The barrel supplied with most, if not all, of the kits are 15.5inches long. This poses a problem if you are assembling the rifle in the US as a rifle barrel length much not be shorter than 16in, unless you are putting together a pistol build or an Short Barrel Rifle (SBR). Outside of the United States the minimum barrel length for a rifle may not apply.
The purpose of this build was originally to have a cheap truck gun. The cheap part has gone by the wayside, but how much additional money do I want to put into this build? Here are the options that I’ve found and what I ultimately decided to do.
Pistol Build
In the US, it is legal build a pistol as long as the receiver was marked as a pistol during it’s transfer. This means that it needs to be identified as a pistol on the 4473 when it is filled out. As long as this is done the receiver can be built out as a pistol build, and there are certain criteria that must be met so it qualifies as a pistol and not an SBR. (You cannot take a rifle and retroactively make it a pistol, but you can take a pistol and turn it into a rifle….the laws here don’t always make sense).
The main issue is there cannot be a shoulder stock. A pistol has been defined as a weapon that is fire from one hand. Thus a vertical foregrip, and a buttstock are no gos for a pistol build. There are arm braces which are legal, and can be used, but I have never really been a fan of them.
In my opinion, if you want a rifle, you should build a rifle, and a pistol build with an arm brace, just doesn’t fit the bill.
A SBR Build
Short Barrel Rifles (SBR) are fun, and have practical use. I do intend to build a few SBR’s and I have the NFA Trust and a few NFA Items already approved through the trust, so adding an SBR is not an arduous process for me. However it will still cost me $200 to get the tax stamp.
It kind of goes against the idea of this being a cheap build. Furthermore we’re talking 0.5in so are we really getting a bit difference between a 16in barrel and a 15.5in barrel? I don’t think so, to me it’s not worth it.
Barrel Extension
For me this makes the most sense. Adding a barrel extension, by means of a muzzle brake or a threaded extension will make the rifle legal, and is simple to do. For this to be legal the extension must be permanently attached. The typical means of doing this is using silver solder.
All of the ATF Approved methods for attaching a muzzle extension requires either welding, pinning and then welding, or brazing using silver solder. I really hate this approach. The barrel on the VZ-58 rifles is what you might describe as a pencil barrel. Very thin on the muzzle end. It won’t take much heat to overheat the metal and bugger up the muzzle end. Anyone who has worked much with steel and heat treating knows that many steels will anneal and soften around 400 degrees (F). Silver solder melts and adheres at 1200 degrees (F).
I know this is how it’s done on a regular basis and there are cooling pastes out there that are designed to help wick away the heat and prevent overheating of the metal. It just makes me a little uneasy. As far as I am aware the ATF does not allow for the use of Loctite or similar thread locking compounds, even though these can be considered “Permanent” attachment.
Silver soldering is how the barrel extension is attached but what barrel extensions are out there for the VZ? The VZ-58 Barrel in the kit are supplied with 14x1RH threads. It is my understanding that the threads are the same as SKS rifles. Therefore SKS muzzle device appear to be compatible with VZ-58 rifles. If I am wrong please correct me.
For me personally I do not like the idea of having a threaded barrel without being able to utilize those threads for something else. For example, what if I want to attach a suppressor to the rifle sometime down the road? If we solder on a brake, then it becomes quite difficult to remove that break and then solder on a new muzzle device to be able to attach a suppressor. CNC Warrior actually provides a solution to this problem.
The threaded extension is cheap, and it is the way I will go. I will likely purchase a muzzle break to go with the extension, if anything to act as a thread protector.
If you are like me, and like doing things yourself, it is totally possible to make your own barrel extension. A 14x1RH tap is readily available on Amazon. Sure it’s not tool room quality but its a Tap you’ll likely only use once, and maybe twice if you screw up the first time.
I was going to go the “Build you Own” route until I saw the barrel extension offered by CNC warrior was cheaper then what I could purchase a tap for. That pretty much settled it. Making an extension is fairly straightforward and can be as simple or as complex as you desire to make it.
The criteria for doing so is that it must be at least .750 inches long, have a thru hole of at least .315 diameter, and have an internal thread that is 14x1RH. When attached to the barrel it must extend the barrel to beyond 16in. If people request it, I could provide a simple drawing, but I think it’s pretty self explanatory.
The ATF measures from the longest point on the barrel to the breech face. If that’s shorter than 16 inches then you have a problem.
Conclusion
The National Firearms Act of 1934 dictates that a rifle must have a barrel of at least 16in long in order to be classified as a rifle. Barrels shorter then this are either considered Short Barrelled Rifles or if configured correctly may be considered a pistol. The barrels included with the VZ-58 build kits are 15.5in long and if they are pressed into a receiver they too short to be considered a rifle.
There are various ways to remedy this, I have decide on my build I will silver solder a threaded barrel extension. Whichever remedy you decide on must be done prior to the assembly of the barrel in the the receiver or else you may run afoul of the law.