I have a question reguarding barrel length reduction. I really want an SBR I am purchasing (on Layaway) a S&W M&P15T I have looked a building an SBR upper for it but as nowadays money is tight for all I was thinking that either having the barrel on the current rifle cut down or having a shorter barrel installed into the upper would be the better choice. I have no real need for a 16" barrel as this rifle will be used for house defense and carbine classes. As such I assume I would have to get a tax stamp before attempting either procedure? From your vast experiences please enlighten me as to which way you would all go and any items that I should but may not be considering.
IMHO< I would just buy a complete SBR upper made by someone like LMT, Bravo Company, etc. FWIW, I paid just under $500 for a 10.5-inch upper from LMT and have not had any problems with it. If you do not plan on using the upper that came with the rifle you are getting, you can sell it minus the BCG and use that on the SBR upper you buy.
But if it were me, I would just buy either a stripped lower, register if as an SBR and then the upper once you get your approved paperwork in. In the long run, it will not cost you as much plus it negates the need to disassemble the lower for the mandatory engraving.
Another option is to buy an already registered SBR.
I personally would not buy a complete rilfe only to SBR it because of all the hassle you have to go through to sell the upper, disassmble the lower for engraving, etc.
Thanks Carlos, I was thinking first off of just buying all the parts to build a complete new rifle but it is all expensive and as it is I have lots of upgrades planned for the current rifle just to get it where I want it. An LMT Upper (non MRP) is fairly inexpensive but I want a rail and would rather have Flip sights as opposed to the standard front sight tree. LMT’s MRP uppers are nice and do give the flexibility to change barrels which is nice but they are almost the price of a complete gun. Though the same would probibly be true if I were to assemble a complete upper piece by piece. Decisions, Decisions. Plus the $200 for the tax stamp and whatever for engraving. I just did the math and the parts “I” would use to build an upper are about $1400 so maybe an LMT MRP would be better! But a Noveske Barrel runs in the $400s which If I could find one would be vastly cheaper to have installed than the $1000 plus for a new upper.
That’s somewhat my dilemma (if you want to call it that) is that I like mid-length, and would want a middy SBR, the only one I know of off-hand is the noveske afghan, which is 14.5.
If I do SBR, I want it only 1" or so past the FSB…this would likely be a 12 or 12.5" barrel to retain midlength.