Restricted or not?
- Thread starter slick39
- Start date
There was a thread some time back about a guy who was looking for an ad or some other proof that his short barrel was a validly and legally made aftermarket barrel.
Seems that for some reason the rifle was declared as a prohibited device by police and to get it back the onus was on the owner to show that the barrel had originally been made in the shorter length rather than cut down from a longer length. Given this it would appear to be wise to keep a photocopy of the original package in the gear bag with the length of the barrel clearly readable "just in case". Or to have a print out of the company's web page showing the barrel as being a valid commercially available item.
Seems that for some reason the rifle was declared as a prohibited device by police and to get it back the onus was on the owner to show that the barrel had originally been made in the shorter length rather than cut down from a longer length. Given this it would appear to be wise to keep a photocopy of the original package in the gear bag with the length of the barrel clearly readable "just in case". Or to have a print out of the company's web page showing the barrel as being a valid commercially available item.
I believe mikeystew got it right with the second post in this thread.
There are some interesting nuances to this subject. When does a barrel become a barrel? My understanding is the folks who do the legal interpretations would say that the metal tube becomes a barrel when it is chambered. If a manufacturer chambers the rifle or shotgun barrel and then cuts to less than 18", he's probably doing something that will turn the gun the barrel is installed on into a prohibited firearm. If a manufacturer cuts the tube to less than 18" and then chambers the barrel, then the barrel wasn't sawed off, it just started its life as a short barrel.
There are some interesting nuances to this subject. When does a barrel become a barrel? My understanding is the folks who do the legal interpretations would say that the metal tube becomes a barrel when it is chambered. If a manufacturer chambers the rifle or shotgun barrel and then cuts to less than 18", he's probably doing something that will turn the gun the barrel is installed on into a prohibited firearm. If a manufacturer cuts the tube to less than 18" and then chambers the barrel, then the barrel wasn't sawed off, it just started its life as a short barrel.
Breechface to muzzleface.... Really?
Then, if I was you, I would make a pretty penny
turning restricted M1 Carbines into non-restricted
by simply soldering a short piece of bushing onto the muzzle.
But before, ask the RCMP Lab and see what they have to say about that.
Yes, really.
The addition of an extension doesn't work, as you well know, without a full length liner being installed as well.
The official barrel length of a 180B includes the smoothbored section of the integral brake. How about the many counterbored Mosin Nagants? Or the smoothbored Lee Enfields?
If the end of the rifling is the end of the barrel, for purposes of barrel length, how do you measure the length of a shotgun barrel? Breechface to muzzleface?
Or is there a separate definition of shotgun barrel measurement? There is for auto pistols and revolvers.
The presence or absence of rifling is utterly irrelevant for the purpose of measurement of legal barrel length. The length of the one piece chunk of tube from breechface to the muzzle end is what matters.
