Legal shotgun barrel length

[2AMMD]

From what I have read here, the legal minimum length for a shotgun barrel is 18" and minimum overall length is 26". The recommended barrel length is slightly longer to be safe. I have a project in the works and would like to be sure it is legal. Looking for confirmation or a link to the federal law. Thanks.

[seagiant]

From what I have read here, the legal minimum length for a shotgun barrel is 18" and minimum overall length is 26". The recommended barrel length is slightly longer to be safe. I have a project in the works and would like to be sure it is legal. Looking for confirmation or a link to the federal law. Thanks.

Hi,
I've always heard 18"! I would cut it 18 1/4 in case the ATF can't read a measuring tape!

[Mooseman]

Always go a bit longer than 18 inches so you have some working room , and ATF measures usually from the bolt face forward when it is in battery. !8 inches is the Minimum Legal Barrel length and can be found in the 68 gun control act.

[Sasquatch-1]

Check your local jurisdiction. Federal law is 18 inches but when I worked in Washington D. C. the city code stated 20 inches. Either call the State Attorney's office or the state police fire arms section.

[2AMMD]

Thank you all for the help. This really is a great site.

[pietro]

.

http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps41631/2005/p53004.pdf

(6) The term "short-barreled shotgun" means a shotgun having one or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length and any weapon made from a shotgun (whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise) if such weapon as modified has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.

(8) The term "short-barreled rifle" means a rifle having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in length and any weapon made from a rifle (whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise) if such weapon, as modified, has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.




.

[mazo kid]

Always go a bit longer than 18 inches so you have some working room , and ATF measures usually from the bolt face forward when it is in battery. !8 inches is the Minimum Legal Barrel length and can be found in the 68 gun control act.
Put your tape in from the muzzle end to the CLOSED bolt face. You can see what the original barrel length is and then subtract 18-1/4" (or what you feel safe) from that. That number is the amount to cut off the end of the barrel(s). Remember, the OVERALL length of the shot gun must be no less than 26"! Also, some shotgun barrels aren't the length the maker says they are so ALWAYS measure before cutting!

[KCSO]

Legal length is 18" measured through the barrel from the muzzle to the breech face. If you measure from the outside always leave a little extra to be safe. I saw a felow lose a gun one time over 1/8" of barrel length and it's not worth it. I always reccommend 20" for riot and hoe defence guns as that way you can put on a long magazine tube if you want and it won't poke out past the muzzle.

[grumman581]

The safe thing is to assume that the LEOs / ATF is going to do whatever is convenient for them to be able to get another arrest and more publicity. That is how their job performance is measured. So, you have to assume that they might "accidentally" drop your weapon on it's barrel and if it is *exactly* 18", then it will be slightly less after that. If it is 1/64" of an inch less, it's now against their (unconstitutional) *rules*. Do you want to be the test case and fight it all the way to the Supreme Court, only to have to argue the case to a Court that no longer considers the Constitution and the intentions of the Founding Fathers when handing down their decisions? Good luck with that -- you have more money to waste than I do. Give yourself a little breathing room, just in case you encounter a LEO / whatever that does not like you and wants to "make an example" of you and ad an extra half inch "just in case". 26" for an overall shotgun length would be great if it was in a bullpup design with a magazine that was between the trigger and the buttplate.

[seagiant]

The safe thing is to assume that the LEOs / ATF is going to do whatever is convenient for them to be able to get another arrest and more publicity. That is how their job performance is measured. So, you have to assume that they might "accidentally" drop your weapon on it's barrel and if it is *exactly* 18", then it will be slightly less after that. If it is 1/64" of an inch less, it's now against their (unconstitutional) *rules*. Do you want to be the test case and fight it all the way to the Supreme Court, only to have to argue the case to a Court that no longer considers the Constitution and the intentions of the Founding Fathers when handing down their decisions? Good luck with that -- you have more money to waste than I do. Give yourself a little breathing room, just in case you encounter a LEO / whatever that does not like you and wants to "make an example" of you and ad an extra half inch "just in case". 26" for an overall shotgun length would be great if it was in a bullpup design with a magazine that was between the trigger and the buttplate.
Hi,
Of course if you don't have a illegal short barreled weapon the ATF can supply one for you! Ask Randy Weaver!

