Question on an AR purchase/build

[jon5212]

Ok so I've been reading through the NFA FAQ and lots of posts. I know that for a SBR you need to pay a tax stamp and wait on paperwork before you can purchase/take home or build an AR platform.

What if the AR is using a barrel 16" or longer? Is it still a "NFA" item or would it now be just a "rifle" and if you pass background like a pistol you can walk out the same day with it?

Then in the future if you decide you want to make it a SBR you can then wait on all the paperwork?

I'm just a little confused on these matters and would appreciate any input as I'm thinking an AR is going to be an addition to the household in a few months.

 

[indybuell]

If you are just building a standard barrel AR, you don't need stamp. You fill out all the paperwork when you buy the receiver the same as if you were buying a 10/22.

 

[jon5212]

Ok so If wanted I can do a home build AR with a 16" barrel with standard paperwork. But in the future if I want to SBR it with say 10.5 or 11 inch I would have to pay the tax stamp on the lower?

And I assume if one did this, and just bought a 10.5" barrel to put on it by ordering one out of a magazine it is now an illegal SBR?

 

[netsecurity]

You can buy a 10.5" upper without any NFA paperwork too, but you're buying it as a "pistol", and it is illegal to attach an unstamped lower.

 

[jon5212]

Ok so I would have to first get that first lower for the 16" barrel stamped, and then buy a shorter barrel and I would be good. Thanks for the help.

 

[amafrank]

Its really pretty simple in reality. You don't register a lower so you never need to worry about that. You register a combination of a short barrel and a receiver. If you don't have both of them you don't have to worry. If you take the short barrel off and sell it you can sell the receiver/lower as a title one firearm. Read the Frequently Asked SBR/SBS questions at the BATF NFA website and it will answer a lot of questions.

ATF Online - Firearms - Frequently Asked Questions - National Firearms Act (NFA) - Short Barreled Rifles and Shotguns

What you will find is that the lower is not the registered part but since the serial number is there you need to have it in hand to register the combo. Once you have the registration approved and tax stamp affixed to it you can install the short upper. The regulations require the serial to be on the receiver and people think that because they have to have a serial to register that the receiver is the registered part. The truth is that in order to require registration you must have a barrel that is less than 16" and a receiver. You cannot legally register just a receiver or just a barrel.


Hope that helps

Frank

 

[jon5212]

^^^ That's what I needed, Appreciate it Frank.