Legally Shortening A Barrel.

[maverick4440]

I am curious if You were to take a barrel and shorten it untill the overall length WITH the cutts compensator was 16" and then permanently attached the compensator by silver soldering, brazing or JB welding would this be legal provided the compensator was unremoveable? The reason I ask is I have seen several AR-15's with short barrels that have extra long flash hiders permanently attached to bring the overall barrel length to 16 inches and have seen them sold legally at gun stores. I was wondering if a 13-1/2" barrel with a permanently attached compensator to bring the overall length to 16 inches would be legal providing it was unremoveable.

Maverick

[TN.Frank]

Short answer, Yes. Pin it too, just to be sure.

[brian]

of course putting a correct length barrel would be the *best* thing to do, some times that just can't happen.

 

shortening the barrel does make the gun look aLOT better though.

http://www.boomspeed.com/kinky/TshortERbrrel.JPG

Edited October 2, 2004 by brian

[DTD]

Maverick:

 

This is how your Thompson would look at 16"

to the outside of the comp.

 

Regards,

DTD

 

http://thompson.gotdns.com/DTD/Thomp2.jpg

[maverick4440]

Thank You for these responses. I believe it may be worth the extra effort to get the shorter effect. It would not be that much additional work and the small details can really make all the difference in the world. Like I said before. I just wanted the one to satisfy the urge, Now I am considering buying another one. I hope I haven't caught the bug so to speak.

maverick

"Thank You all again, This is a super informative message board.

[PK.]

ATF has strict guidelines for what constitutes “permanent” attachment. JB weld doesn’t make the grade, nor does pinning unless done a certain way. Check their website before proceeding.

[maverick4440]

Where would I look on the ATF website regaurding the proper way to pin the barrel to comply with the law?

Thank You

Maverick

[maverick4440]

Well,

On further research it looks as though the barrel must be pinned THEN have the hole where the pin is placed soldered over so it cannot be removed. It sounds simple enough on the surface however I am sure the blueing would be discolored from the heat of soldering over the pin hole which means the whole barrel would probably have to be reblued. I guess it depends now on how much effort and cost I am willing to pay to have this done. Unfortunatly things are never as simple as it sounds like they would be. Oh Well. I'll have to think about wether the cost justifies the cosmetic appearance. Also I would be concerned that the blueing salts would eat away the required silver "Plug" I guess it's not as easy as I thought it would be.

Maverick

Thanks for the input though

[PK.]

You have to be careful with the word solder, it’s meaning can be different than most folks understand and ATF knows that difference.

 

Soldering takes place at temperatures below 800F. The term brazing is used for temperatures above 800F. The old term “silver soldering” is incorrect- it is silver brazing, and so called in commercial circles.

 

This may seem an anal point, but ATF requires a brazing process using temperatures of 1100F or more for the attachment to be considered permanent.

 

If the pin option is used, most folks weld the head of the pin, not braze it. Silver brazing is used as a primary circumferential joint that only shows a slight ring of gold colored alloy when finished.

 

Bluing salts have no practical effect on the silver alloy.

 

For various reasons, this is the method I prefer when doing these conversions.

 

[TNKen]

PK, where does silver solder fit into this picture? I have purchased "hardened" silver solder to use and close the blind pin. I can work it with with one of those small hand-held torches. Where do I find the melting temps?

 

Ken