SBR upper vs. lower

[eastwood44mag]

Just curious: if you go the SBR route, you have to declare the barrel length and caliber, correct? So what's the point in registering your lower, rather than your upper?

Thanks.

 

[Telekinesis]

The lower is the serialized part of the gun and is the "firearm" as far as Fed law is concerned. This is why you can order any upper you want from a website and have it shipped directly to your home, but you have to transfer the lower through a FFL.

IIRC you can change barrel lengths as often as you want assuming you are able to return it to its registered configuration. If you plan a more permanent change, you must notify the ATF of the change, but there is no extra tax involved.

 

[MasterSergeantA]

Telekinesis...you remember correctly. You can change uppers and barrel lengths at will so long as the original configuration can be restored. And changing the 'permanent' configuration can be done with a note to the ATF; I enclose a copy of the original Form 1/4 with the note to preclude confusion.

You can also "un-SBR" the rifle by disposing of the short upper(s) and going back to a barrel >16". Same process as above; simply drop a line to the NFA branch and they are supposed to annotate the registry accordingly.

 

[eastwood44mag]

So, hypothetically speaking (since I don't live in a free state and this is all conjecture until I can get somewhere that actually recognizes the Constitution):


If I were to register a lower as an SBR, say 5.56 NATO, 10" bbl, whatever the heck the OAL is on it (no idea), could I then put a 12" .204 Ruger upper on it without redoing my paperwork, provided that I kept a 10" 5.56 NATO upper and could return it to the registered configuration? Yes, I realize that this is a poor example (ballisticians everywhere are cringing, I know), but is such a creature permissible?

Thanks.

 

[GoingQuiet]

So, hypothetically speaking (since I don't live in a free state and this is all conjecture until I can get somewhere that actually recognizes the Constitution):


If I were to register a lower as an SBR, say 5.56 NATO, 10" bbl, whatever the heck the OAL is on it (no idea), could I then put a 12" .204 Ruger upper on it without redoing my paperwork, provided that I kept a 10" 5.56 NATO upper and could return it to the registered configuration? Yes, I realize that this is a poor example (ballisticians everywhere are cringing, I know), but is such a creature permissible?

Thanks.

Yes.

 

[p2000sk]

Rather than restrict oneself to one particular barrel length, could (Less than 16") be entered as the SBR barrel length, or does it need to be a specific length?

 

[Aaron Baker]

You're NOT restricting yourself to one particular barrel length. That's the point of folks above you saying that you can change uppers around all you want without notifying the ATF.

The ATF only wants you to tell them if you make a "permanent" change, which in AR15 terms, means that you got rid of the upper you were using when you registered the lower.

But no, you can't put "less than 16"" because they won't accept the tax form that way.

Aaron

 

[MasterSergeantA]

So, hypothetically speaking (since I don't live in a free state and this is all conjecture until I can get somewhere that actually recognizes the Constitution):


If I were to register a lower as an SBR, say 5.56 NATO, 10" bbl, whatever the heck the OAL is on it (no idea), could I then put a 12" .204 Ruger upper on it without redoing my paperwork, provided that I kept a 10" 5.56 NATO upper and could return it to the registered configuration? Yes, I realize that this is a poor example (ballisticians everywhere are cringing, I know), but is such a creature permissible?

Thanks.

Yes, that is correct. And OAL is 'overall length'. That is measured from the muzzle to the heel of the buttstock with the stock extended if it is a folder or collapses somehow.

 

[eastwood44mag]

And OAL is 'overall length'. That is measured from the muzzle to the heel of the buttstock with the stock extended if it is a folder or collapses somehow.

I know what the term means, I just don't know the number (never bothered to measure an AR).