rifle stock on encore pistol

[hoot619]

Is it legal if encore is registered. have 15" barrels for it.

[spinafish]

To be legal as a carbine the barrels have to be 16 1/4" min.according to the feds..

[quicksdraw45]

The way I undrstand it you can convert a pistol to rifle and back but cannot convert a rifle to a pistol. There is a need for caution in the process in the field , Things like dont put the rifle stock on while a pistol barrel is mounted and dont put the pistol grip on while a rifle barrel is on . In other words strip it completly and then put together the gun you want.
CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS FIRST !!

[PJ]

Contenders and Encores changed from a pistol to a rifle is ok.....a Rifle changed to a pistol is ok too.It makes no diff.As LONG as your barrel on the rifle is not 15" 16 1/4" is ok.

[Bug]

It is still against BATF regs to have a shoulder stock on any firearm with less than a 16" barrel. The only way around this is to register your frame with the BATF as a NFA "short barrel Rifle". I would be curious if, once so registered, you could make it up into any combination you wish. A $200 registration wouldn't be all that outrageous if it let you change barrels and configure it any way you wish, i.e., go from rifle to pistol, to short-rifle, and in any caliber you wish. The only fly in the ointment would be, it would cost $200 to transfer that frame to anyone else, forever after. Oh, well,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Bug.

[hoot619]

I kind of thought it wasn't ok, looks like I need a barrel extension of some type threaded on.  Any ideas flash hider etc?

[contendernut]

It IS legal to have a pistol grip with any length barrel.  You can shoot it as a handgun with a 30" barrel if you wish.

A shoulder stock requires a little over 16" of permanently attached barrel (ie. no 14" barrel with a screw off extender.  It should be welded on)

[helobill]

You can get most of the info off the BATF website www.atf.treas.gov . After lots of searching I finally called them with respect to a frame originally sold as a carbine, can it legally be made into a pistol. Short answer is not without the $200 registration fee. If originally sold as a pistol it can be made into a carbine without registration (they lost a Supreme Court case http://www.stephenhalbrook.com/tc.html ). But here's the rub, they don't have a list of which serial numbers were originally sold as what. They can get it, same as you can, by calling TC and giving them your serial number. TC can tell you how it was originally "made". So unless the BATF has a reason to suspect you're "making" an illegal short-barreled rifle (which even though you put the pistol grip on it and a "less than 16" barrel" if it was originally a rifle it is now a "short-barreled rifle, same as a model 700 doesn't become a pistol 'cause you cut it off and make a pistol grip for it) why would they go to the trouble? They've got enough to worry about without stopping every TC owner they see and checking his serial number. Now, if they have a reason to come looking, they can and will check, and if you have only one frame that's a carbine frame and a pistol barrel and grip, even if it's not on the frame at the time, the only way it can be assembled is as an NFA short-barreled rifle...you're in trouble. Same can hold true if you have a pistol frame, a pistol barrel and a carbine butt stock but no pistol grip, it can only be assembled as a short-barreled rifle...bad news. So make sure you have the pieces to make the pistol the right way, don't ever put the short barrel on before the pistol grip in public, and don't piss off the BATF so they come looking. Personally I have no idea how my frames were originally "made" and have no desire to find out. And I have no intention of giving the BATF a reason to come see me and ask. Now if I get a FFL, you can bet I'll make sure I'm squeaky clean.
Helicopter Bill

[dakotashooter2]

Better check your state laws too. It may be kosher with the BATF but it seems to me that several states, and Kalifornia comes to mind, do not allow a frame registered as a rifle to be converted to a pistol but vice versa is OK. And I don't think it matters in which configuration a frame left the factorywhat matters is how it was registered when sold (rifle/pistol) and since the BATF frowns on rifles being made into a pistol, once a pistol always a pistol. Of course after 2 or 3 private transfers it might be hard for the BATF to make a case of it.

[Bug]

It is my understanding that T/C took this to court. The ruling was that it made no difference whether a frame was configured originally as a pistol or rifle, either would be legal, under federal statutes. The reasoning behind this was that frames shipped without a barrel could not be classified as either. The kicker is still state law. Especially if your state has a registration/permit system. I would not worry about converting a pistol to a rifle, but going the other way could cause you some grief, esp. if you do not have a pistol permit. Also. the posession of a carbine buttstock, without a 16" or greater length barrel, would put you in posession of a short rifle, assembled or not. I guess the best-case scenario is to own both. Or several of both! Then you just have the minor problem of keeping up with which is which! See, now you have a Legal reason to buy more  :-D ..................Bug.

[helobill]

Guys,
Been down this road and took it to the BATF via their Firearms Technology Branch at 202-927-7910. How you registered it makes NO difference. It matters how the manufacturer 'made' the firearm to begin with. If it was 'made' as a rifle then it's a rifle and must always be. If an owner wants to 'make' it into a pistol he must register his intention to make a short barreled rifle, file the forms with BATF as the 'maker' of an NFA firearm and pay the $200 fee. The case that TC won was specifically in turning a pistol into a rifle via a "carbine Kit". They made the kit to challenge the ATF contention that you couldn't do it (and according to the documents, I think it was the only time they provided the pistol with a carbine kit, just to start the challenge). TC won because the NFA did not prohibit the 'making' of a rilfe out of a pistol as long as a shortbarreled rifle was not part of the 'making'. It's all in the legal mumbo-jumbo at the link I posted earlier. It's pretty interesting because there are also court documents showing letters from ATF to TC prior to the SC case where TC tried to get the OK without going to court.
Helicopter Bill