Purchasing Gun Parts

[SPLN SUX]

I know that you cant buy a gun over the internet and have it shipped to you, but what about individual parts and assemblies?

 

I mean rather than buy a gun, then swap out parts, why not just buy the parts and build the gun from scratch? Id rather do that than anything... same thing i did with paintball, RC alky trucks, mountain bikes, engines...

[baron_]

I think that's what AR guys (in particular) have been doing for a long time

 

Buy a stripped lower receiver and you can buy every part to make it a gun, over the counter

 

The lower receiver is what requires paperwork

[SPLN SUX]

So even a gutted lower receiver requires the regular background check and such, but anything else is a free for all?

 

Not that im worried about a background check, I just want to be able to buy things on websites and be able to have it shipped to ME, not to a store that I have to drive to and then pay a fee to.

[copperhead]

In the eyes of the ATF, the receiver IS the gun. That is the part with the serial number, that is the part that goes through the standard BS for buying a complete gun. Everything else can be shipped to your front door through the mail.

[RedRocket1647545505]

Copperhead is correct, per the usual. The part with the serial number IS the gun according to the ATF.

 

And, it should also be said that you can buy the parts so long as they comply with current laws. Example:

 

-You can buy a full auto fire control group for like $20 and have it shipped to you, however, doing so without a legit pre-'86 NFA lower receiver is grounds for a felony. If you are lucky enough to own a registered, pre-'86 NFA lower, you COULD buy said FCG for replacement parts.

 

-You can buy a barrel shorter than 16" (legally the shortest you can go without a tax stamp), but you'd better have a completed form 1 one on hand before doing so, or a 1.5" brake/flash hider for a 14.5" barrel.

[eBell]

-You can buy a barrel shorter than 16" (legally the shortest you can go without a tax stamp), but you'd better have a completed form 1 one on hand before doing so, or a 1.5" brake/flash hider for a 14.5" barrel.

 

Stripped lower purchased as a "short", or actual pistol now, and assembled as a pistol first (no buttstock) is an option for avoiding the tax stamp if you want a short AR. Keep in mind you still can't put a buttstock on with the short barrel without the appropriate form and tax.

 

If you own nothing of that type but do own an AR rifle, or a completed lower with buttstock installed, or a buttstock but no barrel 16" or longer, and purchase a short barreled upper you can be viewed as having intent to create an SBR (Short Barreled Rifle) by the ATF. That's bad if you haven't done the part Austin mentions.

 

"Clear as mud"

And the laws (a very flexible thing with the ATF) are changed or viewed differently, pretty often by the ATF. Simple route is to make a 16" or longer barreled AR first and bone up on the current state of affairs before trying for something outside the norm.

[BloodRed]

Yep, pretty much what every one said. That is how you can get away with shipping a gun back to the manufacture for warranty/repair work. Since the gun can't shoot, you can ship it USPS because it is considered parts. My Dad had to do this once with his Hi-Point 45 and never had a single problem. The guys at the post office even helped him package it up because he just walked inside with the gun. LOL. Now of course this was the Utica post office and about 5 years back, so you might not get away with now or in other places.

[Avenger1647545502]

You don't have to have a store do the transfer. There are quite a few FFL holders around the Columbus area, most of them charge in the 25-35 dollar range for a transfer as opposed to the 50-75 that gunshops charge. Hit up gunbroker.com, they have a pretty good search-by-zipcode FFL locator.

[RedRocket1647545505]

Yep, pretty much what every one said. That is how you can get away with shipping a gun back to the manufacture for warranty/repair work. Since the gun can't shoot, you can ship it USPS because it is considered parts. My Dad had to do this once with his Hi-Point 45 and never had a single problem. The guys at the post office even helped him package it up because he just walked inside with the gun. LOL. Now of course this was the Utica post office and about 5 years back, so you might not get away with now or in other places.

 

UPS can ship fully assembled guns so long as either the sender and/or recipient holds an FFL. I sent out my Saiga 12 to Tromix (an FFL holder) through UPS, fully assembled. It's kind of a PITA though, because you have to go through a main hub (i.e. not a UPS store ), and the closest one to me was Chillicothe.