Full Auto?
16" barrel sounds more like an effort to produce a look alike pistol that is not a class III machine gun and therefore does not require a BATFE Form 4 or a $200 tax stamp.
I seen quite a few "ugly" guns that were made to fill the desire of some to have a fake "machine pistol".
Regards,
GtG
I believe the carbine versions came along some time after the semi-auto versions became commonplace - long after Ingram sold its tooling and spare parts. I think it was Cobray that slapped on a longer barrel and buttstock.