LESS THAN 18.5″/470mm BARREL LENGTH RULES:

CC s. 84(1) “restricted firearm” (b): If a firearm has a barrel length less than 18.5″/470mm AND is centrefire AND is semi-automatic, that combination forces the firearm into the “restricted firearm” class. In such a case, IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW THE BARREL ARRIVED AT THAT LENGTH. The rule is the same regardless of how it ARRIVED at the too-short length — but note carefully that this rule is overridden by the rule just below if the barrel is SHORTENED BY CUTTING IT DOWN OR BY SUBSTITUTION to less than 18″/457mm. That is a case of “the specific overrides the general.”

Therefore, a Browning Auto-5 or Remington Model 11-87 shotgun with an 18-5/8″/474mm barrel is non-restricted. Cut the barrel to 18-1/4″/464mm and it becomes a “restricted firearm.” Cut it again — to 17-7/8″/454mm — and it becomes a “prohibited firearm.” It is amazing how cutting 3/8″/10mm rings off its barrel changes the basic character of the firearm, with less than an inch of overall length change!

If you then refit the firearm with a 20″ barrel, it becomes a non-restricted firearm again. It doesn’t HAVE to make sense, it’s GOVERNMENT POLICY.


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In short, you can't have a shotgun in the field with a barrel less than 18.5 inches.

Last edited by walt501; 10/10/18.