Buying a KAC SR-15

[WobblyPossum]

Sometime last year I mentioned that after realizing how little rifle ammo I actually shoot every year, I decided that it made sense to sell my two ARs and use the money to buy one that I’ve always wanted. In my case, that’s a KAC SR-15. After some life changes put this plan on hold last year, I’m now in a place where I can make this purchase happen. I’ll be listing my two ARs for sale here and on Armslist soon. What I would like everyone’s help with is deciding whether I will buy a complete 16” SR-15 Mod 2 or buy a separate lower and 11.5” SR-15 Mod 2 upper and assemble it as a pistol with a brace.

Here are my circumstances. This will be my only AR once I successfully sell the two I have now. I likely won’t be buying another one since I’ll likely never shoot enough to wear this one out. It will thus have to be a do-all gun. I will use this AR for home defense, training and practice, and possibly the occasional two gun match.

My current employer issues 11.5” SBRs. I will not be allowed to use a personally owned rifle on duty so the SR-15 I buy will not be a duty gun. Going with the 11.5” option will give me a gun that handles similarly to the gun I will be using at work but I don’t know how important that really is. Plenty of people have been issued SBRs at work but did most of their training with full size carbines.

I do not currently have a suppressor but will likely purchase one in the future. The optic on this rifle will most likely be the Aimpoint T2 that is currently on one of my ARs. I may try a LPVO in the future but the work guns all have red dots mounted on them so sticking with the T2 will give me commonality of equipment.

I’m worried that, since AR pistol braces are in the public eye after the Dayton murders, braces will soon be going the way of the bump stock. If I go the pistol route, I’ll be stuck having to SBR my gun if that happens. If the government doesn’t get rid of pistol braces, then I’d have the benefits of a pistol over an SBR: being able to have the gun loaded in a vehicle, not having to notify ATF if I want to take the gun out of state, etc.

I don’t have any experience with an 11.5” KAC gun. One of my friends has a 16” SR-15 I can try out.

What does everyone think?

[LittleLebowski]

Do the math, which is cheaper? How important is an ambi lower to you?

[WobblyPossum]

Do the math, which is cheaper? How important is an ambi lower to you?

Price wise, the two options will be within $140 of each other with the pistol option being the more expensive of the two. I should have been more clear in the OP regarding the pistol option. I would be purchasing a complete IWS lower which is the same lower that the Mod 2 rifles come with.

[Wake27]

I've been worried about pistol braces ever since they got popular. Even before the last shooting, the ATF was all over the place with regulations on them. Just IMO, but if I were to only have one AR, it'd never be a pistol or even an SBR for that matter. Part of that is because I have to move around a lot, but still, a 16" is the least likely to face legal issues. That being said, putting a can on the end of a 16" gun sucks.

[Old Man Winter]

Price wise, the two options will be within $140 of each other with the pistol option being the more expensive of the two. I should have been more clear in the OP regarding the pistol option. I would be purchasing a complete IWS lower which is the same lower that the Mod 2 rifles come with.

Do they sell that lower without a stock from the factory? I've never seen an IWS lower that didn't include a stock.

[WobblyPossum]

Do they sell that lower without a stock from the factory? I've never seen an IWS lower that didn't include a stock.

My understanding is that it doesn’t matter as long as the lower was never assembled as a complete rifle. The FFL would just transfer it to me as an “other” firearm and then I could replace the stock with the brace. If I’m wrong please correct me. That would definitely make my decision easier.

Wake, that’s an excellent point and something I was thinking of as well.

[Old Man Winter]

My understanding is that it doesn’t matter as long as the lower was never assembled as a complete rifle. The FFL would just transfer it to me as an “other” firearm and then I could replace the stock with the brace. If I’m wrong please correct me. That would definitely make my decision easier.

Wake, that’s an excellent point and something I was thinking of as well.

I think once KAC slides that stock on the receiver extension and ships it, it's a rifle on paper. EDIT: Maybe this is possible if the lower has never kissed an upper receiver assembly.

[Darth_Uno]

If you buy a lower you can call it whatever you want. There's other technicalities there but that's the gist of it. You may not build a pistol out of a rifle configuration - that is, a rifle or even a lower "registered" (for lack of a better word) as a rifle. Although I've said before, I'm sure plenty of people are entirely unaware of this and did it, and I've not seen where anyone was prosecuted for building a pistol on a rifle lower. But I haven't seen a lot of things that probably exist.

Anyhow if any company ships it out as a rifle, you can't "beat the system" and call it a pistol when you fill out the 4473.

[Old Man Winter]

Well this was educational. My local dealer has been adamant that a complete lower with a stock must be transferred as a rifle and I've taken their word as fact. This thread caused me to call small arms sales and they told me they've been transferring them as other firearms for years. They did say they've had a few dealers balk at transferring complete lowers as other firearms so they're willing to remove the stock or stock and receiver extension if needed. I've learned something and you people have caused me to spend some money building a couple KAC pistols!

[Grey]

Get the LPR. I have the 16 mod 2 and debated getting the LPR instead but Ill just get it later.

For your only AR I wouldnt go pistol or SBR.

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