I want to obtain a SBR for my wife. This will be used as a home defense weapon. She is very comfortable is shooting and operating my AR-15 at the range. The issue is the use of one in a close environment. We tried it at a private range that has an older house the owner converting in a close combat environment simulator. She has issues with being able to aim and control the weapon in this type of situation. I have thought about a semi-auto SBR in 5.56. However, I am not sure what I need to do to obtain one.
Also would in need to buy a complete weapon or can I just by a pistol upper and attach it to my rifle? My original idea was to just buy an upper, but I was not sure how I need to register it? And does it affect the “legal” ability” to switch out the SBR upper with another rifle upper of the same caliber?
Thanks for any help. By the way I live in North Carolina and have been told it is hard to obtain one here. Does anyone know if this is true?
Buying an upper with less than a 16" barrel and attaching it to your lower is a big NO NO…please do not do that!!! If you want a rifle with a barrel less than 16" then you need to go the SBR route.
If you want an SBR and want to have it outside your gun safe where it is accessible by both of you and the wife then you should create a Trust with both of you listed on it and have the SBR registered to the Trust. If you don’t then the SBR will be registered to an individual and it should not be easily accessible by anyone other than the individual it is registered to.
I am not sure how hard/easy it is in your area to obtain NFA items. Seems to differ everywhere. Where I live here in TN it is easy. Even though the local Chief of Police isn’t pro gun anything by law he has 14 or 15 days to sign my paperwork as long as my background check is clean.
You may want to just get a shotgun if you don’t already have one. No real need to worry about aiming and you don’t have to worry about the rounds escaping your home and into the neighbors unless you don’t have close neighbors like everyone these days.
+1. On a side note if you have issues with a 16" carbine going to a shorter barrel may not help. You cant overcome lack of traing with parts. Then again an SBR would be nice. I use mine for the same thing…
I’m sorry, NO. There is a real need to worry about aiming. Just because you don’t have to aim doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t aim. This is home defense, not wing shooting.
and you don’t have to worry about the rounds escaping your home and into the neighbors unless you don’t have close neighbors like everyone these days.
Not necessarily true. Research available on this forum and elsewhere suggests that .223 loadings intended for personal defense can have less overpenetration than shotgun loads.
If both you and your wife are already used to the AR’s manual of arms, then you’d likely be better served sticking with the platform that you can operate intuitively under stress, as opposed to using a system that you’re not as familiar with. It sounds like the issue is the length, not the manipulation. Between a shotgun and an AR, there’s not a huge difference in length. I recommend the SBR route.
Agreed. But at least with the AR, she should be ready to go with loading, reloading, snapping up, working the safety, and clearing malfunctions. These days most people, myself included, don’t have this down pat with the shotgun to the point that they have it down with a handgun or AR.
Then comes the tactics and maneuvering, but like you said, its a training issue.
This way, they can work off of the skill set they already have, without having to learn a new weapon system. At this point I wouldn’t trade a ~30inch weapon that you’re familiar with for another ~30inch weapon that you’re not familiar with
True but I also think people should be proficient with more than one wepaon platform as well. Cant go wrong with knowing a good AR and 870…
As for teh OP try this: https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=9830
The Ar-15 I have right now is a Les Baer Super Varmint with a 22" barrel. She had issues with the scope, length, and weight of the rifle is the simulator. I also hate to mess with this rifle by removing the upper as it shoots as well as any rifle I have (with the exception of the 6ppc and 30br). This rifle is also pretty heavy for using around the house. I was thinking a SBR would allow her to use a very familiar platform and also allow her to move about without having to worry about the long length or weight of the LB SV. I like the idea of an AR-15 pistol, but controllability comes into question with the shooting of a 223 in a 10.5in or shorter barreled 223. As for the shotguns, never really cared much for them, I do have a few,but the are set up for skeet and wing shooting with 28in barrels.
One a side note, no building off an exsisting Ar-15, ok how about a non assigned lower. I can get a Stiller for pretty cheap as my dealer has 3 on order.
If you go the trust rout for the SBR, you can have both of you as trustees and the two of you can be in possession of the firearm without the other present.
So NOT true… Unless you have a massive house even #9 shot will pretty much act like a slug. Try shooting any shotgun at 20’ and see what that “pattern” looks like. You will have 2 holes. One from the one form the shot, and one from the wad. They will be similar in size. Buck shot has quite a bit of penetration. 00 has .38 cal pellets, they hold alot of energy.
Can someone please help me with understanding a trust? I know nothing about this. I am not sure what to search for regarding a trust and how to aquire one. Any help is greatly appreciated. Also, anyone have any recommendations on a SBR. I have looked at the LWRC PSD (as it can be had in Semi only) also looked at the Knight PDW (I do not really need a full auto and I am not fond of the propriety cartridge).
Quicken Willmaker software. Ebay. $10. It will let you write your RLT—Revokable Living Trust. It will ask you questions as to property, persons, those you want to make decisions for you in your inability to decide for yourself, where your property goes after you pass…and so on. Once your trust is written, you can amend it to add property to it. That is the schedule A. When submitting a F1 to ATF for SBR purposes you submit the sched A with serial #, manufacturer, and answer all the questions on the F1. $200. Wait. Wait. Wait. Stamp arrives. Get your pistol upper and attach to stocked lower. Have fun at range and make a nice little home defense package as well.
Thank you for the info. Personally would it be better to just go ahead and get a full auto vs. a semi auto SBR? I do not really need a full auto, but most SBRs, I have seen are full auto and it seems like a more logical choice.
Another question, can you add multiply top receivers to a SBR platform, or do they have to have a dedicated lower? I would like to have a 5.56 and a 6.8 when all is said and done.
I always keep one lower as a pistol lower. It’s not difficult to shoot with the proper cheek weld on the buffer tube. I’m six foot and can still put the end of the tube against my shoulder to shoot. It’s not as comfortable as my SBR’s but it doesn’t need ATF paper work. I can take it across state lines with no ATF permission. I like to keep that option.
She has no problem operating the rifle, it is just the one I have, has a 22in barrel on it. She finds it cumbersome to use in a house setting. Also with the current rifle, being that it is set up for hunting (Ground hogs), I would rather just purchase a new rifle instead of purchasing an upper.
I understand about the cost of a full-auto, I was looking at purchasing a Pre-86 Colt complete lower with a RDIAS (local dealer has it only for 5500.00 with original paperwork from the owner) and attaching an upper to it.
If you found a Colt M16 lower for $4500 GRAB IT! I would be a bit leary of it being legit though. Like said above, they are usually in the $14000 range. Also, giving someone who does not have alot of experience behind a gun an auto is not a good idea. A better investment would be gold or silver.
