pistol/rifle add/remove stocks

[DrBaker]

Is it illegal to add a stock to a pistol?
EX. putting a stock on a glock (legal or not, I would never dream of doing this). Just curious.


Is it illegal to remove a stock and go with a pistol grip only with a rifle?
EX. removing the butt stock of an AK47,but leave the pistol grip there

[FireCop203]

Yes it is illegal unless you register it with BATFE as a (SBR) Short Barreled Rifle. Anything with a barrel length less than 16".

I am not 100% certain about your question on the AK. If I recall correctly, as long as the barrel is not shorter than 16" and the overall length is not shorter than 26" it can be done with the pistol grip only. I could be wrong on this one.

[LastManStanding]

Yes it is illegal unless you register it with BATFE as a (SBR) Short Barreled Rifle. Anything with a barrel length less than 16".

I am not 100% certain about your question on the AK. If I recall correctly, as long as the barrel is not shorter than 16" and the overall length is not shorter than 26" it can be done with the pistol grip only. I could be wrong on this one.

Ahh but the real question is does adding a stock to a pistol make it a rifle? It doesnt modify the way the gun shoots in any way so I'd assume that it wouldn't be considered a rifle.

[straight69jack]

Are the regs. the same on shotguns?
I was under the impression as long as the total length was 21" it was legal.
I may be wrong and if so what is the correct awnser?

[capmarine]

the only weapon i can think of where you can add a stock,believe to be legal now,is the broomhandle mauser.at one time it was illegal,but if memory serves me right that restriction was removed.pistol grip shotguns are ok-barrel length is what counts.

[Kelly Drown]

This is an interesting debate and we've had these discussions before. I fall into this specifically since I have a Thompson Encore. It's both a pistol and a rifle depending upon the configuration.

I believe someone had looked up the law on it, and it was somewhat entertaining. I has to do with the order it's assembled. If I have the rifle grip on my Encore, and put on a 12 inch pistol barrel, it's an illegal gun. However, If I put the barrel on first, then put the pistol grip on, it's a legal gun. Similarily, if I have the rifle stock and barrel assembled, and put the pistol grip on first before removing the barrel, it's once again an illegal gun.

Apparently it's your word on how it was assembled unless someone witnesses it. This came up at a match where someone had their Contender in rifle configuration, and disassembled and reassembled it in the wrong order and they wouldn't let them shoot. They had to reassemble it in the proper order to be a legal gun for the competition.

Strange stuff.

[DrBaker]

This is an interesting debate and we've had these discussions before. I fall into this specifically since I have a Thompson Encore. It's both a pistol and a rifle depending upon the configuration.

I believe someone had looked up the law on it, and it was somewhat entertaining. I has to do with the order it's assembled. If I have the rifle grip on my Encore, and put on a 12 inch pistol barrel, it's an illegal gun. However, If I put the barrel on first, then put the pistol grip on, it's a legal gun. Similarily, if I have the rifle stock and barrel assembled, and put the pistol grip on first before removing the barrel, it's once again an illegal gun.

Apparently it's your word on how it was assembled unless someone witnesses it. This came up at a match where someone had their Contender in rifle configuration, and disassembled and reassembled it in the wrong order and they wouldn't let them shoot. They had to reassemble it in the proper order to be a legal gun for the competition.

Strange stuff.

That's crazy stuff. I heard somebody else say that If you put a full stock on a gun, it's a rifle. If you just put a pistol grip on it and it has never seen a full stock, it is considered a pistol.

[LastManStanding]

All these little "grey" rules about guns confuse me. It's seems that everything is open to interpretation even if its not explicitly denied. I thought all rights not denied by the law still resided with the people..... :nono2:

[DrBaker]

All these little "grey" rules about guns confuse me. It's seems that everything is open to interpretation even if its not explicitly denied. I thought all rights not denied by the law still resided with the people..... :nono2:

Wrong or right, that about sums it up for me too.

