Legal Barrel Length?

[Contenderizer]

I was about to purchase a Carbine Buttstock for my Contender - when it dawned on me - I may be building a rifle with too short a barrel to be legal! What is the minimum barrel length allowed in this configuration? My 45-70 is only 14 inches :confused:

[Rocky Raab]

It's 16" for the carbine, and a 14" barrel mounted to a frame with a carbine stock would be a Fed violation.

Although the frame will accept either type of stock (pistol or carbine) and any barrel length, the law says that any firearm that left the factory as a carbine cannot ever be converted to a pistol. If it left as a pistol, however, it CAN legally be switched back and forth.

In no instance, however, can you ever have a pistol barrel (sub-16") on a carbine frame.

Idiotic, I know; but we're talking the Gummint here. To them, it makes sense.

I solved the problem for myself by buying TWO frames. One is permanently a pistol and the other is permanently a carbine. Harrrumph and foooey on them.

[Contenderizer]

Thanks, Rocky, I thought it was 16 - but, I didn't want to accept that line of thinking as it simply wasn't what I wanted to hear.

[BILLY D.]

It's also legal if you take a 14" barrel and turn it into a carbine by installing a flash hider BUT it must be a permanent installation ie: the flash hider must be welded to the barrel. The Choate flash hiders will lenghten the barrel length enough to be barely legal.

Best wishes, Bill

[HPBTMTCH]

Rocky, what about a 16 1/2 inch barrel on a pistol ?

[Rocky Raab]

Any length barrel on a pistol is fine.

This silly law is the reason it's always best to buy a new T/C as a pistol. After that, you can change it either way at will - as long as you never have a short barrel and a buttstock installed simultaneously. Buy a carbine T/C and that's the only way you can legally have it, forever.

The rub comes if you buy a used frame. In theory, you'd have to research to learn how it left the factory, pistol or carbine. But T/C doesn't release that info - so you could be screwed without ever knowing it.

[PJgunner]

"The rub comes if you buy a used frame. In theory, you'd have to research to learn how it left the factory, pistol or carbine. But T/C doesn't release that info - so you could be screwed without ever knowing it."

I would think it would be wiser for them to give out the information. If I ever ended up in that situation, somebody is liable to get sued, and gun companies don't need that kind of trouble.
Maybe the answer would be to have your lawyer make the request along with proper documentation. That way, due to their refusal to give out the needed information, they could be made either liable or an accessory after the fact.
I realize their position is silly, but knowing the reputation of the BAT-MEN, whatever it take to CYA.
Paul B.