Defying the NFA should be every American’s goal, but you should do so legally. Doing it illegally will net you 10 years and 250k in fines. All the fun toys are NFA goodies and if you live in a state that allows them I would say they are the better option than what’s below. However, if you live in a state that hates freedom then the following options are excellent gotos for those looking to have some tax stamp free fun.
Table of Contents
Pistol Braces
Originally designed to aid disabled shooters in handling and using AR style pistols, pistol braces have since evolved and caused a lot of controversy. You see, a brace looks, feels and appears to be a lot like a shoulder stock, and that is a great big no-non on a gun with a barrel under 16”.
However, because they were primarily designed to provide stabilization to the wrist of forearm, the ATF allowed them. And then everyone started shouldering them and pestering the ATF if shouldering was also allowed. Youtube filled up with people shouldering their pistols, and the ATF then decided that a brace could not be used incidentally as a stock and people got angry.
Then they changed their mind again and these “totally not a stock” braces once again boomed in popularity where they sit today.
Now, make no mistake. There are many ATF approved braces on the market, and they all do an excellent job as a brace. As they were intended. And the ATF once again is shrugging off people shouldering them as stocks as long as the fiction of “not intended to be used as a stock” or similar is adhered to.
So should you buy a brace with the express intent of using it as a shoulder stock? Of course not. That would be illegal. Should you buy a brace with the express intent of using it as a brace? Of course. That’s what they exist for. The author finds some braces suit him best as a combination brace against the forearm and a cheek rest, without actually shouldering the gun. Other disabled shooters value them as actual braces.
So word to the wise. Find a way to shoot your brace as a brace and mostly as a brace, and remember it’s ok to now and then shoulder it, and defy the NFA legally, but don’t get crazy about it.
Angled Foregrips
It’s pretty well known that you can’t put a standard vertical forergrip on a gun classified as a pistol. However, the ATF had to define what a vertical foregrip was, and settled on 90 degrees straight up and down as the forbidden configuration.
And they let pass foregrips that were made at a 45 degree angle.
You see, a pistol is defined as something designed to be fired “one handed”. Of course that law and rule was written back in the days before two handed firing stances became common, or before larger pistols made off rifles or made for long range shooting were common.
So the ATF fudged a bit more, and allows for a supporting hand on pistols, and of course any sort of barrel shroud or handguard that might cover the barrel to provide support for the supporting hand. But they drew the line at 90 degree foregrips because now that support hand was no longer “support” but was creating a two handed hold on the gun. Clear as mud? Yup, we think so too.
But in the ATF’s wisdom a 45 degree angled foregrip is just fine and dandy, and all sorts of them appear on various pistols and handguns. Perhaps none more notorious though than the Stark Express Grip. The Stark Express Grip offers all the legality of a 45 degree grip, while offering far more functionality than most. So much so, that it’s easy to get the uninformed thinking you’ve got an illegal foregrip on your gun. But it’s a delightful way to defy the NFA and get a comfortable grip on your AR or AK or similar pistol. Or even put it on a rifle. Either way, it’s pretty sweet. And there are plenty of other angled foregrips on the market too…
AR pistols
AR pistols are really just an oxymoron. AR stands for Armalite Rifle so an AR Pistol is an Armalite Rifle Pistol. AR Pistols were created to basically skirt the NFA. The NFA requires any rifle with a barrel shorter than 16 inches be registered as a short barreled rifle. An AR pistol is legally a pistol, even if it fires rifle rounds. An AR pistol can have a barrel as short as you want it to be. Mine has a 7.5 inch barrel, but they get as short as 4 to 5 inches if you want to go a little crazy.
An AR pistol can be equipped with a brace to make it easier to shoot and easier to handle overall. These little guys are quite compact and easy to handle indoors and in close quarters. Their small size, low weight, and high firepower make them excellent home defense weapons. Plus they skirt the NFA and I love that.
Pistols Into Bigger Pistols
There are a number of companies out there who produce a variety of conversion kits for handguns that turn the platform into a slightly bigger pistol. At first, that doesn’t make sense, I know, but when you see one of these kits you understand. These kits turn your pistol into an SMG sized platform, typically with a brace. These platforms are still just pistols, but they do allow you to easily mount optics, lights, and more.
Plus they are fun, look awesome and allow you to turn one gun into effectively two different platforms. My personal favorite is the Kidon system from IWI which allows me to convert multiple guns into a SMG style platform with very little efforts.
Binary Triggers
Binary triggers aren’t firearms but go into firearms that allow you to simulate automatic fire, kind of. When you pull the trigger the gun fires and when you let it go it fires again. These triggers have been made for the CZ Scorpion, for MP5 clones, AR 15s, and most recently the AK series. While it’s not full auto it’s much more intuitive compared to bump stocks and crank devices. Binary trigger systems are a blast, tricky to use, but once you get a rhythm they are so much fun.
Combined with an AR pistol and you can have one helluva good time at the range. These aren’t the most useful triggers but are fun. If turning money into noise is your idea of a good time then these triggers are for you.
The Franklin Armory Reformation
The Reformation was a big draw at SHOT Show 2018 because it is a gun with an 11.5 inch barrel, and a stock, but it’s not an SBR. It does have an overall length of 26 inches so it’s now an AOW, so what is it? It’s a loophole, and it uses a rather weird design to become a legal, NFA free firearm. The way it does this is through the use of straight cut lands and grooves. This keeps it from being a short barreled shotgun by not having a smooth bore, but it’s not a rifle because it doesn’t have spiral rifling. Instead its something else entirely. The use of lands and grooves aren’t the best for accuracy and it delivers 4-inch groups at about 100 yards.
In CQB that’s more than accurate enough, but it does lose some of the benefits of being a rifle. However, this is another exploit and defiance of the NFA.
PGO Firearms
2017 was the year of the PGO firearm, a PGO firearm being a 12 or 20 gauge and 410 guns that aren’t shotguns, but just firearms. As firearms, these guns aren’t restricted via barrel lengths so they can have barrels shorter than 18 inches. The Mossberg Shockwave and the Tac 14 both sport 14-inch barrels and are only wearing pistol grips. These guns have to remain over 26 inches or they become AOWs. The specialized bird’s head grip they were makes the guns about a half inch longer than necessary.
These are essentially short barreled shotguns but not really. These guns are fun and are more or less range toys. However, they like many others are designed to be an absolute blast. If you can fire one of these weapons without a smile on your face you just aren’t American.
The Maxim 50
Suppressors aren’t exactly a thing you can loophole, the law is quite clear. Any device that lowers the gun’s retort by 1 decibel is a suppressor. However, there are no rules for things that suppress air guns, or even black powder muzzleloaders. Silencer Co saw the potential and invented the Maxim 50, a suppressed muzzleloader with a permanently attached suppressor.
Muzzleloaders are not legally considered firearms so this thing can be purchased without a background check. This is the closest I think we’ll ever see a loophole for a suppressor. Let’s hope SilencerCo brings us a pistol version soon.
The NFA
The National Firearms Act restricts a lot of our fun, but as you can see there are several ways around it. The following weapons and devices may not be legal in all states so make sure you do your due diligence. If you own a gun store or have an FFL then you should certainly look at investing in some of these concepts as they tend to be quite popular.
