure how this applies unless I just have to do it because theoretically I could put it on another lower which might be shorter. I guess that makes sense. So, I guess in order to bypass this I need to get a 14.5 with permanent flash suppressor that would make it 16" huh?

 

[Aaron Baker]

First of all, it's not "anything containing rifling" that must be 16" to avoid NFA rules. Pistols have rifling.

But let's assume we're talking rifles.

The law is not an either/or proposition. Your rifle cannot have a barrel shorter than 16" without falling into the short-barreled rifle category of the National Firearms Act. In addition, even if it has a 16" barrel, if the overall length is less than 26", it also falls into the short-barrel rifle category.

So there's no way to have create a no-stamp-required short-barreled rifle by keep the overall length above 16" but having a barrel less than 16". Sorry.

If you do not want to go through the hassle of paying for the tax stamp, then your options are: put a 16" barreled upper on your rifle (including, yes, a 14.5" barrel with a permanently installed flash suppressor that gets it up the 16") or put a 11.5" upper on a "pistol" lower receiver. With the AR15, this is possible--they make special buffer tubes that do not accept a stock, but then, of course, you can't really put it to your shoulder.

Some companies will not let you order a short-barrel upper without some proof that you're putting the upper on a registered SBR lower, but that's usually not the case, since you can also legally install one on a pistol lower receiver. So buying it isn't the problem. It's legally assembling that's the problem. If all you own is a rifle lower with a stock, you'd better not have a short barrel upper in your possession, because you can only assemble that in one way, and it would be an illegal configuration without the proper tax stamp.

Hope that makes sense and helps.

Aaron

 

[Saakee]

An upper is just machine parts, you can order whatever you want to. It's when you don't have an SBR receiver or a pistol registered receiver that there can be issues.

If you really want a shorter barrel, but don't want to register the receiver as an SBR, you can have a blind pin welded muzzle break/flash hider on it that makes the weapon 16.1"*. They come in many, many sizes. I've seen 11.5" barrels with 6" flash hiders on them.

*Have some leeway if you're really worried that you will be getting checked.

 

[MasterSergeantA]

Aaron is 100% correct in everything he said. The last issue...what is usually known as "constructive possession"...is real, but most people that find themselves having to deal with charges from it are generally being charged with something else that they did that was already more illegal and/or stupid.

 

[BCMjUnKiE]

No matter how you slice it. A Upper that is less than 16" CANNOT be attached to any lower unless the Lower is Registered as a SBR.
If you install the 11.5 upper on the lower it then becomes a SBR and if not registered and you have the approved paperwork with tax stamp you can find yourself in a very bad situation.

 

[Zak Smith]

No matter how you slice it. A Upper that is less than 16" CANNOT be attached to any lower unless the Lower is Registered as a SBR.

Unless it is a pistol.

 

[BCMjUnKiE]

I forgot the pistol part.