Short barrel on a sear gun

[rockman96]

I got to thinking about the FNC and the fact that since it's a sear gun, the sear is actually considered the MG. Does this cause any issues with running a shorter than 16" bbl in the ATF's eyes?

I hadn't thought twice about it until my SOT brought up the question. I'm probably a year out from stamp time, but I'm trying to get everything in place prior to that. I have a GM bbl I was going to shorten and use a suppressor with.

 

[quasi]

If you have a shorter than 16" barrel -

As long as the sear is in the gun it's fine.
If you remove the sear, now you have an SBR... If you have not registered the gun and received an SBR stamp, it will be an illegal gun.

So, it will cost you an extra $200 to have it both ways.

I have a shorty FNC with a sear - The sear always stays in the gun.

 

[rockman96]

Thanks, that is what I was thinking. Shouldn't be an issue, because like yourself, this sear will always be in the gun as well.

 

[Paramarine]

What length bbl do folks recommend for FA? I understand that 13" is the shortest you can go, and if you want to keep the sling swivel it needs to be 14".

 

[quasi]

What length bbl do folks recommend for FA? I understand that 13" is the shortest you can go, and if you want to keep the sling swivel it needs to be 14".

I don't recommend going any shorter... Okpud cut mine down years ago, so I could retain the sling swivel. Plus, going any shorter on a 1:12 twist barrel is not a good idea in the bullet stability/accuracy dept.

Also, soldering a FH to extend the barrel back to 16" is not out of the question if you don't chop it back too far.

 

[ad263210]

I cut mine to 14.5". It really depends on how your going to use this gun. If you intend to actually use your gun for training (carbine classes) like I do you will want to get rid of that sling swivel and those terrible hand guards. Picking up a quad rail and a Daniel defense QD sling swivel will do you a world of good. Plus you get rid of that annoying rattling noise.

 

[Paramarine]

Thanks guys. I forgot to mention that I bought a GM 1:7 bbl.
I probably would use mine for carbine classes, with an HK style sling (Savvy Sniper).
AD263210, mind if I ask why you don't like the sling swivel? (though I agree about the hand guards and have a quad rail on order right now).

 

[ad263210]

Yeah no problem. Keep in mind these are my experiences and your milage may vary. It's really for three reasons I removed it from my gun and shelved it. First if you didn't have a sling attached to the gun that damn swivel would rattle all over the place, that annoyed the hell out of me. Second I wanted a faster way to remove my sling from my gun, the QD method allows me quickly ditch my sling if need be ( which I have used after a 6 hours at a training class, all I wanted to do was quickly dump that gun). Finally the QD method allows for controlled rotation of a sling. For example on my Blue Force sling coupled with my Daniel Defense QD mount will only rotate 1/4 of a turn to allow me to transition to my weak side with out getting my sling all out of whack. There are many ways to transition to your gun but the most common method Ive seen and used is lowering the firearm swapping hand and then requiring your target. The problem comes up when the gun is lowered and hands are switching around, I've had that damn swivel swing around the barrel and my sling would get wrapped around the front end (id call this a shit situation). I'd have to un fuck my sling by swinging it back the other way or fumble around with it and hope to god i put on gloves that are heat resistant because god forbid if I accidentally touch the barrel id sear my hands faster than a george foreman grill.

So in short. it rattled, was clumsy and inconvenient.
Also putting your gun back in a foam cut case with the sling swivel still in place is a pain because the sling has to be pushed back to the original position every time you put your gun back. (stupid complaint I know but if you do it more than 1000 times it drives you crazy.)