AR-15 barrel swap question?

[wakosama]

A guy my daughter knows is offered an AR-15 pistol. He wants to convert it into a rifle by somehow adding a longer barrel. Can he do this?
1. Legally?
2. Can he actually just swap out another barrel? Or does he have go get a 'rifle upper'?
Thanks

 

[TexaSOT]

The lower is the issue, it's what's serialized and designated as a rifle, pistol, or SBR. So a couple of things need to happen to stay out of legal trouble.

1 - he can add the longer barrel (or just buy a new upper with a barrel that's 16" or longer)
2 - he will need to buy a new lower receiver that isn't a pistol lower (super easy to find, the most common actually. Pistol lowers are actually harder to find).
3 - he'll now have a regular "rifle", but below are a few considerations
a: if he gets a regular AR15 lower, and puts his short barreled upper on it, he has an un-registered SBR. No bueno.
b: you can have any barrel length on a pistol lower tho with no legal issues. So I'd figure out the upper first, what barrel length he wants to run, etc.
c: Once the upper is squared away, he can just put together a regular AR15 lower and he'll be straight.


You CAN convet a pistol lower into a rifle, but it requires a form 4, possibly re-engraving depending on how the manufacturer did it, and is not worth it in the longer run. Especially when you can get stripped standard lowers for $100 +/- all day long.

 

[wakosama]

Well, thanks. I figured there were issues, but not so many. Glad to know all that. I'll be telling him to just wait and save up more to get a rifle instead. Be well.

 

[randomthought]

I pistol lower can be swapped to a rifle without issue, the same cannot be said for a rifle lower. but some one would have to have a real hard on to backtrack to the original owner and try to get the paperwork. An sbr well that requires paperwork,tax stamp and a waiting period.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Lead Belly]

ATF says: Can I lawfully make a pistol into a rifle without registering that firearm?​

Assuming that the firearm was originally a pistol, the resulting firearm, with an attached shoulder stock, is not an NFA firearm if it has a barrel of 16 inches or more in length.
Pursuant to ATF Ruling 2011-4, such rifle may later be unassembled and again configured as a pistol. Such configuration would not be considered a “weapon made from a rifle” as defined by 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a)(4).
[26 U.S.C. § 5845, 27 CFR § 479.11]

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/can-i-lawfully-make-pistol-rifle-without-registering-firearm

 

[jjkukla]

To muddy things up even more; each of the stripped lowers I've purchased were transferred ("registered") as OTHER on the paperwork. Not a pistol. Not a rifle. Not an SBR. So there's that potential too. It's unlikely he'll ever know how it was transferred originally... so he can play it safe and start over or swap the barrel and make no further issue of it.

 

[Renegade]

To muddy things up even more; each of the stripped lowers I've purchased were transferred ("registered") as OTHER on the paperwork. Not a pistol. Not a rifle. Not an SBR. So there's that potential too. It's unlikely he'll ever know how it was transferred originally... so he can play it safe and start over or swap the barrel and make no further issue of it.

Because they were not rifles, pistols, etc.

That does not mean they cannot become rifles, pistols, etc.

 

[Renegade]

A guy my daughter knows is offered an AR-15 pistol. He wants to convert it into a rifle by somehow adding a longer barrel. Can he do this?
1. Legally?
2. Can he actually just swap out another barrel? Or does he have go get a 'rifle upper'?
Thanks

He can add a longer barrel, and a stock, to be a rifle it will need to be a 16" BBL, and have an OAL of 26"+.

 

[jjkukla]

Because they were not rifles, pistols, etc.

That does not mean they cannot become rifles, pistols, etc.

Completely agree. I was just raising another possible "type" that hadn't been mentioned yet.

 

[Bozz10mm]

Yes, he can just swap out the short barrel for a long barrel, and all is good and legal.

But it is much easier to buy a complete upper and install it. Then add a stock. Done and done, easy peasy. Palmetto State Armory sells some decent complete uppers and rifle stocks too. The upper and stock can be shipped directly to your home, no FFL required.