VA - stripped lowers and pistols vs rifles

[Tx_Aggie]

Did you fill out 1 or 2 forms? The 4473 and the Virginia Form SP-65. SP-65 has no "Other".

As of the July 2016 revision, the SP-65 does have the option of "Other." Prior to that it did not.

VPS also has the option of "other" on the VCheck website now, though (not surprisingly) it took them a while longer to update the website after they released the updated form.

[tb-av]

Ok, so it's still in use but revised. I couldn't find on the VSP site. Looked through all the firearms docs, tried to search, nothing but the 2012 revision. I remember the girl at Greentop asking me the last time I bought a lower but that's been a few years now.

[Wake27]

I filled out two forms, but never put any info in about the lower itself. I didn't even talk to them about it, prior to picking up I sent an email stating that it would be a pistol and this is what I got in response: In Virginia now when you pick one up it is marked as “other” so you can build it into whatever you would like. It seems like the atf has changed their minds about this a few times over the past couple of years.

[tb-av]

I don't think anyone is changing their minds. The old VA form used to read... Handgun , Long Gun , Both --- those were the only choices.


A friend of mine has a carbine that accepts a Glock lower frame. Everything but the slide. So it's a rifle when it's put together. Take it apart and put the slide back on and it's a pistol. Same thing. The only thing that is registered as a firearm is that lower frame of the Glock.

http://mechtechsys.com/glock-carbine-conversion/


Is this what you are talking about?

Can I lawfully make a rifle into a pistol without registering that firearm?

No. A firearm that was originally a rifle would be classified as a “weapon made from a rifle” if ; it has either a barrel less than 16 inches in length or an overall length of less than 26 inches. If an individual wishes to make an NFA firearm, s/he must first submit ATF Form 1, Application to Make and Register a Firearm, pay a $200.00 making tax, and receive approval of the application from ATF before converting the firearm.

Your firearm was never "originally a rifle". It is a firearm none the less. So basically if you are concerned, put your barrel on, put the brace on, call it a pistol, then go back and forth all you want. That way it went from a "thing" to a "pistol" to a "rifle", back to a "thing" back to a "pistol"..... but in all that it was never "originally a rifle"

[Iraqgunz]

This is nothing new and has been discussed here dozens of times. A lower receiver is an "other" and that is how it should be on the 4473 with very few exceptions.

So my understanding over the past few years was that you did not need an AR lower that was advertised as a pistol lower, as long as it was annotated as a pistol on the form (4473 I think?). I picked up a stripped lower yesterday, with the intent of building it into a pistol with an SBA3 and was told by the LGS that that was no longer the case, at least in VA. According to them they're marked as "other," meaning they can be built into whatever I want. I have a few questions that I should've asked them but didn't think of at the time and since I hadn't seen this discussion on here, figured I'd ask.

1. Is this only in VA or was this a federal thing?
2. Does this only apply to stripped lowers?
3. Does this have any effect on lowers that were bought before the law changed (doubt it, but figured I'd ask)?

[MountainRaven]

Huh, I thought even if marked other and you put a "carbine stock" on it it became a rifle? Or is it when you actually snap a minimum 16" barreled upper on it? Once built as a rifle, you can't go to a pistol but if as a pistol first, you could switch it back and forth?

It only becomes a rifle if you have a complete functioning firearm with a stock on it.

Until it is a complete, functioning firearm, it is just a collection of parts.

If you complete it as a pistol first, then you have the option to go to a rifle and back to a pistol.

Why? Because ATF, that's why.

[OldState]

Question- if a dealer is parting off guns and sells a stripped lower from a factory rifle to you, is it transferred as an “other”?

[prepare]

Does "other" still apply if you buy a lower with a stock already attached?

[Iraqgunz]

See #16 above.

Does "other" still apply if you buy a lower with a stock already attached?

[mark5pt56]

Makes sense, thank you. Yeah so the complete gun.

It only becomes a rifle if you have a complete functioning firearm with a stock on it.

Until it is a complete, functioning firearm, it is just a collection of parts.

If you complete it as a pistol first, then you have the option to go to a rifle and back to a pistol.

Why? Because ATF, that's why.