gonna get it for this question

[dfletcher]

from what i have read in this thread i cant put a pistol barrel on my T/C Encore because i bought it as a rifle. that doesnt seem right. it was why i bought the T/C Encore in the first place.

and if i decide to sell it i have to sell it as a rifle?

I've attached a thread from a forum pretty much dedicated to the "handrifles" of which I have about 20 - it's a pretty contentious issue to the point the moderator posted a sticky.

http://specialtypistols.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/frm/f/4766056864

If a firearm is manufactured as a rifle it is illegal to convert that firearm from a rifle to a handgun. The ease with which that can be accomplished is not a factor. If you purchased your Encore as a rifle it is illegal to mount a less than 16" bbl on that frame even when configured with a handgun stock.

The often cited Supreme Court case won by T/C did not address this issue, it addressed the subject of manufacturing and the legality of a kit offered for sale by T/C in which one of the items that could be assembled was a short barreled rifle. Since other legal configurations could be made T/C prevailed.

ATF, at the time, took the position of conversion to an extreme and it may well be their current position. Their position was that if you purchase an Encore handgun frame and subsequently mount a rifle barrel and rifle stock you can not legally convert it back to handgun status - once it's a rifle it must remain a rifle. Again, I do not know if that is their current position.

But if your Encore frame left the factory as a rifle it can not be configured as a handgun. Since Encore rifles were sold in CA for many years before the hangun was allowed in, I'd suspect there are alot of rifle frames with handgun barrels on them. I've not heard of ATF or DOJ going after someone on this alone, but if there were another reason for them to have an interest in someone I suppose they'd toss this charge in also given the opportunity.

And yes, the correct approach would be to sell it as a rifle. I think if you walked into a gun store and sold it as a handgun with a handgun barrel on it you could (again, in theory) be documenting your own violation of federal law. You could sell it frame only as a rifle.

[NeoWeird]

I'd be very careful about the way you handle it.

From my understanding once a pistol it is always a pistol. You can legally change it to a rifle (add the 16" barrel first to make it a long barreled pistol and then add the stock - adding the stock first would make an SBR or AOW and you'd in federal trouble). It can then be reversed in the same fashion.

A rifle however can not go to any barrel length shorter than 16" without having the SBR tax stamp or being turned into a machine gun which is not legal here in California.

There is two key points to keep in mind here. If his receiver is built up as a pistol the ATF views it as a pistol. Just because you converted it into a rifle does not change the fact that it IS a pistol. Just because he can lie and say it's a rifle, and have it in a rifle configuration, doesn't mean it can be transfered as a rifle. Sooner or later it will come back and the ATF will want to know why the pistol was not transfered as one. This is not some loophole that allows sub 21 year olds to be ablet o buy pistols and as such it could cause problems immediately or down the road.

If you want it that bad just have him change the magazine to a Bobsled design and fix it in place and trasfer it as a single shot. Case closed.

Of course if he hasn't built it up then you can purchase it as a rifle receiver, even if registered with the company as a stripped pistol receiver, and make it into a rifle. If a pistol receiver is turned into a rifle before it is turned into a pistol then its pistol status is negated and it can never be a pistol again.

[superhondaz50]

no the receiver has never had anything built on top, it's just sat around naked and neglected

[cnyankee]

I've attached a thread from a forum pretty much dedicated to the "handrifles" of which I have about 20 - it's a pretty contentious issue to the point the moderator posted a sticky.

http://specialtypistols.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/frm/f/4766056864

If a firearm is manufactured as a rifle it is illegal to convert that firearm from a rifle to a handgun. The ease with which that can be accomplished is not a factor. If you purchased your Encore as a rifle it is illegal to mount a less than 16" bbl on that frame even when configured with a handgun stock.

The often cited Supreme Court case won by T/C did not address this issue, it addressed the subject of manufacturing and the legality of a kit offered for sale by T/C in which one of the items that could be assembled was a short barreled rifle. Since other legal configurations could be made T/C prevailed.

ATF, at the time, took the position of conversion to an extreme and it may well be their current position. Their position was that if you purchase an Encore handgun frame and subsequently mount a rifle barrel and rifle stock you can not legally convert it back to handgun status - once it's a rifle it must remain a rifle. Again, I do not know if that is their current position.

But if your Encore frame left the factory as a rifle it can not be configured as a handgun. Since Encore rifles were sold in CA for many years before the hangun was allowed in, I'd suspect there are alot of rifle frames with handgun barrels on them. I've not heard of ATF or DOJ going after someone on this alone, but if there were another reason for them to have an interest in someone I suppose they'd toss this charge in also given the opportunity.

And yes, the correct approach would be to sell it as a rifle. I think if you walked into a gun store and sold it as a handgun with a handgun barrel on it you could (again, in theory) be documenting your own violation of federal law. You could sell it frame only as a rifle.

thanks for keeping me legal. if i would have known i might have bought something else. on second thought i would have bought anyway because i loved the thought of having a 460 rifle and do love shooting it.