SBR vs AR Pistol

[Mortman]

^that will remain to be seen. Wouldn't want to be in the attention of any overzealous BATFE agent though.

[Squirrely]

I complain about stuff like this all the time.. but what if I decide to tape a gun to my face. Will everything I attach to my forehead become illegal?

 

The stupidity never stops.

[hollis092]

Process is pretty straight forward.

 

If you are building, you will do a form 1, if purchasing an already complete SBR, form 4.

 

The way I go about this is, first set up a completely separate trust, you don't want your firearms in with everything else.

 

Then purchase the lower you want to use with a SBR upper. You must first build out the lower, have it engraved with the name of your trust. - This step should always be done first in case something happens to the lower or is lost in shipping to the engraver. You don't want to pay the tax stamp twice, so do this first.

 

Now, with your trust you can efile your form 1 online. I am hearing average wait times 30-50 days, which is much faster than 4-8 months with paper filing.

 

Once approved, you can then order your short barrel, upper, and other parts needed to assemble. Build and enjoy!

 

If you have an existing lower, you can simply have that engraved and register it on your form 1.

 

Once you have the tax stamp and SBR, you can put another upper on it as long as you can return it to it's registered state fairly quickly. Meaning, if you register a 10.5" barrel and swap out to a 12" barrel, you must be immediately able to return it to the 10.5" barrel length. If you swap to a 16" or longer barrel, I would imagine the rule no longer applies because you would then have a legal length barrel.

[Nwatson99]

Just a couple

 

 

 

 

 

6.8

[Ibmikey]

Appllication for a tax stamp requires every little box and procedure be done to the satisfaction of some office weenie in Washinhton DC. I sent mine in but due to a one letter descripancy the app was returned for correction, my $200 was not returned at that time or in the two years since. I chose to simply build the weapon as a pistol in 300 BO and have had fun shooting it in those two years.

I use a Kac brace and have found it to be quite fast and accurate when shooting at cans, bricks, dirt clods etc. I do just fine with a single point sling and brace. Also have no restriction on crossing state lines when traveling to Texas for hog hunting as I would with a SBR.

[Ibmikey]

Appllication for a tax stamp requires every little box and procedure be done to the satisfaction of some office weenie in Washinhton DC. I sent mine in but due to a one letter descripancy the app was returned for correction, my $200 was not returned at that time or in the two years since. I chose to simply build the weapon as a pistol in 300 BO and have had fun shooting it in those two years.

I use a Kac brace and have found it to be quite fast and accurate when shooting at cans, bricks, dirt clods etc. I do just fine with a single point sling and brace. Also have no restriction on crossing state lines when traveling to Texas for hog hunting as I would with a SBR.

u

I built a second pistol the original onne has a 8.5" barrel while the second has a 12.5". Both pistols are a lot of fun to shoot and the brace helps stabilize the hold, the shoulder seems to be the only restricetd portion of the body ATF is obsessed over so keep the brace from touching that area, you never know who might be hiding under a rock

[Ibmikey]

Yesterday it was announced that ATF reversed it'self on the brace touching shoulder issue so now one does not need to fear the Gov Position Police will catch you firing in some unacceptable stance. I enjoy shooting my pistols but was always self conscious about somehow being illegal due to an arbitrary observation by someone hiding behind a tree.

This decision certainly would not have come from the last administration.

[GridlockH8]

I did my first ones back in 2009/2010 when the wait was only 90 days. I miss those days haha. My buddy is at around 220 days right now on a SDN6 suppressor. I've got 2-3 more projects that I've been wanting to get started on and just keep putting them off. I may wait a couple more months to see if the recent changes affect the lead time.

[Squirrely]

Current wait time is over 18 months for the stamp. Ridiculous

[Iceman22]

Nice looking rig Nwatson

[DSGB]

Waiting on my SBR stamp!!

[Squirrely]

I've decided to purchase a stripped SBR lower. I figured this way I'm only out a few hundred vs the cost of an entire rifle if something goes wrong.

 

Once I get my lower, I'll complete the build.

[Penguin VII]

Figured I would add my own unsolicited $0.02 on this.

 

SBR is generally not worth the hassle unless you already have multiple rifles and are not planning to move out of state or travel with it at all. In addition to the standard wait time of 9 or so months and the $200 tax stamp you have the added fun of having to contact the ATF every time you want to cross state lines with it. Not only do you have to contact them but you have to wait for their response of approval. Fun.

 

There are quite a few pros with choosing the pistol build route over the SBR and only two drawbacks from what I can tell. (NOTE: I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.)

 

Pros

• Can be built instantly, no extra payment or waiting for approval.
• Cross state lines whenever you want, so long as it's not into an unconstitutional state like CA.
• SB and KAK both offer fantastic braces. More likely to come.
• Multiple companies now offer pistol buffer tube spacers or custom pistol buffer tubes to allow longer length of pull for SB or KAK brace.
• "redesign" isn't a legally defined term, as stated by the ATF, so even if the agency again changes it's mind about the legality of shouldering a brace there is 0% chance that any conviction would happen. Moreover, even when the ATF had stated that it was illegal to shoulder a brace there were multiple reports that the ATF has instructed agents to not prosecute any case.
• Because it is a pistol it can legally be conceal carried in any state that allows it. Although it's absurd to think you're gonna hide a AR on your person that law does mean that you are able to carry a loaded AR pistol in your vehicle, a SBR would follow all rifle rules, meaning you can not have it loaded (mag inserted) into the gun. Check your local laws.

Cons

• Can't have a stock.
• Can't have a vertical foregrip. (can have a hand stop or angled grip though)

In my mind it's not even a close call. Unless you've got extra cash to burn and plan on living in your home state long term and have other rifles to travel with. That said at the end of the day it's your money, spend as you see fit.

[MikeNH]

I saw this thread and was actually going to post that I felt that with the ATF loosening up rules with the arm braces that a SBR really loses a lot of appeal since you can get nearly the same form factor with a "pistol" with the arm brace.

[rcoe]

I was going to convert my AR pistol to a SBR but since the backed off on the brace language I have kept it as is. I did take the original Sig brace off and went the KAK route.

 

With a slim rail and a simple handstop I find no need for a vertical grip.