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building an ar

DeftwillP

DeftwillP

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Round Rock TX
My dad and I want to build our first A.R.'s. The stripped lowers have come back down to their original asking price before you know who took office.

Only thing is we're kind of concerned with the political climate. Is it totally unreasonable to want to buy the lowers in a personal transaction, i.e. no paperwork?

I'm not asking anything illegal as this is completely legit in Texas. It's just that we've been looking and haven't found anybody selling yet.
 
Go one step farther - got access to a machine shop? I've seen (and probably have somewhere...) plans to make a lower out of mill stock - which reduces complex machining operations considerably.

You can then anno or Park it whatever colour you choose, or plate or coat it however you like, and you won't even have to assign it a serial number (you just won't be able to sell any - without registering as a manufacturer of firearms.)

Let me know if you'd like to see the plans - I'll see if I can't find a copy around here somewhere...

EDIT - You can also Google "80% Recievers" - any forging/casting that would normally be subject to a serial number as a finished good is not subject to regs up to its being 80% finished, and it's just a chunk of metal at that point. I've seen 0%, 50%, and 80% recievers for several US firearms.
 
I'm pretty sure that's illegal....isn't it?

Guess not. Still, I don't want to have to argue about "interpretation of the law"
 
Last edited:
DeftwillP said:
I'm pretty sure that's illegal....isn't it?
Click to expand...

Nope. If you may legally own a firearm, you may legally build one for yourself. You just can't build any for sale.

Perfectly legal, no trouble. I won't swear as to a serial number not being required (there are laws against removing the serial number from a firearm, but I've not seen anything in 18USC922 et seq against having one that never had a serial number...) but I do know it's perfectly legal to construct a firearm for yourself without incident. You can not hire someone to do the finish work for you, and you can not construct one for someone else without seeing the guys from F Troop, but you can build them for yourself without any trouble at all.
 
No serial required when building a rifle for your own use.

It's best to do one for a pistol in California though, your state laws may vary.

PS - You don't build an AR, you assemble it. :laugh3:
 
Odds are, you won't find a "paperless" stripped lower. That's a dealer/manufacturer item. (even in Texas) If you come across a receiver for sale, make sure it's not from a dealer "under the table". You DO NOT want to buy a serial numbered item from anybody with a license without the paperwork. While you may not personally be guilty of anything, you might end up spending a couple hundred grand proving it in court. 'Best bet would be buy a whole rifle, used, private transfer, and rebuild it.
 
Or just hit up a the gun shows, garage sales, estate sales, etc and buy one from a private citizen.
 
I got my lower a few months ago from some place called something like peach state arms over in GA. At the time, the lower was $85 and $7 shipping; its an LRB brand. We had it transferred to our shop, that way we didnt have to pay for another FFL holder to transfer it for me.

I think the price has gone up since then to about $90 or so, but still not that bad. I want to make one from scratch and I'm looking for a piece of Titanium, but if all else fails, then Aluminum is good too. Once I get the rest of the parts I'll just clone them and start making my own. Let me know how it turns out.
 
Stallacrew said:
I got my lower a few months ago from some place called something like peach state arms over in GA. At the time, the lower was $85 and $7 shipping; its an LRB brand. We had it transferred to our shop, that way we didnt have to pay for another FFL holder to transfer it for me.

I think the price has gone up since then to about $90 or so, but still not that bad. I want to make one from scratch and I'm looking for a piece of Titanium, but if all else fails, then Aluminum is good too. Once I get the rest of the parts I'll just clone them and start making my own. Let me know how it turns out.
Click to expand...

I don't think I've seen a Ti lower, but I've seen some other odd alloys (including BeCo - which is a pain to machine, since the chips can be toxic. cf: "berylliosis" - don't make a habit of machining the stuff.) 6061 and 7075 were fairly common, but you could make one out of pretty much anything (including doing a layup out of carbon fibre or fibreglas and machining - or perhaps Kraton G10? - since there's not a lot of stress on the lower anyhow. It's the upper that takes it all, although you may need to reinforce the buffer tube threads in the lower.)
 
DeftwillP said:
Negative. Has to go through FFL. What brand is it?
Click to expand...

Yup.

You can't transfer firearms across state lines without one, nor can you sell it to somebody who lives in another state if he's standing on your doorstep (or you on his).

That is where an FFL03 (Curio and Relic license) comes in handy, but that still wouldn't work here because it only works for C&R guns (old guns).
 
Yea i kinda had a feeling. Try outdoorstrader.com Ive done quite a few face to face deals out here from that site.

The lower is a mega.. it was the last one i could get when they were getting scarce...

mega.jpg
 
5-90 said:
Nope. If you may legally own a firearm, you may legally build one for yourself. You just can't build any for sale.
Click to expand...

Almost completely true. For NFA Title I stuff (most firearms), you can make them without any federal interaction. For NFA Title II stuff (silencers, short barrelled rifles/shotguns, destructive devices, Any Other Weapons), you can make them but have to pay the tax on a Form 4. Machine guns are the only exception to your statement. You can legally own one made pre-ban (1986) but cannot build one legally.
 
fizassist said:
Almost completely true. For NFA Title I stuff (most firearms), you can make them without any federal interaction. For NFA Title II stuff (silencers, short barrelled rifles/shotguns, destructive devices, Any Other Weapons), you can make them but have to pay the tax on a Form 4. Machine guns are the only exception to your statement. You can legally own one made pre-ban (1986) but cannot build one legally.
Click to expand...

True - and thanks for that. Bloody damned F Troop really does need to go away - there's something wrong when the people who enforce the rules are also the people who write them (you can't get a straight answer out of F Troop for much the same reason you can't get a straight answer out of the IRS. Ask three people the same question, you get at least four answers...)
 
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