I was told today at a gun store that there were some law changes regarding making an SBR. The guy told me (with plenty of confidence) that all you have to do now is slap a short upper on a lower and send in the Form 1 using the original manufacturer’s name and serial number, i.e. no trust name etc. engraved on the lower. Any truth to this? I’m about to take the plunge and I’d like to know all the facts beforehand if possible. Not being married to the lower for all eternity would be a nice bonus, I guess. I figured if anybody would know about any new rules/regulations it would be the crowd here. Thanks in advance.
nope… none. if thats what he told you, he’s passing out some of the most dangerous, almost criminally negligent, misinformation i’ve ever heard a dealer spout. perhaps you misunderstood?
if you attach a short upper to a lower before you’ve been given express permission from the ATF, you are guilty of possession of an unregistered SBR.
Ignore what you heard at that gun store. His advice borders on criminal, and taking his advice is criminal.
FWIW, I heard at a gun show this past weekend that the one time $200 tax per NFA item is no more. Now it’s an annual $300 tax for your “license” to keep any NFA item.
No, that’s not true, either.
I had a feeling there was a problem with that… So giving him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he just mis-spoke regarding the order of the process. That still leaves the engraving issue. Is the trust name (or individual, or whatever) still required to be on the lower or is the original maker’s name ok if you put that on the Form 1?
Oh, I assure you there was no misunderstanding either. I was almost arguing with the guy, but being a relative noob I decided to shut up for the time being. FWIW, I can probably talk to somebody there to get him lined out on the law. I’d hate to see somebody take wrong info at face value and get in a bind with the feds…
Thanks for the replies. This stuff can be like secret voodoo magic sometimes…except you might go to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison if you mess up. 
If you are “making” the SBR on a From 1 then you will still need to engrave your receiver with your Trust or individual information. This is your name or name of the legal entity, city and state.
As for being out of compliance with the engraving, you will not go to FPMITA prison. You may be given a time frame in which to get your engraving in order and provide evidence of such (most likely) or have your NFA item taken up.
There is also some disagreement among the public whether certain abbreviations are acceptable, such as “Trust” being used in place of “Revocable Living Trust” and such. I’ll bet I know what ATF would say if asked directly, but there are many variations in use. Let your conscience be your guide.
Thanks for the info. I’m glad to see they give you a little leeway at least. I’ll be engraving my lower with the trust name, and probably the long name just to be on the safe side.
I also found out the guy I was talking to doesn’t own or actually deal with any NFA items at all, so why he was offering me advice in the first place, I don’t know…
thats just what people do… and this is why you can’t trust anyone. not even us.