I have an old contender pistol with 10".22match 14".223 and 10" 44 mag barrels.
I'm looking at getting a, 16" 18" or 22" rifle barrel in .22 LR with a youth carbine rifle stock for my 7 year old to start learning how to shoot. I've heard that there was a legal question with making a pistol into a rifle or was it the other way, OR is it just BS?
any help would be greatly appreicated.

Cajun

I think as long as your assembled guns configuation has a barrel longer than 16" with the butstock in place it is classified a rifle . Any shorter barrel length would require a pistol grip in place to keep it legal ,and would "return" it to pistol status (the theory involved here seems goofy to the rational but i think it would be compliant(?).

Its legal to convert a pistol to a rifle, you need a permit from the Government to convert a rifle to a pistol. Your Contender can be swapped back and forth, in the law's view the reciever remains that of a pistol. 444's remarks about barrel lenth are spot on.
Andy

Thanks,
Now is to find a 16" barrel in .22 LR

Cajun