TC Encore rifle to pistol

Rgp332

Inactive
I have a Encore muzzloader, wanting to get a pistol barrel for it. Anybody know anything about the law,making a rifle into a pistol. I'v heard both ways ,some say its legal ,some say no? Any ideas? Thanks
 
it could depend on the state your in . i know in Michigan a pistol can be made into a long gun but not from a rifle into a pistol
 
Encore

When Encore receivers are manufactured, they are reported/registered with the BATF as either a rifle receiver or as a pistol. If you add a pistol length barrel to a rifle receiver, you are assembling a short barreled rifle; SBRs require a permit from the BATF for possession to be legal.
Without payment of the tax stamp for the Encore/SBR, you might have a problem. I say "might" because - without encouraging illegal activity - the only way to check the legality of the gun would be to check its serial number against a database.
Note that this issue has little or nothing to do with State and Local laws, it is a Federal issue.
I believe that I have that all correct.
Pete
 
This has been the subject of endless discussion and debate. The courts stepped in a few years back with a very narrow ruling that affected the Contender. Then last year BATF issued a ruling that they claimed was going to end the contention. However, the verbiage in the ruling is so convoluted that it is almost impossible to follow.

When purchasing a new Encore frame, yes it will be sold as either a rifle or a pistol. There is no actual difference in the frame itself - only how it is sold. The big problem comes from subsequent purchasers. When buying a used frame, you have no way to verify how it was originally sold.
 
Easiest way that I have dealt with it, here in Michigan, if it was registered as a pistol, it could be either one. But if it started as a rifle, it should stay a rifle. (Yeah, it sucks to have required registration in Michigan, it is what it is.) and the way I read the new Fed ruling, that would work with them, provided you watched your barrel length and stock configuration.
 
If it was purchased as a long gun, you would need to register it with ATF as a Short Barreled Rifle in order to convert it to a handgun.

The ATF ruling is here:

http://www.atf.gov/regulations-rulings/rulings/atf-rulings/atf-ruling-2011-4.pdf


And it's not really that complicated. It's nonsensical, being that it draws distinctions between otherwise identical firearms based solely on their "original" configuration, but it's not hard to understand or follow.
 
Did I hear that the Contender is going to have a different size hinge pin for the blackpowder version that restricts it from being turned into a handgun?
 
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