SKS Barrel length, Shorten barrel maintaain non-res stat

[Mangun]

I have a project in mind to shorten my Chinco SKS barrel. Am I correct that I can do this to 18" and still maintain non-restricted status. Not a gunsmith and want to follow the letter of the law. I believe one would measure from rear of chamber (round in chamber measured back of case to tip of muzzel) if this is possible. Also while on the topic of shortening things, can I shorten stock after barrel to an OAL of 26" and remain legal and non-rest. Thanks.

 

[JimDO]

Maybe some clams would go good next to your mussels
"case to tip of mussel"

 

[SoylentD]

I'm also not a gunsmith, more like a armourer/tinkerer.

If you shorten the barrel to 18.5", the gas piston would be out of whack which could cause issues? I know a lot of people have shortened the SKS barrel, not quite sure if they had to compensate.

I'm so glad the grammar police are here to correct spelling and grammatical mistakes.

 

[mmattockx]

I have a project in mind to shorten my Chinco SKS barrel. Am I correct that I can do this to 18" and still maintain non-restricted status. Not a gunsmith and want to follow the letter of the law. I believe one would measure from rear of chamber (round in chamber measured back of case to tip of muzzel) if this is possible. Also while on the topic of shortening things, can I shorten stock after barrel to an OAL of 26" and remain legal and non-rest. Thanks.

You need an 18.5" barrel to remain non-restricted with a semi-auto centerfire. You are correct on the 26" OAL requirement.


Mark

 

[fiddler]

When your done and it won't shoot worth crap I'll buy the gas piston, tube, trigger group and bolt from you. Throw the rest away.

 

[supernova]

Cutting to 18.5" does not put anything out of whack, the SKS is over gassed for a reason. Americans can cut to 16" and some see cyclic issues but they have a broader range of ammo most of which is commercial. Enlarging the gas port is the fix for that but it does not apply to us. My 18 5/8" SKS runs the same as it did at 20.5", I didn't even notice a change in how aggressively the action cycles. And to clarify the minimum you can cut a centerfire semiauto to is 470 mm or 18.5" and remain nonrestricted. You can legally cut it to 457 mm or 17.99" but anything under 470 is restricted, cutting to less than 457 is prohibited regardless of action but manually operated centerfire rifles/shotguns and any rimfire rifle can be cut to 457 mm and remain nonrestricted. Makes perfect sense right? 660mm/26" OAL applies to all.

I'm also not a gunsmith, more like a armourer/tinkerer.

If you shorten the barrel to 18.5", the gas piston would be out of whack which could cause issues? I know a lot of people have shortened the SKS barrel, not quite sure if they had to compensate.

I'm so glad the grammar police are here to correct spelling and grammatical mistakes.