[WilliamDahl]

Hi,
Of course if you don't have a illegal short barreled weapon the ATF can supply one for you! Ask Randy Weaver!

Yeah... Never let any pesky *legalities* get in the way of manufacturing a crime.

[DeanWinchester]

What will 18 inches do for you that 19 inches won't do just as well. Ere on the side of caution and save yourself the headache of having to prove you are innocent. Guilty until proven innocent ya know.;)

[W.R.Buchanan]

I personally like 20". My M500 had the 18" bbl. and 5 shot mag tube. I got a 20' bbl. with a full length mag tube for it and it handles much better.

18" is the legal limit, but no one can argue when it is 20", which tapes out at more than 18" anyway you do it.

Randy

[quasi]

here in Canada, as long as the Shottie is not semi auto, you can have any barrel length you want, as long as it is a factory made barrel and length. We have Norinco 870 clones with 7.5 " barrels, as well as 12.5 and 14 inches. There are 2 Manufacturers in Canada making new 870 barrels down to 7.5".

https://www.canadaammo.com/product/detail/dominion-arms-grizzly-shotgun-8-5/

[singleshot]

I personally like 20". My M500 had the 18" bbl. and 5 shot mag tube. I got a 20' bbl. with a full length mag tube for it and it handles much better.

18" is the legal limit, but no one can argue when it is 20", which tapes out at more than 18" anyway you do it.

Randy

So you like how your 20 foot barrel handles? Bet you get some serious velocity from that thing! It must hold 70 or 80 rounds! :kidding:

[W.R.Buchanan]

Yeah,,, it's mounted on my Jeep! Kind of an anti aircraft type of thing. :mrgreen:
Randy

[DCM]

Yeah,,, it's mounted on my Jeep! Kind of an anti aircraft type of thing. :mrgreen:
Randy

Using those drone loads to their fullest?

[W.R.Buchanan]

Yes and I just watched "Oblivion" last night on the video. It is a good look at where we are headed if this Drone stuff doesn't get shut down.

Pretty soon they'll have them monitoring everything we do.

Randy

[WilliamDahl]

Yes and I just watched "Oblivion" last night on the video. It is a good look at where we are headed if this Drone stuff doesn't get shut down.

Pretty soon they'll have them monitoring everything we do.


I know what you mean. I just got a text message from them telling me that I needed to double flush.

[preparehandbook]

That's nothing, I just got an official letter telling me that my chili needed salt....

I have cut more than a couple of shotgun barrels, never to less than 18.5 and usually I just go 19" so that if I mess up with a sight installation or ding the muzzle I have some metal to play with.

It's much easier to take more off than add some.

One thing to keep in mind....

Let's say Billy-Bob wants to create a shotgun barrel with a muzzle break and wants it's OAL to be 18"

So Billy-Bob chops his barrel to 17" and then welds a 1" break on.

Guess what? welding on the muzzle break does not erase the fact that Billy-Bob created an unregistered SBS.

So never go below 18" for any reason.

[grumman581]

One thing to keep in mind....

Let's say Billy-Bob wants to create a shotgun barrel with a muzzle break and wants it's OAL to be 18"

So Billy-Bob chops his barrel to 17" and then welds a 1" break on.

Guess what? welding on the muzzle break does not erase the fact that Billy-Bob created an unregistered SBS.

So never go below 18" for any reason.

