Ed, who blogs at Tell Me Why?, interviewed Tony from American Tactical Imports about their .410 AR-15 shotgun, the AT-14 (otherwise known as the T-14).

You can watch the video here.

It answers a question I have had: is the lower standard AR-15? The answer is that it is almost 100% mil-spec and with a minor modification it can be used with other AR-15 uppers.

AT-14 / T-14. More photos here.

Tony says that the rifle is classified by the ATF as sporting shotgun partly because of the 5-round magazine. I have read it is possible to use modified AR-15 30 round magazines. This does raise the issue of Section 922R Compliance – converting an imported sporting arm into a non-“sporting arm” that would not be allowed to be imported in the first place. Saiga shotgun owners know all about this.

(I know nothing about 922R compliance – just what I have read – so don’t take anything I have said as legal advice)

It should be easy to get enough US-made replacement AR-15 parts to make the shotgun classified as a US made firearm by the ATF. A problem may be people messing with the shotgun not realizing that just because it looks identical to the Bushmasters sold at the local gun store, the ATF have other ideas.

Any legal eagles who understand the issues are welcome to sound off in the comments.