Once a firearm falls into the definition of a rifle, it must have a barrel that is at least 16 inches long and and its overall length must be at least 26 inches in order to be treated as a “standard” rifle and avoid certain extra regulations. If either the barrel or the overall length of the rifle are too short, then the rifle is a “short barreled rifle” (SBR) and is subject to National Firearms Act (NFA) taxation and registration. SBRs are generally unsuitable for long range shooting and won’t be discussed here.
