Anyway...

This will be my first ever AR15 build.  Because of the coming rule changes I am going 5.56 SBR PDW with a long term vision of it being suppressed.  I am finalizing a trust right now (will efile Form 1) and just purchased a stripped Battle Arms Development lower/upper for the build.  I have not decided on a barrel length yet.    I also know that my future suppressor purchase is dictated upon my barrel length choice.  I plan on having my lower immediately engraved before I tax stamp it to avoid any silly legal issues.



Any help with these and future questions is appreciated:

1) Can I underestimate the barrel length on the Form 1 then go longer in the future?  IOW, state a 8" barrel but then attach a 10.5" barrel?  (I did not think I could ever legally go shorter than listed.)

2) Does the future suppressor length need to be included in the total weapon length on Form 1 now?  (I did not think so.)

3) How should this rifle be listed on the Schedule A page of the trust?

4) Has anyone filed a federal tax return on their gun only trust?  

5) Is a good rule of thumb for the Form 1 overall length question is to add 11" to your proposed barrel length?


I know I will have more questions as I go along this legal obstacle course.

You shouldn't take legal advise from people like me that isn't a lawyer that knows all the ins and outs of NFA laws.  They are fairly arcane and in some areas open to interpretation, so getting a lawyer that knows this stuff to advise you is probably your best course of action.  But I'll tell you what I did, and give you my opinion.

1. I was having the same problem.  For me, I was debating between a 10.5, 11.5 and 12.5 length barrel.  I did not file form 1 until I decided for sure the barrel length I was going to buy.  This added a couple of weeks to the cycle, but I wanted to be sure.  I'm not sure it matters a whole lot, since you can use that same registered lower receiver with a variety of other uppers with different calibers and barrel lengths.  Just not sure that at least one of your uppers has to match what is on your form 1.
2. You do not include the length of a muzzle device.  The overall length estimate should be from the end of the extended stock to the end of the barrel without any muzzle device.
3. List the rifle in schedule A as you have filed in Form 1.  That is, the manufacturer of the lower receiver, the model number of the lower receiver, the caliber that you have in your form 1, and the serial number of the lower receiver.  No lengths are required.
4. I have not.
5. I don't know.  It depends on what kind of stock you will be using.  If you have a fairly standard collapsible carbine stock and receiver set (like B.A.D.'s), it's more like 18 - 19 inches + barrel length.

I'm not a lawyer, I could be wrong.

A whole bunch of SBR guys hang out over here:



http://www.ar15.com/forums/f_6/51_Short_Barrel_Rifles__SBR_.html



Some great info and discussions over there.



I'd go with a 10.5" (or 10.3"), shortest length of barrel for carbine length gas system. Anything shorter and it's pistol gas length.

Answers in blue, also check out the Class 3 section in the Armory. Many of your questions will be answered there

The real answer is that no one is going to check on this unless you do something major. Try to get it as close as possible, but if you piss the ATF off enough that they are measuring your SBR's, that is probably the least of your concerns.