Rifle vs Pistol

[Ronaldo Crespin]

I am inquiring as to; what makes an AR rifle lower different from an AR pistol lower. I saw a stipulation on a sales website that stated that adding one of their pistol uppers to an existing AR would qualify it as an SBR. I don't understand what the difference is.

Can somebody please help?

Thank you.

 

[Lionheart]

A rifle lower has a shoulder-mounted stock on the buffer tube making it a rifle. An AR pistol lower has just a bare buffer tube or an "BATF approved" device like a Sig- Brace that is designed to only be a wrist/forearm brace - not a shoulder mounted stock. Thus, one is a rifle….one is a pistol. My understanding is that if a lower has a "pistol" (less than 16" bbl) upper ever mounted to it along with an approved pistol brace then the lower is a pistol lower and could take a pistol upper with no problems. The problem you are referring to in your post is when you add a "pistol" (less than 16") upper to a "rifle" lower. Then you have an SBR. You must remember that AR's are registered by the LOWER's serial #….not the upper.

 

[JkEnder]

For a rifle not to require a $200 NFA tax stamp, it must be at least 26" with a 16" barrel. If you buy an AR pistol (barrel less than 16") you can convert it into a rifle (add a stock and 16" barrel upper) and then back to a pistol. You cannot legally do this to a lower that was originally marked as a rifle. If you buy just a stripped lower, it is usually sold as other and can legally be made into either a pistol or a rifle.

 

[JkEnder]

A rifle lower with a shoulder stock cannot have a pistol upper mounted (barrel less than 16") without a tax stamp for a SBR.

 

[Ronaldo Crespin]

Good info, thanks guys.

 

[Duce4trey]

When you buy a lower from a store make sure they check box as "other" so you can build either rifle or pistol with it.

 

[spencer60]

When you buy a lower from a store make sure they check box as "other" so you can build either rifle or pistol with it.

Yeah, as stripped lower shouldn't be either pistol or rifle.

There's also some weirdness about converting a pistol to a rifle back to a pistol if I remember right...

 

[JkEnder]

Yeah, as stripped lower shouldn't be either pistol or rifle.

There's also some weirdness about converting a pistol to a rifle back to a pistol if I remember right...

It's not weird, a pistol may be converted into a rifle, and back again into a pistol, provided that said dimensions and restrictions do not violate the laws of God, or the covenants of God or the ATF. A rifle may only be converteth into a pistol, by the grace of god, by approval by the ATF, under the holy mandate by the ATF, and the applicant shall pay the holy tax of $200, and wait for a period of not less than 8 cycles of the moon for approval of such conversion, as mandated by our lord, the savior...

 

[spencer60]

OK, so if you strip down your rifle build and turn it into a pistol you have to SBR it? Even if it was purchased as a stripped lower (aka "other")?

That qualifies as 'weird' to me...

 

[BIKER13]

when hillarys goons come to take your guns is it really gonna make a **** if its a rifle or a pistol?