| How to Measure the Barrel Length of your firearm | |||
| When filling out an ATF Form 1 or Form 4 Application | |||
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| When you are filling out an ATF Form 1 or Form 4 Application, you are required to enter the Barrel Length of the Firearm in Box 4e. | |||
| Sounds easy enough… Right? Well… Maybe not… | |||
| The are several reasons that Barrel Lengths can be difficult to measure: | |||
| 1. | The ATF has a very particular way of measuring the Barrel Length. (described in detail below) | ||
| 2. | If you are buying a firearm (ATF Form 4), you have to go to the gun store and convince the owner of the store that measuring the Barrel Length isn’t done by holding a ruler against the side of the barrel | ||
| 3. | If you are building a firearm (ATF Form 1), you have to measure the Barrel Length of a firearm that can’t be assembled until after you receive your Tax Stamp (approved Form 1 Application). And, unfortunately, you can’t just slap a tape measure on the barrel and measure from stem to stern. The saving grace with Form 1 Barrel Length measurements is that they can be estimated, as it is illegal to assemble the firearm. However, the estimate needs to be close, so you should still base your estimate on the method described below | ||
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| So let’s get to it. How do you measure the barrel length of a firearm? | |||
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| The ATF Procedure for measuring the Barrel Length is to measure from the closed bolt (or breech-face) to the furthermost end of the barrel (or permanently attached muzzle device). Barrels are measured by inserting a dowel rod into the barrel until the rod stops against the bolt or breech-face. Mark the dowel at the end of the barrel, then pull it out and measure the distance from the end of the dowel to the mark. | |||
| Silencers, muzzle breaks, etc. are not included in the Barrel Length measurement unless permanently affized to the barrel. | |||
| To enter the Barrel Length, start by entering the number portion of the measurement, then select the unit of measure you are using. | |||
| For Example:: | |||
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| If this was your firearm, you would enter: | |||
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| We hope you found How to Measure the Barrel Length of your firearm helpful. | |||
| If you have any questions, comments, input, or concerns (or simply don’t have any friends), please shoot us an email at | |||
| GunTrust@TheTrustShop.net | |||
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