Does anyone know the legal length of a shotgun before it is considered a SBS?  How is it measured, and are there variances in length minimums between pump and semi-autos?  Thanks in advance for any info.

i believe thats its: 18'' bbl, 26in overall

same regulations (for length) for both semis and pumps

hope that is right....

ATF Uses a dowel down the barrel to the breechface to measure barrel length.

I knew a guy who cut down a Mossburg barrel to 18" from the barrel extension to the muzzle and it was an inch short. we had to weld on a piece of tubing to legthen it. We made the extension look like a half ass flash suppresor.

Always cut it to 18 1/2 or longer to avoid stupid attack like above.

Thanks for the info guys.  I appreciate the help.  I hate to do it, but here goes another Benelli M4/M1014 question, based on that info.  If less than an 18" barrel and 26" overall length designates a "SBS"...WHY IN THE HECK is it a problem for someone to have the telescopic stock on their Benelli M4/M1014??!!  With the stock collapsed, Benelli's specs show that an M4/M1014 is still 34"+...and it has an 18.5" barrel to boot.

So, if a Benelli M4/M1014 WITH STOCK COLLAPSED is still almost 10" longer than a SBS, what the heck is all of the controversy about?  I'm not being a smartass, I'd really like to know.  

On semi's and auto the oal dont come into play beacuse the receivers add so much length to the oal.
For doubles and singles it can become a peoblem.

My Benelli M1 Entry is the same size as the M1014, and it has a 14" barrel!http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/428SCJ/100_1127.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/428SCJ/100_1123.jpg

Quoted: My Benelli M1 Entry is the same size as the M1014, and it has a 14" barrel!

Yeah, and an 870 (18" barrel) with folding pistol grip folded is even shorter than yours...and completely legal and not an sbs...go figure

It's just government BS. You can have folding stocks and mag extensions on current US-made shotguns, but not on foreign-made shotguns imported after '89.

I personally don't think that it is fair that some can have the "evil" features and some cannot, with the determining factor being where they were manufactured.