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  1. #1
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    How do you make an AR a pistol?

    So I've spent the last two hours reading through the BATFE website firearm section along with using Google. I'm still incredibly confused. An AR is meant to be a rifle, so how is it made a pistol legally? Are the lowers registered by the manufacturers as pistols upon creation? Is the creation of the pistol not an issue as long as an SBR isn't the outcome?

    I'm contemplating a pistol build. I got my lower from UCWRG and their site lists nothing of pistol or rifle, but I do recall another company selling "pistol lowers". In a nutshell, as long as I don't install a buffer tube that can accept a stock and a VFG am I legal, or is there something I'm missing?
    C. Smith

  2. #2
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    If you bought a stripped lower and have never put a stock on that lower, you can put a pistol buffer tube on in and as long as you don't attach a vfg, you'll be fine. A pistol can be made into a rifle, but a rifle cannot be made into a pistol for some reason.

  3. #3
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    You also need to make sure your FFL check the "receiver" box on your form. This way, you're free to build that stripped lower into either a rifle or pistol. If he check the "rifle," then you can't make it a pistol.

  4. #4
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    I am in the same boat as Csmith, UCWRG lower an all, and am thinking about a 300blk build. I would like one of the AAC 9 or 12 inch uppers, and eventually register the lower as an SBR. Is there any limit to the length of an AR pistol's barrel?
    Ask no Guarantees, ask no security, there never was such an animal.--Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

  5. #5
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    I took the stock off of my AR and spent a few days shouldering it to get a feel for a pistol setup. Even with attempting to envision the 16" barrel being shorter, uncomfortably awkward is an understatement. I can only imagine taking recoil directly from the buffer tube into my shoulder pocket. The pistol idea was derived from thoughts of a future SBR, but who knows what will happen given the current political climate and I'm up for PCS in the near future (side effects of sequestration notwithstanding). The multiple locations I could end up that wouldn't "allow" an SBR make it something I'm not sure I'll be able to pull off any time soon.

    I may just move on to a more SPR(ish) setup down the road. My current AR is receiving a FSB shave/delta ring removal this weekend to install a free float rail and the UCWRG will take a back seat for the immediate future. I'm not capable of committing to one setup over the other right now.
    C. Smith

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by csmith View Post
    I took the stock off of my AR and spent a few days shouldering it to get a feel for a pistol setup. Even with attempting to envision the 16" barrel being shorter, uncomfortably awkward is an understatement. I can only imagine taking recoil directly from the buffer tube into my shoulder pocket. The pistol idea was derived from thoughts of a future SBR, but who knows what will happen given the current political climate and I'm up for PCS in the near future (side effects of sequestration notwithstanding). The multiple locations I could end up that wouldn't "allow" an SBR make it something I'm not sure I'll be able to pull off any time soon.

    I may just move on to a more SPR(ish) setup down the road. My current AR is receiving a FSB shave/delta ring removal this weekend to install a free float rail and the UCWRG will take a back seat for the immediate future. I'm not capable of committing to one setup over the other right now.
    Try shouldering it while wearing a backpack or plate carrier.

    Feels good man.

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