Differences in a pistol and sbr??

[chevytruck_83]

What qualifies a gun as a pistol instead of an sbr? I realize it’s usually weather or not it has a stock or brace but Is there an overall length that it cannot exceed? Are there any attachments that make a pistol an sbr? Like a forward hand grip or law folding stock adapter etc? I have a springfield saint pistol that I would like to do some things to but don’t want to break any laws. I live in Pennsylvania.

 

[mdmp5]

Pistol doesn’t have a stock and an SBR does. 16” barrel length cutoff, some states have full length cutoff

 

[mdmp5]

You can’t turn a pistol into a rifle or aow without a stamp

 

[gearguywb]

Yes, overall barrel length including any fixed attachment (think welded flash hider), and a stock meant to be laced in the shoulder. Thats why the Sig "brace" is ok on a pistol. It is not supposed to be placed in the shoulder.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

The difference... politics.

 

[Dthomas3523]

Yes, overall barrel length including any fixed attachment (think welded flash hider), and a stock meant to be laced in the shoulder. Thats why the Sig "brace" is ok on a pistol. It is not supposed to be placed in the shoulder.

Let’s word that properly. A rifle is intended to be fired from the shoulder. A pistol is designed to be able to be fired from one hand. But this doesn’t mean that it’s “not supposed to be placed on the shoulder.” This would imply you are doing something you shouldn’t be doing if you brace it in your shoulder. This is how we end up with regulation/interpretation like we had before the latest clarification.


Same thing with any regular handgun. If you put your Glock up to your shoulder, that’s your choice. It has the ability to be fired competently from one hand, and wasn’t designed to be shouldered, but if you choose to use two hands or your shoulder, so be it.


And yes there is an overall length. You can fall into three categories, pistol, rifle, and “other.”

 

[Crews]

I had a pistol, and yes... it got the job done okay. I have an SBR now. Getting the tax stamp and engraving the receiver wasn't really all that big a deal, and I really enjoy having a real rifle stock and not having to "democrat" around with a pistol brace.

 

[bigwatchpilot]

I have one of each. Living in a Tri-State area I do not want to think about traveling out of state transporting my SBR, easy to just take the pistol rig on those days. To answer your question...

SBR vs Pistol

 

[Dthomas3523]

What qualifies a gun as a pistol instead of an sbr? I realize it’s usually weather or not it has a stock or brace but Is there an overall length that it cannot exceed? Are there any attachments that make a pistol an sbr? Like a forward hand grip or law folding stock adapter etc? I have a springfield saint pistol that I would like to do some things to but don’t want to break any laws. I live in Pennsylvania.

Depending on the overall length (I don't remember off the top of my head), you cannot add a vertical grip to a pistol. You can have an angled foregrip, but not a vertical one. Same thing with you normal pistol....you cannot add a vertical grip to say a glock.

 

[oldfatguy]

Have both and favor the pistol when traveling across state lines although filing the 5320.20
isn’t a big deal. In addition a pistol can be carried in a vehicle loaded and accessible. The SBR can not.

OFG

 

[chevytruck_83]

I don’t want to make it an sbr just to be clear. I’m trying to avoid unknowingly turning into one by putting something on it I shouldn’t.

 

[freedom71]

Attached is the BATFE's latest word on the matter. A brace can be attached to an AR pistol without "making" the pistol into a SBR (NFA firearm) for which you need a tax stamp. That's because the brace is not intended to be and cannot comfortably be fired from the shoulder. Incidental, sporadic, or situational firing of the pistol from the shoulder with the brace (in its original configuration) does not constitute a "redesign" of the pistol into a SBR.

However, if the shooter takes affirmative steps to configure the brace into a shoulder stock—e.g., by permanently affixing the brace to the buffer tube, removing the strap, or otherwise altering its ability to be used as a brace—and then shoots the firearm from the shoulder, the shooter has "redesigned" the firearm into a SBR.

Merely shooting an AR pistol from the shoulder doesn't transform the pistol into a SBR, so long as you don't alter the brace in any way.

BTW, this is federal law. I don't know anything about what PA law is on the matter.

 

[fdkay]

You can’t turn a pistol into a rifle or aow without a stamp

A pistol can be made into a rifle, but a rifle can't be made into a pistol. However, in doing so, the minimum barrel length and other defining features of a rifle must be present. A pistol can NOT be made into an SBR without the tax stamp.
For evidence of this, one need look no further than the carbine conversion units that are made for glocks and 1911's.

