Selling AR parts in a complete rifle.

[Commissar Gribb]

I've got a bunch of AR-15 parts and I'm thinking about throwing them together for the sole purpose of selling them as a finished gun. I have a few questions about it. I'd be taking my bushmaster 20" post ban bull barrel upper + A2 stock and then putting it on a stag arms kit lower

1: is this a good idea? Will I get significantly better deal selling a whole rifle than parts?

2: assuming I do everything correctly again and get a good shooting rifle, how much could I expect to get? everything is in good condition- I'v only used the upper about half a dozen times and haven't put a lot of bullets through it.

 

[jefnvk]

I'd sell it as parts. No offense, but unless it was real cheap, I wouldn't buy an AR built by some random guy. Someone may, though, but I wouldn't pay near as much as I could build/buy for for one hand built.

 

[walking arsenal]

if you decide to part it out i might be interested in the lower receiver for an AR pistol project. PM me if you decide to part it out.

 

[Commissar Gribb]

I dont have a lower receiver- i'd be buying one.

lol

they're selling them fully loaded at sarcoinc.com for $90 a pop though

 

[walking arsenal]

really, i'll look into that. how about the rest of the parts?

 

[Commissar Gribb]

i'll get pics of the parts

most of them are uninteresting

20" bushmaster barrelled upper bull barrel (post ban A2 style)

2 recoil springs

a buffer tube assembly

a recoil buffer

an A2 and A1 buttstock

an A1 plastic pistol grip

a set of A1 handguards

I think that's it.

 

[g56]

I've got a bunch of AR-15 parts and I'm thinking about throwing them together for the sole purpose of selling them as a finished gun.

Assemble for sale= JAIL

To assemble a rifle to sell makes you a manufacturer, with the appropriate licenses and permits needed, you can assemble a rifle for your personal use, but not to sell.

 

[Commissar Gribb]

no it does not

by buying a completed receiver, I am effectively buying a completed weapon in the eyes of the AT and simply adding on a different barrel/stock etc.

had I been using a receiver I made from scratch and not had legally transfered to me, I would need to either have a license or pay a making tax. The licensed maker (in this case: the good folks at Stag Arms) have already "made" the firearm (receiver) and I'm just customising it.

 

[g56]

I have a few questions about it. I'd be taking my bushmaster 20" post ban bull barrel upper + A2 stock and then putting it on a stag arms kit lower

by buying a completed receiver,

That isn't exactly what you said in the original post, if you buy a complete assembled receiver and just attach it to an upper, that would pass, but if you start with a stripped lower...good luck.

If you assemble a rifle from parts, well...that's exactly what Bushmaster, Rock River, DPMS do, assembling parts to make a firearm, that is manufacturing a firearm.

 

[warriorsociologist]

No. A "stripped" AR-15 lower is consider a firearm, by itself, from the BATFE. To manufacture an AR15 lower receiver would be a crime, but buying stripped lowers and lower parts kits is perfectly OK. The only thing the BATFE is concerned about is someone milling out lower receivers in their garages (without the proper paperwork, that is).

As for buying a stripped lower and parts for the purpose of building a rifle (or an M1A or any other rifle for that matter), there are hunderds of webstite that sell these things. Heck, I usually buy 5-10 stripped lowers at a time, assemble them with LPKs, and then sell them to friends and family (or forumites) when the whim strikes me.

Check out Adcofirarms.com, Eaglefirearms.net, or any other the many others like these two.

Remember, getting "creative" with your home milling machine and turning a billet of aluminum into a lower receiver will get you in hot water...but taking a stripped lower and building a rifle will not (since the lower IS what the BATFE regulates & consdiders a "firearm.")

 

[Psssniper]

taking a billet of aluminum will get you into a rifle and not hot water
yes its legal to make a gun, just dont try it in californy or anywhere ar types are verboten

 

[jefnvk]

g56, a stripped lower is a completed lower. In the eyes of the ATF, a stripped lower is a completed gun. It is viewed upon no differently than taking a 26" barrel off an 870 and putting a 20" one on. Or putting a scope on a deer rifle then selling it.

You are probably thinking of the 80% recievers, which are not originally transfered as firearms. Completing those, or if he took a block of aluminum, and machined it out to make an AR lower by hand, then assembled and sold, he could be in trouble. But buying a stripped lower, assembling and selling is not a problem.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I think you'll get more money selling it as parts and likely get money faster that way as well. I would only consider making a new rifle if most of the parts were relatively common items that there wasn't much demand for anyway.

 

[Redlg155]

I don't see any problem with building and selling an AR that you built from parts you already had onhand. However, my "Official" answer would be that I built the firearm for my personal recreational use and decided to sell it to consolidate my collection.

Yes, a complete lower reciever in the eyes of the ATF is a complete firearm, but things get a bit more complicated for manufactures (This does not specifically deal with your issue)

Here is a link from an ATF Letter..http://www.ttb.gov/fet/faetinfo.pdf

Check out 2A(2). In essence it shows why folks such as Model 1, JT and other places will not sell a stripped lower with a parts kit. Even though the parts are unassembled, they constitute a complete firearm, thus subject to exise tax for the manufacture/distributor.

Good Shooting
Red

 

[warriorsociologist]

Bartholomew Roberts speaks the truth (once again).

 

[jefnvk]

Ah, tax evasion. It becomes clear now.

Have a hard time believing they would go after you for selling one built up AR, though.

But I still think you'll et more off the parts than a whole gun.

 

[444]

Just to clarify something: it is perfectly legal for you to build a receiver from the ground up. There is nothing whatever illegal about taking a chunk of aluminum or steel and putting it on a milling machine and making a receiver.

If you are making one for sale, now we have a problem.

I know this was mentioned previously, but just wanted to repeat it.

 

[warriorsociologist]

444 is correct. Good clarification.