What is the min overall legal length?

18.5

oh you said overall, got me on that one, i know barrel length is 18.5

Actually I think it's 18" but most are 18 1/2" to be on the safe side.

Texas Penal Code Chapter 46 Weapons

Use to be 18"barrell and 28" over all.Dont quote me on this, this was years ago and dont know if the law changed or not.

18" barrel and 26" overall is the current law. I dont remember it being 28"...but that might be before my time in LE...which was 1977.

that 28 footer shotgun I had was a looong gun...just kidding Billy.

Buddy bought a single shot sawed off with a pistol grip and I thought it looked a little short.

Thanks Guys

i know tat if it was originally made to be a pistolor some crap like that then they can have really short barrels...... but u know, to each his own.

You got me their.lolGood eye.

Not a lawyer or LEO nor do I play one on TV but pretty sure you don't want to own a 12 gauge pistol or any other smooth bore firearm less than 26 inches, pistol or not. Unless you are going to buy the tax stamp for an AOW. You may end up with a cell mate asking if you want to be the husband or the wife. LOL

this smoothbore pistol that u say is so illegal..... what do u think about a judge??? that is a basically a shotgun pistol.


Im not a lawyer either, and dont know for sure. However, i remember reading or watching something that was explaining if the gun was originally made to be a handgun and designed to be a handgun the 18'' rule didnt come into play, even if it was a shotgun. Had something to do with a guy with a pistol 12guage. Real small, held like 3 shells or something at a time, but would probably have more recoil than you could ever stand haha. someone else might know the right answer, im not too worried about it.

I think it has more to do with anything over .50 cal. I also think the Judges are rifled aren't they?

Any pistol type shotgun that was originally manufactured as such, example being the Thompson/Center shotgun pistols, are legal. But, if you take a single shot .410 or 20 GA. shotgun and cut down the barrel and the stock to match the same dimentions of a Thompson/Center, it is illegal as it was not originally manufactured that way. I know...go figure the logic in that! The Taurus Judge pistols are manufactured that way, so they are legal weapons and not modified. Rifling has nothing to do with it and neither does bore size.

I guess I am mixing laws here as I was under the impression that anything rifled over .50 cal is a destructive device(which is why they allow rifled .410/45 Colt pistols) and that anything that is smothbore under 18 inches is a SBS "Short Barreled Shotgun" or also called an AOW if between 14 and 18 inches.

I stand corrected then as I didn't know T/C made a shotgun pistol barrel. (Which I don't think I'd want to shoot, oooowww)

I guess you learn something new everyday. I had heard that any shotgun under 18" is illegal but I got that from my best friend's uncle who knows some guy that read it on the internet and we know everything on the internet is true. LOL

Since some one mentioned the JUDGE being a short barreled shot gun there is an answer to that and it may catch you by surprise.


If it has rifling in the barrel it is considered a pistol if it does not have rifling and the bore is completely smooth then it is a short barreled shotgun and would need a Tax stamp.

I was at the SHOT show this year and was speaking to a tarus rep. while looking at a raging bull that could shoot .410, 45 long colt. I asked since it had such a long barrel (10") why they wouldnt leave it smooth bore and put a full choke on it?

his reply....
"If it does not have rifling in the barrel then it is considered a short barreled shot gun; this is the reason why they are designed to shoot both .410 and 45 long colt and even though the barrel is 2" long it is rifled."

Richard Lee of Lee precision and reloading covered this also in one of the articles he had written. He noted that a friend of his had gotten a S&W .357 new in the box that some how had made it through the factory with out rifling. His friend figured he had a neat collectable that he could shoot .357 rat shot through.....WRONG it was considered a short barreled shot gun and had to be returned to the factory for a new one with rifling.

what about a cresent-davis factory built 410 with a 12 inch barrel with pistol grip,knew an old man that has passed away that had one, always wondered if it was legal but from what i have read hear apparently was. anyone ever saw one of these. thanks gary

Never saw one of the cresents, but a buddy of mine has one of those 410/45longcolt double barrel pistols with 12" barrels on it. They have 4" of rifling toward the end of the barrel and thats what makes them legal.

The .410 you are talking about was made in 1920 and are VERY rare, and predated the NFA which put a tax stamp on machine guns and silencers. There is an "other" category which is specified as short barreled shot guns and sporting rifles which have a $5 tax stamp instead of the $200 for machine guns and silencers.

during 1968(i believe) there was an amnesty for people with unregistered guns, where they could register them. In 1986 the manufacture of Machine guns as well as importing them was banned and thats why a Mac11 that was $200 in 1985 now costs $4,000 be cause they are grand fathered and of limited quantity. As for the .410 pistol you mentioned you can own it with a $5 tax stamp as long as it was registered during the amnesty. This is also the case with Winchester lever action rifles that were built with 14" barrel which is below the 16" minimum for centerfire and rimfire rifles.

Destructive devices- Any thing over .50cal that is not deemed having a "valid sporting use" is a destructive device and you must have a tax stamp as well. Example- in WWII there was a .55cal rifle known as the DOUBLE NICKLE that fired a solid bronze projectile...if you want to own one as a collectors item then you must have the tax stamp.

In short there are A LOT of misunderstandings about firearms laws and when dealing with some thing that is touchy its best to do your home work.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Firearms_Act

the barrel length can't be less than 18...this measurement is taken between the muzzle and the face ofthe bolt, breech, or breech block when closed and when the shotgun or rifle is cocked.

and the overall length is 26 measured from butt to muzzle

for rifles it's 16" and 26"

these are considered title II weapons which require a license.

thanks deewayne sounds like you have done your homework on the NFA. Gary

The most ridiculous thing is that we have to have this discussion at all. Most of these laws unneeded, and even unconstitutional.