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Legal barrel length?

17K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  radar ralf 
#1 ·
I have read posts by people talking about their 16" barreled shotguns and pictures posted of FN PS90 with non-existent barrel extension past the main part of the gun.

What is the legal barrel length of long guns?
 
#2 ·
The legal minimum barrel length for a shotgun is 18". Anybody posting about a 16" shotgun is bragging about a felony, or has gone through a lot of Federal paperwork for 2".

The minimum legal barrel length for a rifle is 16". It used to be 18" but the length was reduced to allow import and sale of some foreign carbines like the Mannlicher Schoenauer and Swedish Mauser.
 
#3 ·
From http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wbardwel/public/nfalist/nfa_faq.txt

A short barreled rifle is a rifle (which is defined as a shoulder
fired, rifled bore firearm) with a barrel length of less than 16",
or an overall length of less than 26", or any weapon made from a
rifle falling into the same length parameters (like a pistol made
from a rifle). In measuring barrel length you do it from the
closed breech to the muzzle, see 27 CFR sec. 179.11. To measure
overall length do so along, "the distance between the extreme ends
of the weapon measured along a line parallel to the center line of
the bore." 27 CFR sec. 179.11. On a folding stock weapon you
measure with the stock extended, provided the stock is not readily
detachable, and the weapon is meant to be fired from the shoulder.
This Federal Law. Some States require 26" with the stock folded.
A short barreled shotgun is any shotgun (which is defined as a
shoulder fired, smooth bore firearm) with a barrel of less than 18"
or an overall length of less than 26", or any weapon made from a
shotgun falling into the same length parameters.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I'd check both state and fedral laws because federal may say one thing and state/city can vary. I can own a shotgun with a pistol grip and a 7rnd. tube in the suburbs/country.....in the city I'm limited to 5rnds. and a full stock (Rochester,NY). I believe the barrel length is 18" in NY but overall length of a rifle or shotgun may be an issue as well.
 
#9 · (Edited)
That wasn't what I was getting at. Laws change all the time, and it is impossible to keep up with them. How many hundreds (thousands?) of gun control laws are on the books that concern us? Not to mention the drug, alcohol, and other laws that the LE would need to keep up with.

The 1986 FOPA was big news among us for what it did to help us and also because it stripped us of making new machine guns for civilian ownership. After it passed I went for CLEO sign-off on an SBR Mini-14. CLEO asked why I didn't go ahead and convert it to F/A while I was at it? I had to explain the new law to him.
 
#10 ·
My understanding is that, unless you have a special permit / license / tax stamp / etc., the legal minimum length of barrels on rifles is 16 inches and the legal minimum length of barrels on shotguns is 18 inches.

Some new-generation firearms have legal barrels, but the configuration (for instance, bullpup design) makes the barrel appear shorter to someone who is not familiar with the way the firearm is set up. Some good examples are the Steyr AUG and the Mossberg bullpup pump shotgun; both have legal length barrels, but the design makes the overall length much shorter than we are accustomed to seeing.

Hope this info helps.
 
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