Jsut when you thought the ATF made sense. Found this on gunbroker.

Now, as long as the barrel is 16" and OAL is >26", I say it's legal. But it is NOT a pistol.

Basically, they are saying your rifle can be turned into a pistol. Then they say that pistol has to meet the definitions of a rifle.


Anyone else completely confused?





Pic of item: http://images.auctionworks.com/hi/55/54823/hornet_custom_pistol_2_068.jpg

Quoted: Putting a short barrel less than 16" on a rifle receiver can only fall under NFA short rifle.  That is all the letter is saying is that as long as the barrel is more than 16 and overall greater than 26 that is will not be regulated under the NFA.

IMHO, they worded it very poorly. It would be very easy to misinterpret that letter. At least that's my view....but oh well...

The answer is that if you have an action that was sold as a rifle and change it so it no longer meets the rifle definition you have a short barreled rifle and it becomes an NFA weapon.

Even when transferring actions it needs to be noted on the 4472 that the item is an ACTION and not a rifle if you want to build a handgun.  

Transfer the action even one time as a rifle and you cannot use it to build a handgun without running into the NFA rules.

All this can still be an issue if your state has different rules for handgun and long gun transfers.  Failing to follow the handgun rules for an action can result in it be classified as a rifle action.  Making a handgun then falls under the NFA.

There is no law preventing you from changing a rifle into a handgun, but then you must comply with the NFA rules for a short barreled rifle.

The letter is worded 'funny' since this is the rule.