Registering or Buying an SBR

**Dr Dues** · 12-06-22, 07:19

Originally Posted by Todd.K

First, I was saying you cannot buy just an SBR lower from a dealer. An SBR is a RIFLE with a BARREL under 16”, not a lower that was registered.

Second, the guy who wrote that article doesn’t know what he is talking about. If you paid the tax on your SBR you can change whatever you want and tell nobody. It is illegal to possess an SBR without the tax, if you change the caliber you still possess an SBR that has paid the tax. Nothing in the law requires you to update any length or caliber change.

That's not entirely true......

I purchased a FACTORY BCM SBR/REGISTERED lower from G&R Tactical YEARS ago (2008-2010??). It was advertised and sold as "SBR LOWER".

Haven't seen one since though...

**DoubleW** · 12-06-22, 07:24

Originally Posted by Dr Dues

That's not entirely true......

I purchased a FACTORY BCM SBR/REGISTERED lower from G&R Tactical YEARS ago (2008-2010??). It was advertised and sold as "SBR LOWER".

Haven't seen one since though...

AU sells stand alone factory SBR lowers from time to time.

**markm** · 12-06-22, 08:21

The stamp is on the Lower. So I guess you could buy an SBR lower. Makes no sense though because you could register your own lower and have it in possession while the bureaucracy grinds slow.

**georgeib** · 12-06-22, 09:45

Originally Posted by markm

The stamp is on the Lower. So I guess you could buy an SBR lower. Makes no sense though because you could register your own lower and have it in possession while the bureaucracy grinds slow.

The other advantage of starting with a stripped receiver, or any receiver sold as a "receiver" on the 4473, is that it didn't start life as a "rifle." Allowing you to go back and forth between pistol and rifle at will.

I have a registered lower that was initially built out as a pistol and, based on my interpretation of the ATF's rulings, allows me to reconfigure it as a pistol when traveling out of state. You enjoy no such advantage if you start off with an SBR lower.

**Adrenaline_6** · 12-06-22, 09:55

Originally Posted by georgeib

The other advantage of starting with a stripped receiver, or any receiver sold as a "receiver" on the 4473, is that it didn't start life as a "rifle." Allowing you to go back and forth between pistol and rifle at will.

I have a registered lower that was initially built out as a pistol and, based on my interpretation of the ATF's rulings, allows me to reconfigure it as a pistol when traveling out of state. You enjoy no such advantage if you start off with an SBR lower.

Once it is registered though, don't you have to notify the ATF that you are traveling with it anyway?

**markm** · 12-06-22, 10:04

Originally Posted by Adrenaline_6

Once it is registered though, don't you have to notify the ATF that you are traveling with it anyway?

Not as I understand it. Kinda like those guys that, for some reason, want to "un-register" an SBR. They don't have to do anything other than reconfigure it to rifle status. However, some people actively have ATF remove the NFA status of the gun.

**georgeib** · 12-06-22, 10:10

Originally Posted by Adrenaline_6

Once it is registered though, don't you have to notify the ATF that you are traveling with it anyway?

Yes, you have to fill out a 5320.20 and file it for approval. IF you maintain it in NFA format, that is. The ATF has already stated that if you remove the features that make an SBR an SBR, you can take it out of state without doing the form 20. The specific example they use is putting a 16" barrel on the SBR lower, thus converting from an SBR to a Title 1 firearm, and no longer necessitating the form 20 to cross state lines.

To me, it seems obvious that removing the stock from the receiver extension and replacing it with a pistol brace accomplishes the same thing. I mean, think about this for a sec. If you have an AR pistol, and you install a stock in place of the pistol brace, what have you just done? Create an (unregistered) SBR, right? So, clearly the ATF agrees that the presence of a stock creates a rifle, and if that is true then so is the converse.

**Todd.K** · 12-06-22, 10:54

Originally Posted by Dr Dues

That's not entirely true......

I purchased a FACTORY BCM SBR/REGISTERED lower from G&R Tactical YEARS ago (2008-2010??). It was advertised and sold as "SBR LOWER".

Haven't seen one since though...

And lowers used to be sold as a “rifle” and not “other”.

Almost everyone (dealers) understands this now. If you read the actual law you will not find any mention of a registered receiver.