Why SBR?

[Iraqgunz]

Nothing screams "I am sexy" like an SBR. I am going to do one up as well as soon as I have the finer points taken care of.

[Mr.Goodtimes]

im going to SBR my 16in gun as soon as i get the money for the tax stamp... should i just cut down my barrel or buy a whole new one?

[Army Chief]

Personally, I would replace the barrel altogether if economics allowed me to do that. It gives you a chance to get exactly what you want, and preserves your long term flexibility if you ever want/need to restore the rifle to its original configuration. Chopping the existing barrel may also involve gas port modifications and re-theading, etc., so a competent job would likely cost nearly as much as a new tube.

AC

[warpigM-4]

can have machine guns in Alabama ,But NO SBR's go figure
although I just bought a 14.5 colt M4 barrel and having steve at ADCO pin a extended FH on it at least the evil bayonet will attach to it

[exkc135driver]

I have read some threads about "engraving" on the lower. I don't plan to sell my lower, but I don't think I want to put any permanent engraving on it either.

Probably a good idea not to have your Magpul lower engraved.

Do you have to get your lower specially engraved when it becomes registered as an SBR?

It depends on who manufactures the SBR.

If you already have the gun (for discussion purposes, let's say an AR) and you file the Form 1, then you become the manufacturer. Yes, Colt/RRA/LMT/whoever may have manufactured the gun (which is to say, the lower receiver) but you made it into an SBR (even though you didn't actually do anything at all to the lower receiver) so you are the manufacturer. Thus, you must have "Joe Blow, City, State" engraved on the lower in order to make it legal. BATFE has specific requirements for minimum letter height and depth (I forget the height, but I think the depth is 0.003"). You retain possession of the lower but may not use it as an SBR (that is, you may not attach an upper which has a barrel length less than 16") until (a) you receive the approved Form 1 back and (2) you have had the receiver appropriately engraved.

On the other hand, if you arrange in advance to purchase the lower from a gun manufacturer who is also a Class II manufacturer, it will already be engraved with the gun manufacturer's name, city, and state. Since that is the same name, city, and state of who made the SBR (again, they didn't actually do anything to the lower receiver), no additional engraving needs to be done. That manufacturer will file the appropriate paperwork with BATFE to "make" the SBR. They will keep it in the meantime. When the transfer to you on a Form 4 is approved, they will call you to come pick up your gun. So, the downside is, (a) you don't get to use the receiver (as a regular, non-SBR rifle) while the transfer is pending, (b) not all (or probably even most) manufacturers will take the time and trouble to do this, as it creates extra paperwork for them, and (c) they may charge you a wee bit extra. But, the upside is that you don't have any extra engraving on your gun. You will have a "factory made" SBR.

Some (maybe all) Class II manufacturers are taking the position that they have to transfer a short-barrel rifle to you, not a short-barrel lower receiver, so they require that you either (a) simultaneously purchase a short (<16") barrel upper from them or (b) furnish them with a short barrel upper so that they can transfer a complete SBR to you when the time comes. I do not know whether this is an example of over-cautious manufacturers or is a BATFE requirement, but I suspect the latter. But hey, you're gonna need a short-barrel upper anyway.

This raises the question: what if you own a lower made by Dooflucky Guns and you want Dooflucky, who you know is a Class II manufacturer, to SBR your lower receiver? If you send it to them, will they have to re-engrave it? I do not know. (Note to all the armchair lawyers out there: please spare us your opinions on this. The BATFE answer is either "yes" or "no", and your opinion on what you think the answer should be is irrelevant. I too have an opinion, but I do not know, so who cares what my opinion is?) OTOH, if you do know the answer, please share it.

One final note: you can get your SBR engraved "registered SBR" if you want, but that is completely unnecessary. BATFE has no such requirement. You may get CDI points, though.