Raven 556 Restricted Conversion
- Thread starter starw24
- Start date
You would need a spare stripped upper as well as a few AR compatible parts; barrel, gas block, gas tube, muzzle device.
For the hand guard and barrel nut buying from Lockhart would ensure compatibility but some standard AR hand guards and nuts will work.
Your bolt carrier group and charge handle can be shared between the uppers so long as the caliber of the new upper is compatible with the original bolt ie original upper is 223, new upper is 223 or 300BO
I am confused about owning two or more Raven uppers. Someone, please enlighten me. You have RPAL. The original Raven configuration is NR. Then, you build an additional upper with a short barrel. You always store and transport the rifle in the NR configuration and occasionally attach/use the R upper only at a certified range. You always remove it and go home with the NR configuration. Does it require reclassification?
So most people don’t like talking about this and get downvoted to oblivion on other platforms, but the writing is pretty clear in firearm law that a restricted barrel length rifle is not to be used (fired) or transported without a certificate. There’s a Canada firearms lawyer who has a great hour video online about it but I’ve forgotten his name. The idea is if changing length, you make the new length unfireable (separate upper / lower and zip tie / remove bolt), bring it home, and then don’t touch it until you get your certificate in the mail.
Even if the range shooting part is a legal “gray area”, if any LE or RO ever asked what you’re running there since they might think it’s an ar style, you’re going to have a bad time telling them you’re shooting a restricted at the range that’s unregistered. Same applies if you’re asked during a traffic stop.
Now the odds of those stops happening is crazy low, but you’re risking your freedom and pal privileges over waiting 3 months for a piece of paper. If you want best of both worlds you can buy 2 uppers for both configurations, register the restricted one so you have the certificate, and save the NR for woods shooting. My 2 cents, others please feel free to add on.
Thank you for the prompt answer, but it is still unclear. The registration is for the lower; uppers don't have serial numbers. Switching upper takes 10 sec. When transported, the short barrel upper is stored separately and does not even have the bolt in it. So, do I have to register the lower as restricted if I have one lower and two uppers? Or do I need two registrations for it, NR and R? Is it even possible? Or should I consider treating the short barrel as an accessory and just take care of proper transporting and storage? Too many options...
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Yeah it’s a confusing mess when it comes to uppers and lowers. As far as I am aware the laws treat the “firearm” as the fully assembled, fireable configuration gun. That means both the upper and lower together. When you rebarrel an NR to R, they are treating both the serialized lower and short unserialized upper as the “restricted” firearm. The gray area comes in when you have 2 uppers, as it states you should notify them within 30 days when it’s been permanently altered to be restricted since technically it’s not a permanent swap. However the rules strictly state you cannot be in possession (ie firing) a restricted length without a certificate.
So to answer your questions, if you have 2 uppers, one short one long, and one lower, what you should do as per the law is register the short “configuration” aka the short upper and serialized lower as restricted and get the certificate. Then whenever you want you can throw on the long upper and same lower and now you have an NR firearm you can take anywhere. This tackles the unlikely legal issue of if you get asked when shooting where’s your paperwork. What a lot of people do though is just keep the short upper and lower separate until the range, then hope no one asks questions when they are shooting an unregistered illegal to be possessing firearm. I’m not a fan of this option, which is why I’m getting mine registered. The downside is that it takes months to get the certificate, so you’ll get around that issue by using the NR upper and same lower until your paper gets in.
Jeez after typing all that I realize Canada gun laws really are a mess.
This is the wayHere is my 10" .300 Blackout Raven Upper Receiver. I have not (yet) permanently installed this Upper Receiver on my Lower Receiver, so have not called the CFC to report the change to Restricted status.
That’s right it is, as long as you are leaving this upper separate from the lower and never shooting this, or else you now have a restricted firearm without a certificate.
Don’t take it from me though, I found the Canada firearms lawyer with this exact topic in a video. I’ll link it below, but bottom line is that you this trick will not save you if anyone asks questions. Again the odds of anyone asking is incredibly low, but it’s your freedom and privilege to own firearms that you’re risking, I’ll leave the rest to you.
If someone is unaware, having both 223 and 300BO barreled uppers is dangerous. They use the same bolts and magazines. If you are not careful, 300 can chamber into 223 barrel, and the bolt will close. Firing it might kill you. There are some scary videos online.
Once you register the lower as restricted you require an ATT to transport it regardless of the upper you have attached to it until it is verified NR again with the Registrar.
It would be helpful to post the legislation you are referencing because a large part of the requirements of restricted firearms revolve around transport.
The problem with the NR suggestion is that when you register your lower as R, it is always R. You can't take it to the cottage even without any uppers or to the gunsmith without obtaining ATT. This is how it works for handguns, at least. You can't just walk around with the serialized part with the slide removed.
Still nothing, going to wait till after this Friday to see what the government has planned and if it gets prohibited then will give them a call.
My plan is to chill the f@@k out and not panic like some of the chicken littles here. The liberals can't even get the business buyback working so I don't see they individual buy back getting started before the next election. Hopefully we will have a majority who will overturn this, though I don't trust any politician.
So for me the biggest suck is I won't be able to compete this coming year with PCC.
