Mares Leg Pistol
- Thread starter Frank44
- Start date
Varminterror
New member
If I recall correctly, it's not ONLY about dimension, it's about the intentional design for how it's meant to be fired. Adding a shoulder stock, however short, may be determined as a "shoulder fired weapon" as opposed to being designed to fire with one hand, at which point you have an SBR, no longer a handgun.
Surely even if you sneak through the shoulder fired design loop, you'd need to stay under 26" OAL to avoid kicking over into the long gun class.
Proceed with caution - or better yet, get an advisement letter from the alphabet folks first...
Surely even if you sneak through the shoulder fired design loop, you'd need to stay under 26" OAL to avoid kicking over into the long gun class.
Proceed with caution - or better yet, get an advisement letter from the alphabet folks first...
Last edited:
Rock Knocker
Well-known member
I know little about the laws and even less when it comes to building your own but I have seen a couple lever guns sold at local shops with the(which I have now just learned) a mares leg stock, or grip, I'm not sure what to call it. I never asked but I can't imagine ether of these shops carrying SBR's especially jumping through all those hoops for a lever action.
The couple I saw looked like a bunch of fun but maybe tough to shoulder, I think each was in .44 magnum.
The couple I saw looked like a bunch of fun but maybe tough to shoulder, I think each was in .44 magnum.
jcs271
Well-known member
You will get lots of advice, all of which is worth exactly what you paid for it, NOTHING. Put together your specs, send a letter to ATFE and they will in short order reply back with an answer. Lots of grey areas with their turn around on the ar-15 Sig Brace rulings and its subsequent usage so be smart!
Varminterror
New member
Originally Posted By: Rock KnockerI know little about the laws and even less when it comes to building your own but I have seen a couple lever guns sold at local shops with the(which I have now just learned) a mares leg stock, or grip, I'm not sure what to call it. I never asked but I can't imagine ether of these shops carrying SBR's especially jumping through all those hoops for a lever action.
The couple I saw looked like a bunch of fun but maybe tough to shoulder, I think each was in .44 magnum.
Those Henry Mare's Leg's are not SBR's. They're handguns.
The largest differentiations to be made for those HANDGUNS, as I mentioned in my first message, is that they're NOT over 26", and their barrels are not over 16". The "stock" on that design is necessary because they have to have SOME form of receiver extension as a mainspring housing (and inherent safety features) as well as a support for the finger lever. Much like an AR-15 pistol, its design dictates that SOME extension behind the action is necessary. But the length of pull and the hand position on the Mare's Leg is what disqualifies that "mini-stock" as constituting a buttstock. Attachments on a receiver extension on an AR are a bit different, since the hand position is completely different.
I've made Mare's Leg pistols in the past, the unfortunate part is that you can't make a handgun from a rifle - it becomes a Weapon Made from a Rifle or AOW (they deemed my Marlin 1894 Mare's Leg as an AOW).
The couple I saw looked like a bunch of fun but maybe tough to shoulder, I think each was in .44 magnum.
Those Henry Mare's Leg's are not SBR's. They're handguns.
The largest differentiations to be made for those HANDGUNS, as I mentioned in my first message, is that they're NOT over 26", and their barrels are not over 16". The "stock" on that design is necessary because they have to have SOME form of receiver extension as a mainspring housing (and inherent safety features) as well as a support for the finger lever. Much like an AR-15 pistol, its design dictates that SOME extension behind the action is necessary. But the length of pull and the hand position on the Mare's Leg is what disqualifies that "mini-stock" as constituting a buttstock. Attachments on a receiver extension on an AR are a bit different, since the hand position is completely different.
I've made Mare's Leg pistols in the past, the unfortunate part is that you can't make a handgun from a rifle - it becomes a Weapon Made from a Rifle or AOW (they deemed my Marlin 1894 Mare's Leg as an AOW).