Fairly new to the NFA process. I have a Form 4 item (via Trust) that should clear next month (submitted FEB). I’ve got a Noveske SBR on order (since December), can’t even submit it until I get minimum a serial number. But, given the Presidents intent to change the Trusts via EO, I am considering purchasing a couple of decent stripped lowers, and submit them NOW to the database; that way they will already be in the trust, and I can later build them into whatever I want in the future. Or, I could submit the lowers that I already own on non-NFA rifles, then convert them…
Or, whatever supressors I might want to complete the collection…
you can submit on the ones you own now, but you have to fill out the overall length, barrel length, and caliber portions of the form 1. so before sending them in i would figure out what caliber and barrel length you want
Thank you for responding. It’s been my understanding that you could fill the form out for multiple calibers, but that you had to have at least one complete upper for one of the listed calibers…
Comeon guys, I know more of you are out there with knowledge of this subject!
You must fill out one single caliber and one single barrel length. Any additional calibers, lengths, etc can be added under additional description. You can have any other barrel lengths and calibers for an SBR, but they can only be “temporary changes”. You must retain the original caliber and barrel length, or else notify the BATFE of permanent changes. This is what I was told directly from an examiner at BATFE.
I had sent in a form 1 a few years ago with bbl length 2-30" which was kicked back, and multi-cal which was kicked back. I’ve heard that some still occasionally get through.
Ok, yes that’s how I understand it too, thank you for clarifying. You have to keep one of the configurations ‘permanently’ (or change it in the registry), but you can have all the other uppers if you wanted to. Gotcha.
Still wondering if my thought, if I knew which caliber/size that I would ‘register for’ (5.56 and 10.5), could I still just register the lowers even though I don’t yet have the uppers/parts?
You are supposed to own and “register”*** the lower before owning the upper for it. To own the upper in conjunction with a non-SBR’ed lower is considered constructive intent to manufacture without having paid the tax, and you could face fines, penalties and jail time for tax evasion. If you already own one SBR lower, you could buy multiple uppers for that original SBR, and then when the papers come back on the new SBRs, you could “repurpose” those uppers for the newly SBRed lowers.
***there is no registration of the firearm. That would be a violation of the second Ammendment. There is a registration of the tax paid in connection with the firearm. Same way there is no 4473 to HAVE a gun, there is a 4473 to “pay” for a gun. It doesn’t ask “are you going to be the owner of this firearm?” It asks, “Are you the purchaser of this firearm”. Straw purchases are illegal, straw ownership is not. If I buy a gun with my money for a friend, I fill out the 4473 and it’s good to go. If I but a gun for him with his money, it’s illegal. The background check is on the ability to spend money on the gun. The background check for NFA is on your ability to pay the tax. Application for tax paid transfer and registration of a firearm is registering the tax-paid status of a gun, not necessarily just registering the gun itself, which would be illegal for the government to do.
There is no need to list all the calibers you might shoot. Just put down whatever caliber you plan to use, and be done with it. No need to litter the paper with superfluous information.
Everything I have right now is not an NFA item. Understand you can’t have the upper, but you can have a lower while it winds it’s way thru the (tax) registry process. It would appear then that the idea of having a stripped lower, which would have to be purchased thru a FFL same way as a complete firearm, specifically to submit to the (tax) registry for a later build of an NFA item would not be a bad idea.
So help me with the build process (and I know some of this is delving into already published threads that I will continue to search/study) (?)
Purchase lower via FFL;
Submit for tax stamp and registry as an SBR (caliber and size-specific).
When stamp comes back, then you may complete the build with the size/caliber parts you applied with.
I know somewhere in here you have to engrave it. My question becomes, how long can you go between steps 2 and 3? I might be able to afford the stripped lower and stamp, but at this moment I’d like to wait a while on the remaining parts.
Correct. Some people engrave when form comes back, some people engrave after form goes pending. Caliber, manufacturer (you), and city, state of manufacture (your city, state) must be listed. Purchase of all parts except barrel (as long as 922r compliant) and assembly can take place, minus the barrel, before hand, as they would all be part of a title I gun. The shorter barrel purchase, or having the barrel cut, should take place after returned stamp is in hand. Assembly can take place after stamp is in hand. Engraving should take place “immediately”.
And the other poster is very correct. You “can” include additional info, but it is absolutely unnecessary.
Deleted as I’m not sure and will let someone more informed respond
Josh: Just exactly HOW HARD is it to build? I mean, I’ve changed triggers and other small stuff, but without the proper tools (which I don’t know what they are) I haven’t tried. I work on my motorcycle all the time so I’d think I could do it…thank you for your post!
P.S. Engraving when it goes pending sounds like a good idea. That way if, somehow, the lower is rendered useless/lost/stolen/damaged while engraving, you might be able to contact the NFA branch and correct before the stamp is issued - Since you have at least a 6 month wait, anyway. And gathering the parts you need as you find them during that period (except barrel) good idea also.
I would assume also, that if I already had a registered (excuse the semantics) SBR and lower already, as long as I stayed with the same caliber and barrel length, I could even buy and assemble the upper while waiting for the lower to come back approved.
Also, again, it can be temporarily changed as much as you want. If you wish to make a permanent change, then the new caliber would be engraved after you update BATFE as to the permanent change.
I would highly recommend testing the lowers with a known reliable upper before submitting to NFA for SBR. You never know what might be out of spec and not function correctly.