Recently bought my first AR15. Went with the DPMS for $599. It is cheap, entry level gun. I am not sure I really like the AR platform, so I didn't want to go in too deep. It will work for me for awhile at least. It is stamped .223/5.56 on the lower receiver. Also I am in Texas. Finally I get to my question. Can I LEGALLY change the upper for a different caliber since the lower is stamped .223/5.56. My buddy says he was told by some folks at a gun show in Fredricksburg that this would be illegal. We were not specific about barrel lengths. I am talking about a 16"+ barrel for the swap. He did not say for sure, but the folks that told him that may have been talking about short barrels. I had never heard of such a thing, but I have never looked into the aspect of SBRs as I don't foresee any personal interest in them. I could not find any specific ATF regulations concerning this question, or any other source from the State of Texas, but I was looking on the internet at 5:00am after work.
AR15 Confusion
- Thread starter KMAX
- Start date
Caliber doesn't matter. The overall length from buttstock to the end of the barrel must be a certain length and the barrel must be 16 inches minimum. If you wanted a shorter barrel without a tax stamp you could do a 14.5 in barrel with 1.5 in flash hider as long as the fh is fixed to the barrel by pinning or welding. Lowers are either marked 223/5.56 or they're marked multi cal. The stamp on the barrel is what indicates your chamber.
Thanks. I found more info in another sub-forum of TFL. I think maybe they were talking about mixing short barrels and lowers which leads to several scenarios and legal issues. Also in the discussion this morning my buddy was talking about putting a .308 upper on an AR15. It was very early in the morning for him and late at night for me. Hopefully he meant 7.62x39 or 300 Blackout and not 7.62x51.
Theohazard
New member
How exactly does that work? Do they bypass the mag well and have the magazine attach at an angle or something?MarkCO said:
Theo, using my skills to hack into the NSA files that are being kept as a professional bureaucratic courtesy to BATF, I found the answer......
Those new designs will be fed by vertical hoppers, sort of like this:
New from the old
Bart Noir
Those new designs will be fed by vertical hoppers, sort of like this:
New from the old
Bart Noir
AR15 basics
an ar15 lower is rated as a caliber for manufacture purposes
the actual truth is an ar15 lower is rated to be MUlTI CALIBER, your UPPER determines what ammo your using or allowed
(now truthfully the buffer system can have a lay in this as well, but commonly the upper determines caliber)
i have 3 ar15 builds
1. a 223 wylde i helped my father build
2. 3x 556 milspec (my own and a friends im building)
3. a 300 Blackout
now i swap the uppers on all these to make sure the lowers perfom correctly and have good results
the thing you must BEWARE of is caliber of barrel
a 223 ar15 (UNLESS A WYLDE) CANNOT shoot 556 ammo
a 556 ar15 CAN shoot 556 AND 223
a 300 blackout uses all the SAME parts of a 556/223 except the barrel (and gas length usually is shorter)
i also have a buddy in Texas i can consult if you need more info on your state laws for that area
an ar15 lower is rated as a caliber for manufacture purposes
the actual truth is an ar15 lower is rated to be MUlTI CALIBER, your UPPER determines what ammo your using or allowed
(now truthfully the buffer system can have a lay in this as well, but commonly the upper determines caliber)
i have 3 ar15 builds
1. a 223 wylde i helped my father build
2. 3x 556 milspec (my own and a friends im building)
3. a 300 Blackout
now i swap the uppers on all these to make sure the lowers perfom correctly and have good results
the thing you must BEWARE of is caliber of barrel
a 223 ar15 (UNLESS A WYLDE) CANNOT shoot 556 ammo
a 556 ar15 CAN shoot 556 AND 223
a 300 blackout uses all the SAME parts of a 556/223 except the barrel (and gas length usually is shorter)
i also have a buddy in Texas i can consult if you need more info on your state laws for that area
So far I haven't found anyone except my buddy that says it is illegal. I asked a couple of game wardens and a couple of gun shop owners / builders today and they said it doesn't matter what the lower says. I am pretty sure my buddy was confused or those folks were trying to sell him a multical lower. May check with ATF next week, but will probably just drop the subject and let him believe what he wants. Sometimes winning an argument isn't worth the trouble it takes.
Theohazard
New member
That's because your buddy is flat-out wrong.KMAX said:
A "multical" lower is no different than a .223/5.56 lower.KMAX said:
That's definitely true, but this argument is an easy one for you to win because your buddy is completely wrong. I'm actually amazed that he has this misconception, because people swap out their uppers for other uppers in a different caliber all the time. And manufacturers and LGSs encourage people to do this all the time, also. So if he was right, that means that thousands of LGSs and scores of manufacturers around the country are encouraging people to break the law.KMAX said:
Heck, some companies even sell complete rifles where the barrel is chambered in 5.56 but the lower is marked ".223" (I used to have a Colt that was like this). So technically the lower is marked with a different caliber than the upper, and according to your friend that means these companies are selling illegal firearms.
I was almost floored when he said it, but then if you knew him you might not be quite as amazed by his misconception. I realize a "multical" is no different other than the markings. I tried to explain to him that the law will not tell you what you can do but what you can't do. He didn't grasp that either. Maybe it is a good thing he rarely takes his guns out of the safe.
reynolds357
New member
You run into those types quite regularly. I had someone tell me the other day that if you owned a T.C. Contender Carbine barrel and a T.C. Contender pistol barrel and only owned one action that you could be charged with having Short Barreled rifle simply because you owned all parts. I told him "whatever."
"Whatever" is about as much energy as I care to expend on most who already "know it all."
"Whatever" is about as much energy as I care to expend on most who already "know it all."
KMAX, your buddy is wrong. It's what's on the barrel, not the receiver, that counts.
Put any caliber upper you want on your lower (assuming it fits lol) and you are legal.
Of course, some of the stupid states might have a law against this, but then you are not in one of them. Thankfully neither am I. And if I were, I'd have moved out long ago.
Put any caliber upper you want on your lower (assuming it fits lol) and you are legal.
Of course, some of the stupid states might have a law against this, but then you are not in one of them. Thankfully neither am I. And if I were, I'd have moved out long ago.