 

[freedom71]

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

 

[mdmp5]

When in doubt, call the NFA. They are actually very nice people and are helpful

 

[Winny94]

Let’s word that properly. A rifle is intended to be fired from the shoulder. A pistol is designed to be able to be fired from one hand. But this doesn’t mean that it’s “not supposed to be placed on the shoulder.” This would imply you are doing something you shouldn’t be doing if you brace it in your shoulder. This is how we end up with regulation/interpretation like we had before the latest clarification.


Same thing with any regular handgun. If you put your Glock up to your shoulder, that’s your choice. It has the ability to be fired competently from one hand, and wasn’t designed to be shouldered, but if you choose to use two hands or your shoulder, so be it.


And yes there is an overall length. You can fall into three categories, pistol, rifle, and “other.”

Edit: Pistol, Rifle, Firearm

 

[Winny94]

You can’t turn a pistol into a rifle or aow without a stamp

You can most definitely go from a pistol to a rifle - you swap between the two as long as the receiver started as a pistol. You cannot go from a rifle to a pistol if the receiver started as a rifle.

 

[mdmp5]

You can most definitely go from a pistol to a rifle - you swap between the two as long as the receiver started as a pistol. You cannot go from a rifle to a pistol if the receiver started as a rifle.

What I meant to say is you cannot make a pistol into a short rifle. i.e. throwing a folding stock on an SP89 without a stamp

 

[TigernLionGSP]

ok I am going to throw a monkey wrench into the mix : is a person builds a 10.5 AR with a stock and only uses it shooting training rounds in it with a UTM man maker bolt, which is UNABLE TO FIRE 5.56 rounds is it classified as a SBR, pistol or just a training rifle what will just shoot UTM man maker rounds and nothing is required to be filed

 

[mdmp5]

What is that, simunition? The question is, is that a firearm?

 

[fdkay]

ok I am going to throw a monkey wrench into the mix : is a person builds a 10.5 AR with a stock and only uses it shooting training rounds in it with a UTM man maker bolt, which is UNABLE TO FIRE 5.56 rounds is it classified as a SBR, pistol or just a training rifle what will just shoot UTM man maker rounds and nothing is required to be filed

It is still a firearm. The receiver is a firearm receiver, all it would take is a bolt change to make it an operational firearm.
In addition, the rounds may be classified as 1.4S (ammunition).
Build it as a pistol.

 

[SLG]

ok I am going to throw a monkey wrench into the mix : is a person builds a 10.5 AR with a stock and only uses it shooting training rounds in it with a UTM man maker bolt, which is UNABLE TO FIRE 5.56 rounds is it classified as a SBR, pistol or just a training rifle what will just shoot UTM man maker rounds and nothing is required to be filed

What it is, is illegal, unless you register it as an sbr.

 

[TigernLionGSP]

What it is, is illegal, unless you register it as an sbr.

I can just put a brace and call it a pistol then should be good to go

 

[fdkay]

I can just put a brace and call it a pistol then should be good to go

No.
If the serial number is associated with a rifle, then it can only be a rifle.
If the receiver has never been built or was originally a pistol, then you can build a pistol.
Once a rifle, always a rifle. An SBR is a rifle, hence the term Short Barreled Rifle.

 

[TigernLionGSP]

No.
If the serial number is associated with a rifle, then it can only be a rifle.
If the receiver has never been built or was originally a pistol, then you can build a pistol.
Once a rifle, always a rifle. An SBR is a rifle, hence the term Short Barreled Rifle.

darn federal laws

 

[Winny94]

No.
If the serial number is associated with a rifle, then it can only be a rifle.
If the receiver has never been built or was originally a pistol, then you can build a pistol.
Once a rifle, always a rifle. An SBR is a rifle, hence the term Short Barreled Rifle.

Again, not true - it needs to start as a pistol, but it can go pistol --> rifle -->pistol. It can't go rifle --> pistol.

 

[fdkay]

Again, not true - it needs to start as a pistol, but it can go pistol --> rifle -->pistol. It can't go rifle --> pistol.

No shit.
In that case the serial number is associated with a pistol.
Try to keep up.
I have previously pointed out that a pistol can become a rifle.
Are you that dense?
Apparently, you can't read and comprehend too quickly, so, I'll type it slowly.

IF......THE......ORIGINAL....CONFIGURATION.....IS......A........RIFLE.......THEN.....IT......CAN.....ONLY.....BE......A.....RIFLE!!!!!!