would'nt this be illegal

[jh45gun]

Guy puts a removable padded butt pad on a Ranch Hand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0J2pawM0BE

[dualsport]

Good question.

[Jim]

That's got me interested. Educate me, how would slippin' a pad on the stock be illegal?

[imashooter2]

IIRC, the Ranch hand is sold as a pistol. Adding a buttstock to a pistol makes it an NFA item, a short barreled rifle.

ETA: And I don't believe you are allowed to "manufacture" a short barreled rifle unless you are a Special Occupation Taxpayer (SOT).

[jh45gun]

Jim, Well the gun is marketed as a handgun you cannot put a stock on a handgun unless you pay the 200 tax to make it a short barred rifle. So I am wondering if you add anything to the end of the stock is it making it a SBR in the eyes of the law as your extending it to shoot it from the shoulder. Might not be much but maybe the feds would look at it that way. If you shoot it from the shoulder and do not add anything then its ok though more difficult. Since you are altering the gun to shoot it from the shoulder I would think it would be Illegal also since pistols do not have butt pads'

Edit That is what I thought imashooter.

[Jim]

I find this very interesting. Ya' suppose "they" would look at a slip-on pad as a stock, per se? It's not actually attached, just slipped on.

Or is this more about enabling the firearm to be fired as a rifle as opposed to a handgun? If that's the issue, it wouldn't matter that it's attached or not, right?

[Lonegun1894]

I would call it illegal due to adding material to lenghten the lenght of pull, ie, adding a buttstock. I disagree with this law, but can see how they would very easily a judge/jury that you "manufactured" an unregistered SBR just because you did as that video shows. As to manufacturing one, you are allowed to do it without being an SOT assuming that you pay your $200 tax and file paperwork (form 1) and NOT DO ANYTHING until after you get your approved tax stamp back to manufacture your SBR. I am currently waiting on my stamp to turn my 10/22 into an SBR, but I have been told the best approach is to mail it and forget about it because the expected wait time is around 8-9 months as of when I sent in my paperwork and check. I'll get the stamp, eventually, but really dont care how long it takes. I'm just glad to be able to do it without risking my freedom. I have thought about doing the same with one of these Rossi's, but dont really like a 16" trapper, so dont see a 12"er being any better.

[Hickory]

He would be better off padding
the inside of his outer garment.

[starmac]

I think it is amazing how 200 bucks makes illegal things legal, only in a free country....

[imashooter2]

I think it is amazing how 200 bucks makes illegal things legal, only in a free country....

Less than a half an inch cut off a piece of wood got Randy Weaver's wife shot in the face. The government spent millions of dollars and killed people over the non payment of a $5 tax.

[FergusonTO35]

I am honestly surprised that the lever action pistols are permitted as such. I would have thought that the stubby piece of buttstock with a plate on the end which the guns are manufactured with classifies them as SBR.

[jh45gun]

I am honestly surprised that the lever action pistols are permitted as such. I would have thought that the stubby piece of buttstock with a plate on the end which the guns are manufactured with classifies them as SBR.

Nope because since the receiver is new and the manufacturer's of these guns call them pistols they are pistols .With the length of the stub you really cannot call it a rifle. Some Trivia the first gun built for the series was classified as a pistol and cost 1100 bucks to make a pretty pricey gun for back in them days. They built three of them for the show.