Questions about Shotgun Pistol (NFA or Not?)

Frost · Jul 20, 2013

My questions are regarding creating a shotgun pistol built by cutting down a shotgun barrel and putting it on a Thompson Encore.

If I am correct;
If I cut down a smooth bore barrel and put it on an Encore pistol frame it becomes an AOW.
However if I use a rifled barrel it does not become an AOW it is just a big bore pistol.

Am I correct?

Next Question
Will the caliber of a 12 gauge Slug push me back into NFA territory?
I am pretty sure it will.

The 30-06 pistol I had a ShootzenFest had a pretty good thump but now I find myself wondering what would it be like with 12 gauge slugs?
Just wait till y'all see what I am having done to the .308 barrel

Avtomat-Acolyte · Jul 20, 2013

Being smoothbore the pistol will have to either be registered (Form 1, Application to Make and Register a Firearm) as an Any Other Weapon or Short Barreled Shotgun. The chambering is irrelevant.

Avtomat-Acolyte · Jul 20, 2013

To clarify the second part of your question (the answer is implied in my previous response but here I'll delineate), if the barrel has ANY rifling to it, however slight, then it can be a pistol, only so long as the bore diameter does not exceed half an inch, hence the .500 Smith and Wesson handgun.

Avtomat-Acolyte · Jul 20, 2013

And, since you mentioned a cut-down .30-06 rifle (or a .30-06 Thompson Contender), I'm a huge fan of Mauser Kar-98K rifles. For years I've been thinking about getting a cheap (probably Yugoslavian or Turkish) and cutting the buttstock off and cutting-down the front end and barrel to approximately 8 inches. I've seen it done on Mosin Nagants and it looks pretty fun and neat. I just don't have any 7.62 x 54R rifles but have a small collection of 8 x 57.

Frost · Jul 20, 2013

So I was correct across the board.
Second opinions can be useful though.

Just to be perfectly clear it is not a Contender I am referring to.
It is an Encore they don't chamber Contenders from the factory in 30-06 or .308.
The 30-06 barrel I have is a purpose made Encore pistol barrel.
There may be some custom barrels for Contenders in that caliber out there but I haven't seen any.
The conventional wisdom is that the Contender frame won't handle the round over the long haul.

They seem to have the law written to forbid me from this project with a rifled or a smooth barrel.
I see no point in doing this with an 18" barrel, I would have done it with one just a few inches long.
Ah well it would have been fun but this project is a no go.
If I am going to register something it won't be a contender frame.

AA
You need to come to the next ShootzenFest and check out what I am having done to the .308 barrel.
Although it pales in comparison to JT's H&K with the short .308 barrel it should be fun.
If you do cut down be sure to let me know when you take it to the range, I would like to see it in action.

rotarymike · Jul 20, 2013

Avtomat-Acolyte said:
And, since you mentioned a cut-down .30-06 rifle (or a .30-06 Thompson Contender), I'm a huge fan of Mauser Kar-98K rifles. For years I've been thinking about getting a cheap (probably Yugoslavian or Turkish) and cutting the buttstock off and cutting-down the front end and barrel to approximately 8 inches. I've seen it done on Mosin Nagants and it looks pretty fun and neat. I just don't have any 7.62 x 54R rifles but have a small collection of 8 x 57.

The Mosin Obrez pistol would only be legally a pistol if it was manufactured that way. If you take a rifle receiver and manufacture it into a pistol, you've technically created a SBR and would have to register it as such. This even applies to century-old bolt guns.

I'm a Mauser guy myself and I've thought about it. I occasionally see new receivers on the mauser pattern listed in Brownells or such, in which case you could make it a pistol with no problems. But the $200 stamp applied towards a $100 receiver and cut-down barrel from a real Mauser doesn't seem cost effective.

If you're interested in a Commbloc rifle to play with I should have a few carbines coming in a month or so. I would be interested in any actual German Mausers, if you've one to part with. Most of mine are cobbled together from when used receivers were cheap or non-German origin (my favorite is my Yugo M24/47 - with little to no collector value, no heartbreak to making it a good all-purpose gun as long as I don't bubba it too much).