We have just been through this scenario. It is illegal to shorten the barrel to less than 457mm, however, it is legal to fit a factory-manufactured "shorter than 457mm" barrel. We recently did a documented manufacture of an 11.5" AR barrel to show that it was manufactured and not shortened from 457mm.
Legality of Cutting Down Barrel on AR
- Thread starter TRG-42
- Start date
I spoke to both CFC and RCMP Forensics about it --
The AR is a restricted rifle - there are NO regulations about its barrel length.
You CANNOT legally shorten a non restricted barrel below 457mm - a business with manufacturing may manufacter it below that however (i.e. shotgun barrels).
Pistols cannot be equal or less than 105mm.
The AR is a restricted rifle - there are NO regulations about its barrel length.
You CANNOT legally shorten a non restricted barrel below 457mm - a business with manufacturing may manufacter it below that however (i.e. shotgun barrels).
Pistols cannot be equal or less than 105mm.
We had similar fiasco with the G3 and Hk91's when guys welded the flash hiders to make them non restricted then - it was no accepted when the law changed as the flash hider was not barrel...
I dont think ANY gun laws have ever really made any sence.
Of course they are drafted predominatly by anti gunners who are pretty much clueless anyway.
I dont think ANY gun laws have ever really made any sence.
Of course they are drafted predominatly by anti gunners who are pretty much clueless anyway.
KevinB said:
However, the fact that they do not follow a logical path is one of our greatest assets when it comes to making our point with non-shooters. It makes it easy to get them to agree the law is flawed when you can outline the 14 inch vs cut down 18 inch example, pistol vs rifle mag, etc.
Even if you took a 12-inch AR barrel and cut it back to 11-inches (without the proper manufacturing licences), that would still be considered to be manufacturing a "prohibited weapon"; if you want to try this, do it with a well-paid lawyer on retainer and with something you're prepared to have seized and melted into manhole covers and pop cans. It doesn't NEED to make sense, remember?
P0WERWAGON
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what about me? i said it was ok back at post #13, kev didn't show up till post #14. don't i get the jeopardy prize 
HeVGunner said:
You need to read the Code; that's FOR BARRELS THAT ARE *MANUFACTURED* AT A GIVEN LENGTH; as BJP said above, it's no different than taking an 18"/20"/26"/etc.barrel, and chopping it down to 14"; if you buy it when it's manufactured at that length, it's OK, but when you do it yourself in your garage with a hacksaw, it miraculously becomes prohibited. The fact that the AR is restricted to begin with doesn't even come INTO the question, because the Code doesn't make an exemption for "sawing off" a restricted barrel. If you do this, and try to have it verified, it will be sent to Vancouver, Regina, Halifax, or Ottawa for a determination, and if they determine that it was cut back (even if it STARTED below the 457mm point) it will be seized as a prohibited weapon.
SDC - you need to talk to people in your office if thats the decision... cause others have said its a non issue...
The other issue with AR's is due to the swappable barrels etc - who knows what was chopped and what came factory...
The other issue with AR's is due to the swappable barrels etc - who knows what was chopped and what came factory...
What someone at the CFC may or may not have said is out of the hands of the RCMP; however, you have to be VERY specific whenever you ask ANY sort of a question like this. Asking "Is a 14" barrel for my 870 legal?" will get you a "Yes", but asking "Can I cut my 26" 870 barrel down to 14"?" will get you a "No". The Criminal Code is very specific about certain things.
No-one ever said it would be simple (I'd like to see the Firearms Act re-written in simple language with common sense applied), but when you're up before a judge facing a lifetime prohibition, the Prime Directive is "cover your ass". This also applies to Hitzy's question; if I had to re-crown a barrel that was already below the cut-off point, I'd make damn sure that it was a recessed crown, with the external length left "as-is".
No-one ever said it would be simple (I'd like to see the Firearms Act re-written in simple language with common sense applied), but when you're up before a judge facing a lifetime prohibition, the Prime Directive is "cover your ass". This also applies to Hitzy's question; if I had to re-crown a barrel that was already below the cut-off point, I'd make damn sure that it was a recessed crown, with the external length left "as-is".
KevinB said:
As I had said earlier. You could have 20 uppers of varing length. Who could tell the differnce between a factory 11.5", a home built with 11.5" factory barrle or a factory 20" cut down to 11.5"? Since the upper is not a registered part you cannot be touched, prove it CFC.
