just informed by CFO....

JeffTheBig

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I was just informed by the CFO here in Nova Scotia that having the barrel of my Smith and Wesson M&P15 cut to 14.5 by a gunsmith would make the barrel a "prohibited device". however i can purchase a 14.5 barrel and that fine. I was under the impression that having a Smith do it was also legal.... any insight in to his would be very much appreciated.

Jeff
 
What if you say sold your barrel to your gunsmith for $1, then he sells it back to you for the price of cutting it down? You would get a receipt for purchasing a shorter barrel?

Doesn't matter. The barrel is still not a "manufactured" barrel by their rules. As stupid as it may sound...
 
that is a big old WOW.
You can't have a 14.5 but you can have a 14.5
Are the barrels serial numbered or something? How would someone buying a 14.5 off the EE know if it was factory or not?

'edit'
Duh, I answered it myself, no one would.
 
Doesn't matter. The barrel is still not a "manufactured" barrel by their rules. As stupid as it may sound...

yup.

why not just get a 14.5 from a site sponsor, might not be as cheap, but the crown will be good, plus you can always keep the old barrel to re-install at a later date, or sell to recover some of the cost.

good thing you checked first.
 
This subject often comes up with shotguns too.
The law is the law, it does not have to make any sense unfortuneately.

A gunsmith can only cut a shotgun barrel to do a repair ie the barrel got bent... its allot of hassel and easyier just to make a new barrel..
 
The CFO is almost correct.
Cutting the barrel to 14.5 inches makes it a cut barrel.
Installed on the rifle, it makes the rifle a prohibited firearm.
But the cut-to-14.5" barrel is just a barrel and is not, by itself, illegal.

"A gunsmith can only cut a shotgun barrel to do a repair ie the barrel got bent... its allot of hassel and easyier to make a new barrel.."

No.

Anyone - gunsmith, gunowner, cheerleader, Sunday school teacher can cut the barrel of a manually operated firearm to not less than 18", and the barrel of a semi auto to not less than 18.5" without breaking the law.

Anyone at all can cut any shotgun barrel to any length whatsoever - but if the cut-to-under-18" barrel is on a gun, the gun becomes a prohibited firearm.

No one can legally take a barrel that is on a gun and cut it to less than 18". Its no hassle at all. Its just plain illegal. Makes no difference if the barrel is damaged or bent.
 
Do we have the stupidest gun laws of any country? Who would even be a close second?

Actually, since the U.S. has a patchwork of different regulations in different states, municipalities, etc., there are lots of places in the U.S. which have much stupider laws. It is just that the stupidity tends to not be quite as universal. Gun laws are much better in Canada than in Chicago or NYC, for example.
 
My question is how would they know? You could say you bought the barrel used if anyone ever actually said anything, or if they inspected your collection. How do they enforce this? Or would a gunsmith just refuse to do it since they know better?
 
My question is how would they know? You could say you bought the barrel used if anyone ever actually said anything, or if they inspected your collection. How do they enforce this? Or would a gunsmith just refuse to do it since they know better?

Well I guess if there was any question, The could just lay charges and then the onus would be on you to prove that you purchased a "manufactured" short barrel or face conviction... To be clear, I'm just guessing that is how it would play out. I'm not speaking form any first hand experience, just hypothesizing.
 
Yeah, I'm not advocating anyone break the law, but it's a damn hard thing to prove since they aren't a controlled item to my knowledge, but then again, I'm a newbie.
 
The way I see it, IF the gunsmith is cutting said barrel down, then he is braking the law. If you bought it back (and have a 'receipt' for it) then technically you bought a 14.5" barrel.

Way too many un-educating smiths in country, so technically it falls on the buyer (buyer beware)

Also 'ignorance of the law is no excuse' so I'd be careful if the crown appears to be cut down :p

Luke
 
CFO isn't stupid. There are NO factory 14.5" barrels for a MP15-22.

As the owner as probably one of the only (if not THE only) ST-22 11.5 upper, there is a reason this stuff costs a premium.

What you can do is turn down a barrel BLANK to your size and manufacture a barrel, but if you have legal issues the onus will be on YOU to prove that it is legal, and was made correctly.
 
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