Barrel Length questions

[TheThurmanator]

I've been searching the ATF website for half an our and so far I haven't been able to get a straight answer to this seemingly simple question, so here it goes. Is the minimum legal length for a shotgun or rifle barrel 16 or 18 inches, and is it a federal minimum or a state minimum? If state, which is it for Massachusetts?

 

[RM007]

16 for rifle
18 for shotgun
federal

 

[jar]

Its a federal minimum. Anything shorter is an SBR/SBS and needs to be registered and the $200 NFA tax paid. There's a great MA NFA FAQ here that explains what you need to do to own one, if you're interested.

 

[TheThurmanator]

Eh, it's interesting, but I don't think I'll do it. The shotgun I'm cutting down would be fine at 18.5 inches: shorter would be nice but I dunno if It'd cut it down too much more and it's not worth the money to me. Thanks for your help, guys.

 

[Chris]

There is also an overall length for a shotgun. I THINK it is 26", but I'm probably wrong. Be sure you don't violate that as well.

 

[jar]

Eh, it's interesting, but I don't think I'll do it. The shotgun I'm cutting down would be fine at 18.5 inches: shorter would be nice but I dunno if It'd cut it down too much more and it's not worth the money to me. Thanks for your help, guys.

You can't cut a shotgun down below 18" in MA anyway. If you do it's an illegal sawed off shotgun. You can however buy factory SBS's.

 

[TheThurmanator]

Chris and Jar: Good to know, thanks. I'm pretty sure mine will be over 26" since I'm leaving a full stock on it.