"Bolt" AR length requirements?

[180ls1]

I am looking at building a Bolt action (no gas/piston) AR, possibly with a folding stock and 16" barrel. Would there still be a length requirement that I need need to pay attention to?

I vaguely remember 26" but do not know what applies today. It sure would be close if not under that.

[Quiet]

I am looking at building a Bolt action (no gas/piston) AR, possibly with a folding stock and 16" barrel. Would there still be a length requirement that I need need to pay attention to?

I vaguely remember 26" but do not know what applies today. It sure would be close if not under that.

CA minimum length requirements for manually operated rifles:
1. Minimum 16" barrel length. [PC 17170(a)]
2. Minimum 26" overall length. [PC 17170(b)]

Due to CA case laws, the overall length is measured with the firearm in the shortest possible fireable configuration (stock folded/collapsed or removed, if quick detachable).

[180ls1]

CA minimum length requirements for manually operated rifles:
1. Minimum 16" barrel length. [PC 17170(a)]
2. Minimum 26" overall length. [PC 17170(b)]

Due to CA case laws, the overall length is measured with the firearm in the shortest possible fireable configuration (stock folded/collapsed or removed, if quick detachable).

Thank you!

[ar15barrels]

I am looking at building a Bolt action (no gas/piston) AR, possibly with a folding stock and 16" barrel.

Beware that manually operated AR's have very weak primary extraction as the design was made expecting there to be 12,000-20,000PSI of gas pressure to put energy into the bolt carrier which then pops the cartridge free from the chamber.
When you substitute the gas operation to your fingers to pull the bolt carrier enough to cam the bolt open, you will have to pull much harder than you do with an traditional turn-bolt action where the bolt handle actually turns the bolt.

[smittty]

Beware that manually operated AR's have very weak primary extraction as the design was made expecting there to be 12,000-20,000PSI of gas pressure to put energy into the bolt carrier which then pops the cartridge free from the chamber.
When you substitute the gas operation to your fingers to pull the bolt carrier enough to cam the bolt open, you will have to pull much harder than you do with an traditional turn-bolt action where the bolt handle actually turns the bolt.

I made a manual AR, and experienced no issues operating the bolt by hand.

[BrokerB]

So extraction can be like an old dirty 91/30 mosin nagant..keep a 2x4 handy ? : )

[Wrangler John]

I have built three AR 15 Bolt Actions using either a Colt M4 lower or bare Anderson lowers. In the first case I used Pac-Nor SS polygonal rifled barrel 24" chambered in .204 Ruger, 1:8.5 twist for Berger 50 grain+ bullets and Barnes 26 grain Varmint Grenades. The gas bleed was blocked. I also made the two Anderson's with Hart custom barrels, made without a gas port, chambered in .223 Wylde, 1:9" twist, 24".

The upper receivers were Fulton Armory Upper Receiver & BCG, AR-15, Side-Cocking, Flattop Part #: FA-AU-171-SC-SET, in the Colt lower I used a JP Enterprise trigger as at the time it was the only one that would fit the Colt action blocked against full-auto designs.

In the Anderson lowers I used the American Trigger Corp. AR15 Gold Trigger.

There were no malfunctions in any of these rifles, and accuracy ran .5" or less, with the .224" 24 grain Hornady lead free pushing .25" for ten shots. Even the Berger 55 grain ran under .75" for the minimal testing. Extraction was flawless, even pushing the 26 grain Varmint Grenade to 4011 fps with 25.5 grains of Reloader 10x. What I noticed immediately was that brass exited the action cool to the touch, and stayed close on the bench. No one was more surprised than me!