[chvylvr350]

Is it illegal to add a stock to a pistol?
EX. putting a stock on a glock (legal or not, I would never dream of doing this). Just curious.Yes as long as it follows the rules of being a "rifle" when it is configured as such. If its is made to be a "short-barreled rifle" it has to be registered as such to be legal. It can be configured as a "rifle" but it is still a "pistol". Once a "short-barreled rifle" always a "short-barreled rifle". Even though you could configure it to be pistol-like it is still registered as a "short-barreled rifle".

Is it illegal to remove a stock and go with a pistol grip only with a rifle?
EX. removing the butt stock of an AK47,but leave the pistol grip thereAs long as its barrel is 16" long and has an over-all length of 26". The 26" can vary from state to state but Oklahomas definition is the same as the federal law, which is 26".

Ahh but the real question is does adding a stock to a pistol make it a rifle? It doesnt modify the way the gun shoots in any way so I'd assume that it wouldn't be considered a rifle.It doesn't make it a "rifle" but it has to abide by the rules of being a "rifle" when a stock is on it. If you build a "short-barreled rifle" ,and register it, it is and always will be a "short-barreled rifle" from then on.

This is an interesting debate and we've had these discussions before. I fall into this specifically since I have a Thompson Encore. It's both a pistol and a rifle depending upon the configuration.Actually it is a "pistol" but must abide by the rules of "rifle" when in such a configuration. If it was a "rifle" it could never be a "pistol".

I believe someone had looked up the law on it, and it was somewhat entertaining. I has to do with the order it's assembled. If I have the rifle grip on my Encore, and put on a 12 inch pistol barrel, it's an illegal gun. However, If I put the barrel on first, then put the pistol grip on, it's a legal gun. Similarily, if I have the rifle stock and barrel assembled, and put the pistol grip on first before removing the barrel, it's once again an illegal gun.

Apparently it's your word on how it was assembled unless someone witnesses it. This came up at a match where someone had their Contender in rifle configuration, and disassembled and reassembled it in the wrong order and they wouldn't let them shoot. They had to reassemble it in the proper order to be a legal gun for the competition.

Strange stuff. Yeah I wouldn't be worried about having such things unless you do something else illegal. I am sure that some people that have AR-15s also have AR pistols. If you got caught doing something wrong they might try to pin you with contructive intent to build an illegal "short-barreled rifle" or something. As long as you do nothing else wrong it unlikely anything would happen.

P.S. if you really want to be confused try to find the law that says that a pistol with a forward grip is an "any other weapon".

[capmarine]

I remember mossberg selling some shotguns with pistol grips and other without etc,cant remember the name of it now.all depending how it was sold.i would look at the overall length,length of barrel.unless an officer knows what he is dealing with,he will be scratching his head.my partner and i were at a house and he said some agents had some kind of green tube-i told him it sounded like a LAW.it was just an empty tube,which you can buy at any gunshow.there are more important things to worry about than guns,most of the time.

[DrBaker]

My mossberg 500 came with a full stock, pistol grip, and tools to remove/swap them. Do shotguns fall into the same category as rifles and considered 'long guns' as a whole?

[chvylvr350]

My mossberg 500 came with a full stock, pistol grip, and tools to remove/swap them. Do shotguns fall into the same category as rifles and considered 'long guns' as a whole?
They have seperate definitions for "shotgun" and "short-barreled shotgun". The only difference is it mentions smooth bore barrels and the barrels have to be 18" on a "shotgun" rather than 16" for a "rifle". The over-all length is still 26" for both.

[Turboman]

HI
Im new here and saw this post,So if iread this correct and i have a rifle,Want to shoot it as a pistol,I could make a stock buy a stock or whatever and shoot it as long as the barrel is 16 inches long and over all length is at least 26 inches??That still makes it a rifle but i can shoot ti as a pistol??

[Subsonic]

If you want to register a rifle or shotgun as a short barrel rifle/shotgun, you can always change it back at a later date with the proper ATF paperwork but that is just a waste of time and money when you do that. Also throw in the Any Other Weapon (AOW) classification in here as well and that creates even more questions.