Barrel length is documented on the registration certificate. Any changes to length need to be reported and verified and an updated registration will be issued. Our verifiers tell me the CFO is not processing any changes from 12.6 to restricted.
Smith 686 barrel bulge
- Thread starter TTB4570
- Start date
I can surely conclude - you never yet attempted to ask gunsmith to do it. Or you did it yourself and just don’t know that technically you own a prohib device mistakenly registered as restricted. Pick one of two.
canadian hunter312
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County
Can you post up the legal mumbo jumbo/link that supports your claims? Not doubting you, I’ve just never seen or heard of this.
KotKotofeich
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Ottawa Valley
He can't. The "cutting" making firearms prohibited is explicitly for rifles and shotguns.
See prohibited firearms definition part b here. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-84.html
I am a verifier. There are people on this very forum I've helped with getting registration certificates changed.
Once again, it is ok to cut a barrel on a restricted handgun. It remains restricted if you do not cut under 106 mm.
There is one reputable gun smith, who is a well known sponsor here and specializes on firearm production, re-barreling and status change. When I contacted him asking if it's possible to shorten my "nosy" pistol barrel from 121mm to 106mm, he replied:
Unfortunately it is illegal to cut any barrel in Canada below 18 inches. We can however make you a new barrel any length you want.
Does this make sense ? Nope, but we have to paly by the rules unfortunately.
And then the explanation of the law straight from NFA:
CC s. 84(1) “prohibited firearm” (d): If the barrel has been SHORTENED to less than 18″/457mm, after leaving the factory, “by sawing, cutting or ANY other alteration or modification” that forces the firearm into the “prohibited firearm” class.
https://nfa.ca/barrel-and-firearms-lengths/
My understanding is that's not only a matter of rifle or shotgun, but it's more like a barrel, which cannot be messed up by cutting it below 18". I guess, the gray area is: as a standalone barrel you happen to keep in your hands, who knows what firearm it came from, rifle or pistol? In most cases you have to remove barrel to turn it on lathe.
Perhaps the gunsmith made a safe bet. After all, a new barrel is a better pay. I'd love you guys prove it wrong, then I'd save $300 cutting the existing barrel as opposed installing new one.
KotKotofeich
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Ottawa Valley
Which reference is more authoritative?
My link to the department of justice website directly to the full text of cc 84? Or yours to the nfa which quotes cc 84 cutting out the context?
You should read the original text and in full
"I can surely conclude" you've taken some bad advice and it cost you.
Next time you may want to trim a handgun, reach out, I'll help.
A _rifle or shotgun_ becomes prohibited if you cut its barrel below 18". Not the _barrel_!
A _barrel_ only becomes prohibited (prohibited device) if it's 105mm or shorter. (And only if it's a handgun barrel but I'll leave that bit alone)
You can take _any_ barrel, slice and dice it however you want as long as it's over 105 mm. And it's the _rifle or shotgun_ that become prohibited when you install a cut under 18" barrel back on.
My link to the department of justice website directly to the full text of cc 84? Or yours to the nfa which quotes cc 84 cutting out the context?
You should read the original text and in full
"I can surely conclude" you've taken some bad advice and it cost you.
Next time you may want to trim a handgun, reach out, I'll help.
There is no grey area here. Read the law. It's crystal clear. I linked _the original text_ for a reason.
A _rifle or shotgun_ becomes prohibited if you cut its barrel below 18". Not the _barrel_!
A _barrel_ only becomes prohibited (prohibited device) if it's 105mm or shorter. (And only if it's a handgun barrel but I'll leave that bit alone)
You can take _any_ barrel, slice and dice it however you want as long as it's over 105 mm. And it's the _rifle or shotgun_ that become prohibited when you install a cut under 18" barrel back on.
Thank you for your input.Which reference is more authoritative?
My link to the department of justice website directly to the full text of cc 84? Or yours to the nfa which quotes cc 84 cutting out the context?
You should read the original text and in full
"I can surely conclude" you've taken some bad advice and it cost you.
Next time you may want to trim a handgun, reach out, I'll help.
There is no grey area here. Read the law. It's crystal clear. I linked _the original text_ for a reason.
A _rifle or shotgun_ becomes prohibited if you cut its barrel below 18". Not the _barrel_!
A _barrel_ only becomes prohibited (prohibited device) if it's 105mm or shorter. (And only if it's a handgun barrel but I'll leave that bit alone)
You can take _any_ barrel, slice and dice it however you want as long as it's over 105 mm. And it's the _rifle or shotgun_ that become prohibited when you install a cut under 18" barrel back on.
So this implies, the scenario when you cut 20" barrel to 16" while it is installed on the rifle receiver - it becomes prohib. However, if detach the barrel, cut it, then put back - it makes it legal restricted rifle with the barrel, which technically was shortened. Right? In that case any sawed-off rifle can be proclaimed legal, when you just say it went through that process.
Last edited:
KotKotofeich
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Ottawa Valley
We are really deraling this. Apologies to the topic starter! Perhaps you shoud start a topic in legalese... Though there are already several discussions on this.
No - as per the law you modified the rifle by cutting the longer barrel - so the rifle becomes prohibited when you install the cut barrel.
We almost on the same page. The only thing is that my gunsmith extended that rule for any firearm, perhaps as for peace of mind.
Who knows that the installed barrel was cut or newly made? That would be the person who did the job, nobody else.
And even newly made barrel which you cut from blank might be CUT to the size as a final step. It's like you have 24" blank, then cut it to 20", then change your mind and make it 16". Or may be you have installed it, then did not like it and further cut it to 14"? At which point you broke the law?
And then someone chimes in with a rifle in one hand and and 6" barrel in the other asking you to install the barrel. Will you take this order? Obviously, you never know how the 6" barrel has been materialized.
So, the key issue is that only the person who modified the barrel truly knows its history, making legal compliance a matter of trust and caution. This uncertainty is why some gunsmiths extend strict rules to all firearms, ensuring they don’t inadvertently violate the law.
For what it's worth, back in the 80s a fellow I knew had a 357 single action (do not recall make but it was European) with a bulge in the barrel which he purchased that way. No need to worry about barrel strength being compromised unless it is actually cracked. It shot just fine for accuracy, but he hated the fact the bulge existed. He did some gunsmithing (I have a custom rifle he built from a junk Mauser action, which I purchased from his estate), and used a brass hammer to pound the area affected by the bulge until it was not visible inside at all. Then he refinished and reblued the exterior of the barrel. He was very good and you would never know it had been worked on afterward.
My advice is if it shoots accurately enough for you, then just leave it the way it is.
My advice is if it shoots accurately enough for you, then just leave it the way it is.
