As far as I know, any joe blow can cut any barrel for a long gun at whatever lenght he pleases.
First we have to define a barrel as being a tube that has been fitted/chambered to a particular firearm. A barrel blank that is not fitted or chambered is not technically a barrel under the law, it's just a metal tube.
So this being said,
anyone can cut a barrel to any length
that still conforms to the minimum overall length requirements for the firearm/class that the barrel will be attached to.
If you cut below the minimums the barrel itself becomes a prohibited device.
The trouble starts when somebody tries to put that in a receiver. If the resulting barrel is shorter than 18.5,
then the firearm with such a barrel is prohib (not the barrel itself).
This is the catch 22 area. Technically it's only the barrel itself that is the prohibited part but putting it on a firearm does allow them to prescribe it to be a prohibited firearm because of the barrel.
The same applies to cutting down the stock so that the overall length is below 26".
If you take a saw to your pump shotgun stock and make it below 26" in OAL it can be "prescribed to be prohibited". The key thing to remember here is your intent. If you accidently run over your stock while hunting and it breaks making it shorter than 26" you will not be charged, that's common sense. But if you i
ntentionally cut it the circumstances change.
The "prescribed to be prohibited" part of the legislation allows the government a LOT of leeway.
With all respect, I find it hard to believe.
From my interpretation of the law, even if the cut barrel happens to fit
both the Cooey (rifle) AND the Walther (pistol),cas long as you do not assemble it on the Cooey receiver, (or on any long gun receiver) then everything is fine.
If it fits the Walther (or any pistol), then it has to be over 106mm.
If it fits any pistol and it is under 106, then it is prohib device,
even if you did not attempt to assemble it on the receiver
or even if you do not have that kind of pistol.
What you are forgetting is that the law specifically defines barrel length irrespective of the firearm it was made for. We have two different pieces of legislation that apply to the same firearm. One part applies to the firearm itself, that's where we get all the different classes and the the other part applies to the barrel, which allows them to move the same firearm within those classes. If the law only defined the firearm and not the barrel then it would be a non issue.
If the barrel was made for the Cooey, fitted and chambered at some point, (lets assume it was for a bolt action) then the minimum length you can make that barrel is 18" under the law. Cutting below that length makes the barrel itself a prohibited device and installing it on any other firearm allows that firearm to be prescribed to be prohibited.
If the the barrel was intended to be for the Cooey but was never fitted/chambered then it is not a barrel under the law, just a blank and you could adapt it to the Walther as long as you met the 106mm requirement.
I know there are many cases across this country where barrels have been re-used for different applications. Some of the people who have done it may not have known that their application was illegal but that cannot be used as a defence under the law. The chances that you would be caught are pretty slim but there is still a chance and you do stand a lot to lose if you are caught.
I wish the laws were different, I spent over two months arguing this area with the CFC, as I was hoping to re-use several barrels for a project I had in mind. In the end the laws clearly did not work in my favor but it did give me a greater education into the uselessness of them.
None of them are meant to protect the public, they are only meant to make the life of gun owners more difficult.
