This was not my posting on the other board but it clearly answers what many were confused
about regarding this issue. Making a rifle from a pistol is fine but reversing the process is making an
NFA controlled short barrel rifle. I seen another thread like this before with a scanned letter I just can't
remember which board it was on. Once a shoulder stock has been mated to a receiver, the ATF takes
the position that it is a rifle foreever. The same applies to the AOW classification. A shotgun can be
registered as an AOW in the NFA registry provided no shoulder stock has been mated to the receiver.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=031a6b979e305589a57844f0522b4245&t=347669Dear
This is in reply to your correspondence which was received by the Firearms Technology Branch, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), on January 30, 2008. In your letter you inquire about the attachment of a folding stock to a pistol having a barrel length of 16 inches or greater.
As background, 27 CFR Sec. 479.11 (Meaning of Terms) states, in part:
The overall length of a weapon made from a shotgun or rifle is the distance between the extreme ends of the weapon measured along a line parallel to the center line of the bore.
Based on this description of overall length and its correct measurement, ATF has taken the position that firearms having folding or collapsible stocks are properly measured for overall length with the stock fully extended.
In the situation you present, the attachment of a folding shoulder stock to a pistol having a barrel length of 16 inches or greater would be lawful as long as the overall length of the resulting firearm is at least 26 inches with the stock fully extended. We caution that, because the configuration you have specified results in the manufacture of a rifle,
a subsequent reconfiguration of the firearm to a pistol configuration would result in a weapon made from a rifle, which is a weapon controlled by the National Firearms Act (NFA).We thank you for your inquiry and trust that the foregoing has been responsive.
Sincerely yours,
John R. Spencer
Chief, Firearms Technology Branch
NFA weapons are federally registered on a special database . This includes machine guns, short barrel rifles/shotguns, AOWs, destructive devices, bazookas, etc. $200 tax stamp fee plus federal paperwork to own such.