Using that logic, if you had a barrel obstruction, fired your shotgun, and it took off a few inches from the end of the barrel, the Feds could prosecute you for having an unregistered SBS. Perhaps if you removed the barrel from the firearm, did the modifications that you mentioned and then reinstalled it AFTER you had completed the modifications you would not be in violation. I have AR-15 barrels that are less than 16" that I bought that way, so I'm thinking that it doesn't become a supposed regulation violation until you install it on a firearm. Now, my barrels are designated for future projects (one of which will be a pistol).

Of course the regulations that we are trying to avoid violating are totally unconstitutional since they obviously violate the "SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED" clause of the 2nd Amendment, but I don't have enough money to fight the government in the courts.

[preparehandbook]

Blowing off the end of your barrel shouldn't count, it's not considered "modification" under the law.

The AR barrel thing has resulted in many arrests under "constructive intent" interpretations. A small gun store near me got charged with a dozen or so felonies for selling short barrel AR uppers and complete lowers separately. Because BATFE said that a person could purchase all the pieces to make a SBR, though none had, they also complained that the store sold forward pistol grips and AR pistols in the same building. By this logic Walmart should be a huge criminal for selling both shotguns and hack saws which are obviously sawed off shotgun kits.

The problem with possession of both a shotgun and a short barrel for the same shotgun is how do you legally explain the shotgun barrel Unless you have a tax stamp for an SBS or AOW? Witht the AR you could argue that you are constructing a pistol.

I do have lots of short shotgun barrel chunks laying around for blackpowder projects, but they are the muzzle end, not the breach and recently when permanently converting a shotgun into a rifle I cut away most of the chamber and the top half of the barrel before removing the excess length.

Are these laws constitutional? I doubt it.

Do I have the money, time, inclination to challenge the system? Nope.

[grumman581]

With their type of logic, most of us could be charged with having a chemical weapon since we have enough stuff either under the kitchen sink or in our garages that if we knew how to do it, we could create a chemical weapon out of it. Just look at how many office buildings have been evacuated over the years because one of the janitorial staff cluelessly combined chlorine bleach with ammonia in a mop bucket.

[preparehandbook]

A family in San Jose California was raided because they were wearing camo while gardening in their suburban back yard.

The warrant stated that "no reasonable person would grow their own food when grocery stores had a better selection" and that it was feared they "could be burying supplies" (they were not)

The thing they finally were charged with was bomb making supplies. The 12 year old had a bb gun and bbs, the bbs were inventoried as "shrapnel" in the garage with their camping supplies was a coleman stove with.... GASP!... a small tank of propane.

No bomb making books, no internet history related to bombs, nothing else at all. The charges eventually were dropped and after 14 months they got their kids back.

All for gardening.

So go ahead, chop that shotgun barrel to a gnat's *** more than 18", or posses parts they can wave at a jury. Myself? I won't come within a country mile of crossing a BATFE line.

[grumman581]

I agreed to purchase a shotgun today that someone locally was advertising on one of the firearm sites. I am pretty sure that it has a cut down barrel since there is no front sight on it. In fact, I believe that at least 8" of the barrel was removed.

I think Biden would classify it as one of those dreaded "12-gauge single-shot assault shotguns".

Essex with 20" barrel, nice wood, no rust, and functional... If nothing else, it'll make a nice wall hanger, I guess...

[DLCTEX]

So you like how your 20 foot barrel handles? Bet you get some serious velocity from that thing! It must hold 70 or 80 rounds! :kidding:
" is inches, ' is ft.?

[grumman581]

" is inches, ' is ft.?

Yeah, but if you look closely at the post he was replying to, the poster had put 20" in one place and 20' in another place.

Typos... They're the keyboard's fault, right?

[Artful]

Or maybe he owns a longer version of one of these?
http://www.dillerdesign.com/quietgun/img/image001.jpg
http://www.dillerdesign.com/quietgun/
http://www.dillerdesign.com/quietgun/img/tomanddeer.jpg

[preparehandbook]

I have done hog eradication with the super long barrels.

Add about 6' (yes, feet) and a slug comes out with a sound like a cough.