legal ?

[Admin]

It depends. Has the action in question ever been barreled as a rifle? If so then you're out of luck as BATFE declares that building that action into a pistol constitutes conversion of a rifle to a pistol, which is a violation of federal law.

But if the action has never been barreled as a rifle then you're good to go, assuming there isn't some state/local statute to the contrary where you live.

The only Savage actions that have never been classified as a rifle from the factory are the Target Actions offered these past few years. Savage did offer barreled actions back in the early 60's, but even those came pre-classified as rifles as they had long barrels installed at the factory. If you buy a target action from a dealer/vendor and plan to use it for a pistol build, MAKE SURE they classify it as a handgun on the 4473 paperwork as that's what designates it in the eyes of the BATF. For that very reason I would also suggest staying away from used Target actions as you have no real way of knowing how it was classified on the 4473 when it was first sold to the original owner. You can't change it's designation once an initial designation has been made.

You can always build a rifle from a pistol action without any issues, but building a pistol from a rifle action is a big no-no.