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T/C Encore frame question
Beagler410
Member Posts: 22 ✭
I'm looking to purchase an Encore frame in the near future. I see some are listed as pistol or rifle and some not listed as either. Do I have to purchase specifically a pistol frame to use it as a handgun? I will most likely purchase online, therefore going through an FFL, so not trying to circumvent the system. Just don't want to do anything illegal either. I'm in Pennsylvania if that matters.
Thanks.
Brian
Comments
I just got done cleaning mine after Muzzle Loader season. I cant remember what I bought mine as, but use it both ways. Ill be interested to hear what the garus have to say on this issue.
Supposedly if you bought a frame that was identified as for a rifle. It can't be legally used with a pistol barrel. The only way that it could possibly bite you. if the serial number on the frame is specifically identified on the 4473 and dealers invoice as being for a rifle.
Strange thing that the reverse isn't true. A frame identified as being sold for use as a pistol can be used with a rifle barrel. As long as the barrel is at least 16" long. And overall length of 26". But can't be converted back to a pistol.
I have several T/C frames going back about 40 years. The old "once a rifle always a rifle" dictum has changed over the years but one thing has remained constant. If the firearm is sold as a rifle you cannot reassemble as a legally configured handgun. That's the easy part.
Assuming you purchase the receiver new from the dealer it can be documented on the 4473 as "other" meaning receiver only and can be assembled as a legally configured handgun and to a legally configured rifle and then reassembled to a legally configured handgun. If documented on the 4473 as a handgun you can do the same. If documented on the 4473 as a rifle you cannot.
It's important to pay attention to the "legally configured" requirement as well as "constructive possession". If, for example, you happen to have the gun laying about disassembled with the shoulder stock attached and nothing but a fewer than 16" barrel you can run afoul of federal SBR laws. OTOH, if the +16"rifle barrel is at a friend's house it can be said that you still own and control it - another aspect of constructive possession.
T/C Encore and Contender frames have been sold and resold for decades. As a practical matter, if one was originally sold +30 years as a rifle, then someone later turned it into a handgun and sold it (via 4473) as a handgun does that make it OK? Beats me, but having a federal form that calls it a handgun can't hurt.
As a practical matter, is ATF chasing after us single shot types on making an NFA firearm or SBR? I doubt it. Considering that the above also applies to ARs that may be a tad higher on their list.
You should also check with state law re the above. CA is a problem selling a receiver only as a handgun, so they are documented as a rifle. To play it safe (and because I have a gun buying problem .....:)) I have an Encore rifle, an Encore handgun, a Contender rifle and a Contender handgun.
also, check with your FFL before ordering. You'll want to ensure he accepts the gun with no barrel and document it on the 4473 as "other" or handgun. If the FFL says "it must have a barrel" or be a rifle, might be a good idea to look elsewhere. Or, show up with a handgun barrel.
BTW, look up MGM and Bullberry barrels as well as EA Brown. Buying barrels is addictive. Lots of fun.
BTW, look up MGM and Bullberry barrels as well as EA Brown. Buying barrels is addictive. Lots of fun.
isn't that the truth !!!!
and now I just found out that there are gunsmiths converting rifle barrels into smokeless powder muzzle loaders , some thing new to check out 😀
I am expecting the 450BM Encore barrel I purchased from E. Arthur Brown on Monday. I want to shoot cast bullets and the AR platform does not like feeding the flat nosed cast bullets. With Hornaday FTX bullets costing about 70 cents each it gets spendy to plink at steel targets for fun and giggles. Cast bullets solve that issue and allow me to shoot a lot more for the same money.
Thanks guys. I'm just going to get a handgun frame listed as such if I can find one.
NOT mine ,, just passing it along
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/886964153
What is the solution if you have an old Contender, maybe 20 -25 years, and dont have smit, for paperwork or remember how you bought it? I have the parts to go both ways.
as for me I don't worry about it , I just make sure I put a rifle length barrel on the frame when it has a rifle butt stock on it
it doesn't make any difference as long as you put 'pistol' parts on the frame it's a 'pistol', put rifle parts on and it's a rifle. just don't mix the parts (short barreled rifle, ect.). what it's listed as on the 4473 means nothing. T/C went to court and got the 'OK' for this.