SBR question

[MWAG19919]

If I own an SBR with a 10.3" bbl, am I essentially married to that barrel for life? I know I can swap other barrels/uppers onto the registered lower, but I vaguely recall reading that I need to be able to return the rifle to its registered configuration. Does that mean I should never sell/trade the barrel/upper that's on it now for, say, a 12.5" upper?

[ndmiller]

If I own an SBR with a 10.3" bbl, am I essentially married to that barrel for life? I know I can swap other barrels/uppers onto the registered lower, but I vaguely recall reading that I need to be able to return the rifle to its registered configuration. Does that mean I should never sell/trade the barrel/upper that's on it now for, say, a 12.5" upper?

Since the lower is the registered part, any upper will be fine using that lower whether NFA or Non-NFA. I have a few SBR's with an additional non NFA upper for each (14.5, 16", 18") when I want to reach out and or a larger optic on them for distance.

There is a hypothetical constructive intent situation you'll want to avoid, something a more knowledgeable member can detail as I'm not 100% sure. The gist is you shouldn't own extra non-nfa lowers additional to registered one if you have extra NFA uppers. Otherwise shoot on.

[MWAG19919]

Since the lower is the registered part, any upper will be fine using that lower whether NFA or Non-NFA. I have a few SBR's with an additional non NFA upper for each (14.5, 16", 18") when I want to reach out and or a larger optic on them for distance.

There is a hypothetical constructive intent situation you'll want to avoid, something a more knowledgeable member can detail as I'm not 100% sure. The gist is you shouldn't own extra non-nfa lowers additional to registered one if you have extra NFA uppers. Otherwise shoot on.

That’s true but not what I was asking. I know I can temporarily swap any upper onto the registered lower.

What I meant is, am I allowed to sell/trade the upper that is the basis for my registered barrel length and OAL on the Form 1? In other words completely get rid of the 10.3” MK18 upper and trade it for something like an 11.5” 6933 upper?

[Inkslinger]

If I remember correctly, that section of the form references “permanent change “. What constitutes a permanent change? If you sell an upper with a specific barrel length does that mean you could never purchase another with an identical barrel length? I think the section references minutia that I wouldn’t worry yourself about. If it makes you feel better on a SBR I built, I didn’t even buy a barrel of the same length I put down on the form.

[Delta-3]

It's been a few years since I've SBR'd a rifle but if memory serves, as you said you can always put on a barrel longer than what is on the form 1 but cannot go shorter than what was applied for.
You can sell your 10.3" upper anytime you want & can replace with anything you want as long as the new upper is not shorter than the 10.3" you have on your form 1.

[1168]

If you wanted to, you could always notify the ATF of a permanent change. I wouldn’t bother, although I chose common and reasonable lengths that I will likely always have laying around on my forms. For the love of all that is unholy, though, please don’t ask the AFT to clarify anything.

Nothing is really all that permanent on an AR. For example, cranking a flash hider on a 14.5” gun with the biggest wrench you have and some red permanent Loctite doesn’t make a 16”. You have to weld it. So, being able to buy another 10.3” whenever you feel like it and make the gun back to whatever length is on the form via either two pins, or a couple wrenches, is probably close enough to “not permanent”.

I am definitely not a lawyer. I don’t even look like one.

[utahjeepr]

Not a lawyer, not telling you to break any laws.

That said, you know nobody is ever gonna care right. You paids yor monies and you got your hall pass. Unless you get nailed for some heinous shit, no one is ever gonna even ask. Like others have said, "define permanent". So you sold your 10.3 for "x" reason. Now you are just waiting to find an original NOS Colt 10.3 Crane spec NIB for a good price.

Probably gonna be a hell of a wait, but you are a patient man.

[Bret]

It's been a few years since I've SBR'd a rifle but if memory serves, as you said you can always put on a barrel longer than what is on the form 1 but cannot go shorter than what was applied for.
You can sell your 10.3" upper anytime you want & can replace with anything you want as long as the new upper is not shorter than the 10.3" you have on your form 1.

I do not believe this is correct. I've never seen anything in writing from the ATF or a knowledgeable source stating such. AFAIK, a rifle is either an SBR or it isn't. One isn't more of an SBR than another.

[SteyrAUG]

So this is my "opinion" based upon decades of working with ATF.

If you have 1 SBR, you can have as many uppers as you want. You can have a dozen. The gray area seems to be having multiple short uppers and some other unmounted lowers. So if you have 1 SBR and a dozen LE6920s and other complete ARs you are fine. If you have a dozen short uppers hand half a dozen M4 (6920) lowers ATF might look at you sideways.

As far as changing the stated configuration, if you go from 10.3 to 12.5 and you are going to get rid of the 10.3 upper then just update your Form 1/4. Otherwise I'd keep the 10.3 just so you have a registered configuration that is current with ATF. NFA branch is usually pretty cool and pretty informed, they aren't the door kicker type HOWEVER they like for all the records to be correct and current which really isn't a lot to ask.

They really couldn't care if your SBR is 10.3, 7.5, 12.5 or whatever, but WILLFUL non compliance does bother them. If you are going to own an SBR it comes with a certain level of responsibility and a stated correct configuration is one of them.

Personally, uppers don't have tons of resale value and you are probably gonna lose every time you sell one so if you have a 10.3 (especially if it's from a quality manufacturer like Colt, BCM, etc.) I would just retain it and have a selection of uppers that you feel you need.

[czgunner]

So this is my "opinion" based upon decades of working with ATF.

If you have 1 SBR, you can have as many uppers as you want. You can have a dozen. The gray area seems to be having multiple short uppers and some other unmounted lowers. So if you have 1 SBR and a dozen LE6920s and other complete ARs you are fine. If you have a dozen short uppers hand half a dozen M4 (6920) lowers ATF might look at you sideways.

As far as changing the stated configuration, if you go from 10.3 to 12.5 and you are going to get rid of the 10.3 upper then just update your Form 1/4. Otherwise I'd keep the 10.3 just so you have a registered configuration that is current with ATF. NFA branch is usually pretty cool and pretty informed, they aren't the door kicker type HOWEVER they like for all the records to be correct and current which really isn't a lot to ask.

They really couldn't care if your SBR is 10.3, 7.5, 12.5 or whatever, but WILLFUL non compliance does bother them. If you are going to own an SBR it comes with a certain level of responsibility and a stated correct configuration is one of them.

Personally, uppers don't have tons of resale value and you are probably gonna lose every time you sell one so if you have a 10.3 (especially if it's from a quality manufacturer like Colt, BCM, etc.) I would just retain it and have a selection of uppers that you feel you need.

How do you update a form 1? I will need to do that.

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