Short Barrelled Rifles

Most of us have a picture in our minds of the bloody crimes committed in Chicago in the 1920’s and 1930’s.  Gangsters like Al Capone and John Dillinger and their gangs were lighting up the streets with small, easy to conceal rifles like the Thompson Sub-Machine Gun, otherwise known as the “Chicago Typewriter.” 

On February 14, 1929, seven men associated with the Irish gangster George “Bugs” Moran, one of Capone’s longtime enemies, were shot to death by several men dressed as policemen. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, as it was known, was never officially linked to Capone, but he was generally considered to have been responsible for the murders.  It was this act of violence that led to the National Firearms Act of 1934.

This act officially made it illegal to own items like machine guns, short barreled rifles, short barreled shotguns, and suppressors as a civilian.  The item I want to discuss today is a short barreled rifle, otherwise known as a SBR.  A SBR is considered any rifle that does not have a barrel of at least 16” and an overall length of at least 26”.  Starting January 1^st, 2013 “SBR’s” became legal for civilian use, as long as you are willing to jump through ATF hoops and pay a $200 tax stamp to the Department of Justice.

 

So why would a civilian want to have a SBR?  One reason that most of us will state is because we finally can.  However, these firearms are ideal for many applications including recreational and home defense.  Because these firearms are not as long as most rifles they work well for movement inside of close quarter environments.  One of the limitations of a rifle being used as a home defense firearm is you can not hug corners or draw up on an assailant without possibly hitting the wall or giving the bad guy time to grab your muzzle out of the way. 

The next benefit that is important in a home invasion type is that the ballistics will do the job.  Many criminals use drugs or know to wear protective armor when breaking into your home.  The limitations of many hand gun calibers is they will not stop this person unless perfect shot placement is achieved.  Rifle cartridges are made to cause maximum damage as well as the proper amount of penetration.  The ideal cartridge for his situation is the 5.56 Nato round.  This is the cartridge most commonly used is the AR-15 platform.  This round was designed to fragment and tumble when it enters into soft tissue.  What I mean by that it is it breaks into smaller pieces and turns end-over-end when it enters a body cavity. This causes a lot of internal damage which means it also maximizes stopping power.  Another benefit of this round is that it has little, to no, recoil.  This allows someone with a smaller stature to be able to follow up with accurate shots quicker. 

The last benefit to owning a SBR relates to recreational shooting as well as a home defense situation.  Because we are able to take somewhere from 6” to 9” off the barrel of the rifle, it becomes much less heavy.  Many rifles quickly become heavy in the shooting position because of the weight of the barrel.  This is especially true for someone that is smaller however, I do not care who you are, if you are holding a 7-10lb rifle in the shooting position for very long you will eventually become fatigued.

These rifles have many more benefits, and not all of them are for you “tactical ninjas.”  They are pleasant to shoot . There is a reason that many of our police officers and military are now using these for their preferred choice of combat firearm. We too can experience the benefits of owning a short-barreled rifle.