Would you pin and weld a 14.5" so you could purchase a new lower?

[ace4059]

First off before answering the question on the thread title read all the information before saying its a good idea or bad idea.

I have several SBRed Lowers. I was keeping it at a 1:1 ratio for the SBR's lowers and uppers. I purchased a another upper last year, so I have the one extra upper compared to the SBRed lower.

I would like to buy one more lower before the election but do not want to have a lower with that extra upper for obvious reasons.

I am done with the NFA game and buying new tax stamps.

Here is my idea. One of my SBR uppers is an 14.5" BCM upper that has a dedicated SilencerCo Saker 556 suppressor. This is the one I shoot the most and is my favorite upper. Its stayed the same since the day I bought it and added the rail and the Saker MAAD flash hider. This is only shot suppressed.

I measured it with the saker flash hider and it comes out to 16.7" to the bolt face. So since I am not going to add any other items or make any changes to this upper, would you think it is a good idea to pin and weld the flash hider so I can buy another lower and put this upper on it?

I have NEVER been a fan of pin and welding the muzzle device but in this case it might be ok for me considering my circumstances.

Thanks.

[st381183]

It's not constructive intent to possess an NFA upper and a stripped lower if you also possess legal SBRs or a lower that was purpose built as a pistol. When you legally posses the components to properly construct the weapons into a legal configuration then there is no constructive intent. (Thats why most SBRs start life as a pistol so you can shoot it legally while you wait for the stamp.). That's like saying you can't own a non-NFA 16" rifle because you have SBRs and you could switch uppers. It may be constructive intent to own a built lower and a short barreled upper without the necessary legal components or authority to construct those items into a legal configuration.

So, if you need an excuse to buy a lower then I say do what you want with the upper you have on hand to make it legal to use without a tax stamp. Or........build the lower as an AR pistol which has the advantage of being a small package without the NFA seal of approval. You can travel with it out of state, etc., and you don't have to pin and weld your 14.5" upper. In fact you could swap any upper to the pistol or the pistol upper to your SBR and be g2g. Another benefit is you can remove your Saker mount if you wanted to use it on another upper.

[ace4059]

I used to have a pistol lower. I hated it, so I SBRed that one too.
Each upper has their own mount/suppressor.

I would want to buy a complete lower instead of a stripped lower. So that's my reasoning with the thought process of pin and welding my 14.5" upper. I would not want a complete extra lower and that 14.5" upper with the constructive intent thing, even though I would not put that upper on a non SBRed lower.

[MistWolf]

Ace, you're over thinking this. Having more SBR/pistol uppers than you have SBR/pistol lowers is legal. Check out the results of the case Thompson brought against the BATF

[WS6]

I would pin and weld it regardless. I'm not filling out paperwork on a 14.5.

[MistWolf]

Paperwork is filed on the AR lower, not the upper

[ace4059]

Ace, you're over thinking this. Having more SBR/pistol uppers than you have SBR/pistol lowers is legal. Check out the results of the case Thompson brought against the BATF

I understand if you have three SBR's that are complete you can have all the extra lowers you want. My grey area is if you have extra uppers that are not 16" barrels, then can you have extra complete lowers. My thought was NO.

The way I read the laws (which I maybe wrong) I thought if you had an extra upper under 16" and an extra complete lower then that is where the constructive intent could come into play.

So are you saying that I could have that extra upper and 10 complete lowers if I wanted to?

[ace4059]

I understand that. I used to have one SBRed Lower and would switch out my uppers. Then over the years I completed a form 1 on each lower I got so I had a 1:1 ratio of SBR uppers and lowers.

Paperwork is filed on the AR lower, not the upper

[Dennis]

Legalities aside, changing out a pin and weld is like a $50 problem + loss of your old FH. A very small price overall to all our other fun toy expenses.

Dennis.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

[MistWolf]

If you have nothing but a non NFA rifle lower and an SBR/pistol upper, you could be charged with Constructive Intent, as the only configuration your assemblies can be assembled into would be illegal.

If you have a complete non NFA AR rifle and ten thousand SBR/pistol uppers, you're fine because with the complete AR, you have a legal configuration. You won't be in violation of the law in this case until you assemble a shorty upper on the non NFA rifle lower