Question about AR pistols.

[RockIsland]

If you buy a pistol upper or build one, do you have to register the lower first before you put them together?

To register do you just go to an FFL and "transfer" it to yourself?

[GunLawyer001]

If you buy a pistol upper or build one, do you have to register the lower first before you put them together?

To register do you just go to an FFL and "transfer" it to yourself?

It has to be a virgin lower. The "registration" status is irrelevant, unless somebody screwed up and listed a barrel length and claimed that it was sold as a complete rifle.

We don't have registration. You don't have to go back to a dealer and complete a Record of Sale Form.

You do want to be very familiar with Federal laws regarding the manufacture of a pistol from a rifle. Don't make an unregistered SBR.

[RockIsland]

It has to be a virgin lower. The "registration" status is irrelevant, unless somebody screwed up and listed a barrel length and claimed that it was sold as a complete rifle.

We don't have registration. OK then You don't have to go back to a dealer and complete a Record of Sale Form.

You do want to be very familiar with Federal laws regarding the manufacture of a pistol from a rifle. Don't make an unregistered SBR.

Thanks GL. I thought maybe you needed a ROS because of it being a pistol or some Federal law.

So if you buy a lower from an FFL, does it has to be transferred as a pistol?

I've never really been interested in them but I'm starting to be.

[GunLawyer001]

Thanks GL. I thought maybe you needed a ROS because of it being a pistol or some Federal law.

So if you buy a lower from an FFL, does it has to be transferred as a pistol?
. . .

No, it just shouldn't be transferred with a barrel length indicated, if it's never physically been assembled as a rifle.

[FLICK]

So if you buy a lower from an FFL, does it has to be transferred as a pistol?

A stripped lower or a complete lower?

A stripped lower is neither a rifle nor a pistol until it is built into one and is marked "other."

[RXM]

A stripped lower or a complete lower?

A stripped lower is neither a rifle nor a pistol until it is built into one and is marked "other."

How the BATFE explained it to me was that a lower in itself (whether complete with a stock or a pistol buffer tube) is still considered just a firearm until you mate it with a barreled upper receiver. It is only when the barreled upper and complete lower is assembled together is it considered a pistol, rifle, or SBR. GL will correct me if I'm wrong.

[QuackXP]

Also from my understanding you should never put a rifle length upper on the lower. At that instant it becomes a rifle and cannot be used as a pistol again.

[early1900s]

Also from my understanding you should never put a rifle length upper on the lower. At that instant it becomes a rifle and cannot be used as a pistol again.

You can put whatever length upper on the lower you want. If you turn the pistol into a rifle by adding a stock then it has to stay a rifle. You can turn a pistol into a rifle whenever you want, but you can't turn a rifle into a pistol.

You can also add a VFG to a pistol if the overall length is over 26"

[GunLawyer001]

Also from my understanding you should never put a rifle length upper on the lower. At that instant it becomes a rifle and cannot be used as a pistol again.

You can put whatever length upper on the lower you want. If you turn the pistol into a rifle by adding a stock then it has to stay a rifle. You can turn a pistol into a rifle whenever you want, but you can't turn a rifle into a pistol.

You can also add a VFG to a pistol if the overall length is over 26"

ATF changed that interpretation recently.

-A pistol can become a rifle, and RETURN to a pistol again, without ATF deeming it to be a "pistol made from a rifle".

- A rifle can't be made into a pistol, into a rifle with a barrel under 16", or anything shorter than 26". Not without a new NFA tax stamp.

- A virgin lower can become a rifle or pistol.

- If you make a virgin lower into anything, be sure to make it a pistol first; after that, it can go back and forth from rifle to pistol to rifle. if you make it a rifle first, then it's locked in. (How would they know? Sometimes they know, and this is about the law, not about your chances of being caught breaking it. Sometimes, people post their project on YouTube, and others dime them out to ATF.)