I am a newbie to the AR Scene and have recently purchased a supposed pre-ban CAR from a local gun dealer here in Vegas. My question is this, after purchase of the gun, (Eagle Arms A2)I ran the serial number on the Armalite web site and it came back as a post ban, factory assembled rifle intended for export or law enforcement use. The barrel is 16" long with suppressor, 11.5 without, and has a fixed bayonet mount point. I can't find any markings on the barrel other than a couple of numbers on the bottom of the front sight, and they read S, then there is an RI in a circle, and then 4. I would like to find out a little about this rifle. It is nice and tight, finish is great, but the more educated I am on this rifle, the better. Any help would be greatly appreciated...Thanks

Congratulations!. Unless you're an LEO and/or filled out the BATF paperwork and paid a $200.00
tax on it, you're illegaly in possession of an NFA weapon. The 11.5" barrell makes the firearm a SBR (Short Barrelled Rifle; unless the suppressor is permanently affixed, which I doubt).

The AW features: bayonet lug, threaded barrel and suppressor are in violation of the 94 crime bill.

OK....I have got it sorted out....There is no Problem with the gun, so "Congradulations" are not in order...Thanks anyway. When I ran the serial number, I checked the Armalite, Coal Valley, IL box, when I should have checked the Eagle Arms, Coal Valley, IL. When the correct box is checked, the serial number comes up as a pre-ban Mfg. I have also sent for a certificate of Authenticity for the weapon, as well. It appears the gun is still in it's factory built state....Thanks for the help

If the 5.5" flash suppressor is indeed removable then you will have to have paid a $200 NFA tax to legally own the SBR, pre-ban or not.  If the flash hider is permanently affixed, you're good to go.  If not, you are STILL in possession of an illegal firearm.

I am also a newbie and rather than start a new topic I will piggyback onto this string.  I just purchased a VERY post-ban bushmaster from a friend in the peoples republic of California (he never registered it last year and had to either sell it to me or donate it to the LAPD).  He purchased it new in 1999.  Needless to say, I got a good deal especially since it came with 17 30rd mags (various makes) and 3000 rounds.  The gun only has @500 rounds on it and it looks it.  Very clean.

Now for my question......I am an AK guy for years and briefly owned a Colt AR in High School in the early 80's (those were the days!).  I have not really touched an AR since then so I am new to this scene to say the least.  I picked up the gun last week and began to research it this weekend and found out I need to take care of a couple of things.  I quickly realized that my gun had a Colt barrel assy.  Then I identified that it is threaded, has the old style birdcage hider and the evil lug!  A quick call to my friend confirmed that he changed the barrel to the colt (purchased from bushmaster by the way) so he chould have the triangle front grip he liked during basic.  The Bushmaster barrel is now long gone.

I would like to call upon someone's expertise before I decide what to do.  Needless to say, I would like to avoid purchasing another barrel.  I can grind the lug, no problem.  Can I remove the hider?  Replace it with a fake or a "compensator" and "weld" it on the barrel?  Will this negate the thread issue?  Or do I need to cut/grind the threads too.  Will the aforementioned "fixes" make the weapon legal or does the pre-ban barrel make any fix moot?  My thanks in advance and congradulations to all for a very fine board!
Rick

Yes grinding off the bayonet lug and welding a muzzle brake will make it legal.  Permanently attaching a muzzle brake after screwing it on negates the fact that it has threads.

I have one more question I forgot earlier, is the spec on the Colt barrel front sight compatible with the busmaster upper sight?  It is probably a dumb question but like I said before, I am new to these guns with all the buttons and levers.  Thanks