joshroz2 4 Posted December 11, 2019 Question 1, I want to discuss the NJ legality(assuming everyone would agree its federally legal and still considered a rifle) of putting a pistol brace on an AR rifle. Assume a 16" bbl (pinned brake obv.). Curious mostly about fixed braces, specifically the tailhook mod 1(https://gearheadworks.com/product/tailhook-mod-1-4/). Built on a stripped lower, so it would initially transfer as other. NJ law says that a rifle is designed to be shouldered, and in my mind that makes a brace questionable. However, If I intend/build a rifle to be shouldered and fired with two hands what do we end up with? *UPDATED: I did some more reading on the forum as I havent been super up to date with the laws and it seems this question might be answered by the recent "Other Firearm" discussions and may belong in that sub forum. I guess with the recent AR pistol craze a lot of people are experimenting with the classifications. *UPDATED:After some reading Q1 seems legal if I just add a vertical foregrip and I can go with a smaller bbl. Seems If I go with 16"+ bbl and VFG its still an Other Firearm *UPDATED:So a new spin on Q1: what would a 16"bbl AR and brace be without a VFG? Question 2, I want to discuss the federal legality of swapping uppers on that lower and ill give a situation. If illegal, pinpoint at what point it becomes illegal. Assume a state where AR pistols are legal (Not NJ). First build an AR pistol, lets say a 12" bbl upper with same brace and lower from Q1. Swap only the upper to 16" bbl to build an AR rifle, (then potentially bring the rifle back to NJ if Q1 is legal). Go back to state where AR pistols are legal and swap back to 12" bbl to build a pistol again. This should be federally legal as I read it. Rifle first, rifle forever, pistol first, you can switch back and forth. (https://www.atf.gov/file/55526/download) *UPDATED:A new spin on Q2: Now I'm curious what's the legality of swapping uppers on a "Other Firearm" either to a pistol classification or a rifle classification. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Screwball 483 Posted December 12, 2019 Question 1... aren’t you building one of those non-NFA Firearms? Over 26” OAL, add a vertical grip and you are good to go (judging a pistol brace). Remember, a brace is not a stock... can’t pick/choose definitions. Question 2... I believe you are in the same boat. I just built a 11.5” AR pistol, without the muzzle device, and with a carbine buffer tube... I was just under 26”. Like less than 1/4” under. If you add the vertical grip to your build, should be fine (magazines notwithstanding). Federally, you technically would be good. But if you built it as an AR pistol (not the Firearm configuration), I’d say you’d be in possession of an assault weapon in NJ. No stock, technically built as a pistol (your description), and hitting multiple evil features. Could it be proven? Really unsure about that... but just how I see it. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joshroz2 4 Posted December 12, 2019 Yeah I was just reading that sub forum and updated my OP, Thanks. The idea of simply adding a VFG and poof its legal and can have evil features is a hard one to wrap my head around. Still not exactly sure what a 16"+bbl and brace AR is if it does not have a VFG. Well, I guess that pretty much eliminates the desire to swap and go from pistol->rifle->pistol or pistol->other >pistol but I'm assuming pistol->other >pistol would still be legal as long as its always in the other configuration in NJ. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites