Just wondering...............

by Otony, Monday, February 06, 2012, 11:35 (4674 days ago) @ Slow Hand

If you run a longer buffer tube (one meant for a rifle) you get a couple of advantages when building an AR pistol.

Often there is better or more reliable functioning as opposed to the stubby tubes usually used. As well, you can actually use such a tube as a (shhhh) buttstock more efficiently. Some folks install a crutch or cane tip on the end of the tube....to protect it from getting dinged up. Believe it or not there is an ATF letter in regards to the cane tip, it is good to go and does not create a "stock" if installed.

Using the tip and a longer buffer, the whole affair does work quite well as a SBR without going to the expense and hassle of owning one. A few things to note, of course. You MUST have the pistol registered as such. And leave that upper/lower assembly married to one another in order to avoid confusion with other AR builds you may have in your home.

It would also behoove you to put in your carrying case the couple of letters which ATF has issued regarding AR pistols. Yes, I know, ATF letters are contradictory at times, and official opinions can change like the wind. But there are, unfortunately, some over enthusiatic Barney Fife type officers out there who wouldn't know an SBR from a pistol...or a squirt gun for that matter. A little official paperwork might could calm down a nasty misunderstanding.

Some folks feel that longer tubes should be machined to remove the bottom rail meant to locate the stock, so it is then shaped ala a pistol tube. The conjecture here is that a railed buffer tube is somehow an invitation to "stock that bad boy". Thus far, there are no recorded cases of any gummint officials trying to claim "intent" because of one type of tube over another, so you do what ever makes you comfortable.

I will write this last, AR pistols make GREAT rifles for small women and children.