Two-Bit Charlie Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I'm setting up both a shotgun and rifle for my grandson. I need to shorten the stocks on both guns and shorten the barrel on the shotgun. What is the min. length for a shotgun barrel? What is the min. total length for a shotgun and for a rifle. Two-Bit Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royal barnes sass #5792 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Not absolutely sure on rifles but shotgun is 18" barrel and 26" overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two-Bit Charlie Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Not absolutely sure on rifles but shotgun is 18" barrel and 26" overall. thanks for the shotgun info. one down one to go. Two-Bit Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Dog, SASS #20401 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I do believe minimum overall length for both rifle and shotgun is 26". 16" minimum for the rifle barrel and 18" for the shotgun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Dog, SASS #20401 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I do believe minimum overall length for both rifle and shotgun is 26". 16" minimum for the rifle barrel and 18" for the shotgun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hacker, SASS #55963 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Lone Dog is correct! US Federal Law has the overall length at 26 inches and the barrels of a rifle at 16 inches and a shotgun at 18 inches; lest one encroaches on the National Firearms Act (NFA) and creates a short barrelled rifle or shotgun and is invited to spend a bunch years at a "federal wreckreational facility". Length info from NFA title 26, chapter 53, subchapter B, Section 5845 Definitions, item a Firearm. But SASS has rules as well. Shooters Handbook page 4 Rifle barrels must maintain a length of at least 16 inches. Shooters Handbook page 5 Shotgun barrels must maintain a length of at least 18 inches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Ron Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 By the way, be sure of where you are measuring from and to. the barrel length is measured as if the barrel is out of the gun. One fella came up with a rather illegal winchester because he measured from the wrong place. It sure looked cool but he didnt like it enuf to go to prison. Eventually it went back to winchester as a damaged rifle and they put in fresh parts and every one was happy. Im gittin a ranch hand. Best CR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quick Draw Granpaw #48525 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Yep, sounds like you got some great answers SHotguns 18 inches and Rifles 16 inches. Suggestion: add a 1/4 inch as insurance, it never hurts to cover yourself. Someone could measure it incorrectly if your to close to 16" or 18"! Happy trails QDG/Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Yep, sounds like you got some great answers SHotguns 18 inches and Rifles 16 inches.Suggestion: add a 1/4 inch as insurance, it never hurts to cover yourself. Someone could measure it incorrectly if your to close to 16" or 18"! Happy trails QDG/Mike Yes indeed, and if your cut is not exactly 90 degrees to bore line, the ATF will take the shortest distance of your cut to measure by. This has happened before (as read in the ATF briefs that I use to get when I held an FFL). Smithy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Woodrow Cahill, SASS # 54363 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Measured from the breech face. And make sure the firing pin is retracted - that extra few thousandths can make a difference on an ATF ruler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Recommend that you make sure to maintain the OAL requirements, but that you make sure that the rifle is a little OVER 16" and the rifle a little over 18" to be on the safe side. Scroll down on the link: http://www.atf.gov/firearms/guides/identification-of-nfa-firearms.html GG ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Windshadow Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 another thing to consider is are cheap or even easily available replacement butt stocks out there for you to use as the boy out grows the shortened stock there are ways to build up the cut down stock some as simple as gluing the sawn off chunks back on and/or using thicker recoil pads (and these kitchen fixes can be hidden under a leather lace on butt cover but if you wan t to get best value out of one of them when resold such modifications will reduce the value of the gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phiren Smoke GUNFIGHTER Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 One trick a woodworker taught me, before you make the cut remove the butt plate and drill two small diameter holes into the stock towards the receiver one half inch deeper than what you intend to cut off. If you need to reattach the cut off section you can use dowel rods to line things up and make a stronger joint. If you use a fine kerf saw the joint will be almost invisible. Hope this helps, Smoke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 On questions like this ALWAYS use the ATF site that Gunner provided. The Wire folks are a great source of information but when it comes to things that might have serious consequences legally, it's best to go to the source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKenzie River Drifter, #74138 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Bob You don't mean you ever got a bad tip on the wire. McKenzie-Hope you water heater worked out OK- River Drifter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two-Bit Charlie Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 another thing to consider is are cheap or even easily available replacement butt stocks out there for you to use as the boy out grows the shortened stock there are ways to build up the cut down stock some as simple as gluing the sawn off chunks back on and/or using thicker recoil pads (and these kitchen fixes can be hidden under a leather lace on butt cover but if you wan t to get best value out of one of them when resold such modifications will reduce the value of the gun. The rifle that I'm shortening for my grandson is a Henry .22. Henry sent me free of charge a new (they said it was a blemesh stock, but I couldn't tell the difference from the origional)stock to work on. The president of the company even e-mailed me. You can't beat service like that. I want to thank all of you for the help. Two-Bit Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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