14.5" + Permanent Muzzle Brake = CA Legal?

[marklbucla]

I know that the CA laws are basically the same, but tweaked a bit. So, can I legally own in CA a M4 style upper with a 14.5" barrel and permanently attached muzzle brake for a total length > 16"? When I read the actual code, I didn't see any mention of a muzzle brake adding length.

[WOLFPACK117]

Mark, Has to be a minimum of 16" long to make it legal(<span class="ev_code_RED">RIFLE</span>).

aDONIS

[bwiese]

Mark...

If your muzzle attachment (meaning muzzle brake or flash hider) is permanently attached to a short barrel, and the total length is 16" or more, then you are OK as far as length with both Fed and state laws. Once the attachment is welded to the barrel it becomes part of the barrel.

BATF bbl length measurement is from bolt face.

Permanent attachment of a muzzle device usu means pinned & welded or silver-soldered. Epoxies, ThreadLok, etc. won't cut it, at least with the Feds.

However I'd advise against a 14.5" bbl + 1.5" muzzle device just because that extra 1.5" of bbl on a 16" barrel can give you a bit more velocity.


Bill Wiese
San Jose

[BigAL]

My personal preference is for the 14.5" w/ perm attached Phantom. You will lose some velocity and fragmentation range with the shorter barrel, and you won't be able to take off the FS if you need to remove the FSB for some rail installations. But using XM193 it will still frag out to 90-100 yds, which covers most defensive carbine ranges, especially in an urban area. With the 14.5" route, you get a shorter barrel length for CQB maneuvering and slightly less weight on the muzzle end, which should make the gun easier to swing.

[marklbucla]

I went with the Bushmaster 14.5" + Muzzle brake cuz I found a great deal on one on AR15.com.

Thanks for the help, everyone.

[BigAL]

Good choice. Bushmaster makes good stuff.

[esskay]

Originally posted by bwiese:
However I'd advise against a 14.5" bbl + 1.5" muzzle device just because that extra 1.5" of bbl on a 16" barrel can give you a bit more velocity.

True, but everything's a trade off...a 20" barrel has even more velocity, but can start to get unwieldy.

That's what I love so much about the AR platform... it's so easy to have different uppers to serve different purposes.

14.5 + phantom/vortex for close quarters/manueverability

16 for "recce" style precision upper

18 or 20 for longer range SAM/SPR style upper

Damn this state for banning these wonderful rifles!