A couple of DPS troopers asked me to settle a disagreement. It seems that they stopped a fellow with a modified shotgun. Depending on your definition of "barrel", the firearm was or was not illegal. If you measure the visible portion of the metal tube (what we uninitiatd call a barrel), the firearm was legal; if you added in the portion of that tube that attaches it to the firearm, it was an illegal length.

So - aside from something to assist in navigating Niagra Falls, what's a barrel?

I would say that the length of the barrel consists of the distance from the end of the chamber to the muzzle. The chamber is most likely located in the same piece of metal as the barrel, but has a larger inner diameter to hold the cartridge or shell in place and increased metal on the outside to contain the force of the exploding propellant. It might be a little difficult to figure out with some firearm designs. This is also why the definition of "short barrel firearm" contains a second defintion for weapons whose total length is less than 26 inches. An expert may correct me, but this is my understanding as a former teenage firearm enthusiast.

[This message was edited by John Rolater on 08-25-04 at .]

Your post mentions adding in some length which then makes the previously legal barrel length illegal...This confuses me because if the length is already legal, then how can it become illegal if it is longer than a legal length?

As a firearms enthusiast, former peace officer and longtime prosecutor who has researched this subject, I feel confident saying the following:

1. A barrel is the tube that the bullet travels down. On some rifles and shotguns, the chamber is part of the barrel. A good example of this would be a single shot shotgun that breaks open to load each shot. The barrel and the chamber are one in the same-go to walmart and have them show you one. In this case you would measure from the end of the chamber (near where the unfired cartridge loads into the gun) to the end of the barrel, where the bullet or projectile(s) exit the gun.

2. On other rifles and shotguns, for example a pump shotgun like a Remington 870, the chamber is part of the receiver and the barrel screws into the receiver. On this weapon the barrel length is measured from where the barrel attaches to the receiver to the front where the projectile(s) exit. Again, go to walmart or better yet a gun store and explain your query to the owner and have them show you the difference.

3. Your trooper or your investigator should know all of this already.

I had an ATF agent once explain to me that the proper method of measuring is to take a wooden dowel and slide it down the barrel with the breech closed. Mark the distance on the dowel and then measure the length of the dowel. He claims that it the piece of evidence used to establish barrel length in federal cases. Does that help?