I came across the worst AR in the world today and…almost bought it.
I’ll skip the backstory…lets jump to the point where the guy says “I have an AR I wanna sell”. And what an AR it was… Steiner DBAL up front, a Hera CQR stock, BAD Lever, QD sling, etc, etc. Very cool looking gun.
And, like the super hot looking chick who turns out to be a dud in the sack, that’s all this gun was…all sizzle, no steak.
First off, the Hera stock? Looks cool as hell. And..thats about it. My biggest gripe was that the detent and spring for the selector switch is held in the AR receiver, normally, by the pistol grip. On the Hera, you take the spring, tuck it into a little rubber sleeve, and stuff that sleeve into an open slot on the side of the gun. Seriously. Its held in place by friction. WTF?
Next up, that Steiner DBAL? Well, I had to look closer…it was some knockoff that had absolutely no IR value whatsoever. Just a flashlight and a green laser in a butch looking housing to make you look like a operationally operating operator.
Next up? Side charging AR upper. No lie. While you might think thats pretty cool, here’s why it isnt – the AR is a pretty well sealed receiver. Put a magazine in, close the dust cover, and crap pretty much has only one or two small ingress points. On a side charger, though, theres no dust cover and you have to have a long slot cut in the side of the receiver and thats gonna allow ingress of dirt and other stoppage fodder.
And the real death stroke to this whole deal…which I should have noticed Immediately…was that there was no serial number on the receiver. Or any other marking than SAFE and FIRE. Curious, I opend the receiver and beheld lots of chattered aluminum that had been milled away with an angry beaver. Yes, it was the dreaded 80% lower. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that except…while the feds are cool with you building your own gun, they are very uncool with you selling your own gun. You gotta stamp some names and numbers on that thing if youre gonna sell it.
Now, I have a bucket of Anderson $39 stripped lowers here so it might have been worth it to buy the thing, throw away the lower, and put on a Poverty Pony lower with a serial number and all the other fedgoon-required goodness…but I am not buying a kitchen table AR. With a gimmick stock. And an airsoft-grade laser/light.
But…from a distance and without looking closely, it looked sooooo sweet.
Moral of the story: much like hot chicks that are lacking in the boudoir, don’t fall in love with appearances. Check out that gun closely. Especially check to make sure its got a serial number.
The guy that has that thing is kinda stuck with it unless he gets a serial number stamped on it, or he finds someone who doesnt care about it’s status. Caveat emptor, kids.
Is it possible the seller was working for the authorities, hoping to get the buyer for an illegal sale as you mentioned ? A la Randy Weaver in days of yore. Hoping that the buyer would be willing to give information on others and yada yada yada.
Some years back, I saw a vendor at a gun show attempting to sell one of the Glock handgun ATTACHABLE FIXED shoulder stock units. Had (has ?) a stud that snaps into the Glock rear grip cavity. Telescopes out to make into a stocked pistol. No problem if you have the stamp from government – big trouble otherwise.
The table was purchased by young kid trying to sell some extra knives he had but the stock was on table too. I told him could make trouble for himself down the road and he took it off the top.
Cop buddy at a southern gunshow a few years ago saw a regular (as in been at that same table for 20+ years) vendor selling drop in auto sears in the white on his table. Buddy (who was in normal civvy clothes) told him politely that he’ll get in trouble with the federales and the guy blew him off. Bud was just trying to help the guy. I went the next day and he was still selling them. We were both convinced it was a sting or the aforementioned ‘lighten your sentence’ penance. No way this guy didnt know what he was selling.
Looking cool only works till the fireworks begin.
Good that you were wise enough to know what you were looking at.
There are several easy methods of engraving, but yes – selling without it is a no no.
It is more than likely the cheapest easiest way for him to get a fun that looked cool, but it could also have been a trap… Better to be safe either way.
Just curious what he was asking for it? When used, name brand ARs are available <$400, it'd have to be hella deal to roll the dice on it.
My go-to AR is a home build on an Anderson lower.
Everything fits, nothing rattles, everything works…
On Thursday an estate sale auctioneer that I buy from opened a new estate listing that included several bump stocks. Someone must have clued him in over the weekend as they are no longer listed.
Clearly the owner (dead guy) didn’t turn them in and the survivors didn’t know what he had in the safe.
There are a lot of things out there that can get you, and it’s hard to stay on top of them all.
nick
Nothing illegal about a non-FFL selling a home-built un-serialed gun/receiver. It’s only when one begins ‘engaging in the business’ of manufacturing guns/receivers or doing transfers through an FFL that a serial is required.
The catch being that BATFE has never been willing to define just how many guns/receivers would constitute ‘engaging in the business’ beyond words to the effect of ‘deriving a substantial portion of one’s oncome’ from the production of same. Occasional sales are allowed. Same rules as a Type 3 (C&R) FFL selling guns to non-FFLs.
The BATFE’s website FAQ says as much, though it’s currently giving me issues when I try to access it.
There are some hoplophobe states that do require all guns/receivers to be serialized. I believe this is currently only the case in California and Connecticut?
At this time, it is not illegal (federally) for a private individual to sell a firearm without a serial number if it was originally built for the builder’s personal use and not for resale. BATFE recommends a serial number on every firearm, but recommendation is not a legal requirement. It is a good idea to put a serial number on it, but again not a legal requirement.
If it was built with intent to resell, that is different. If the seller is a licensed manufacturer or other licensee, that is different. Again, state laws may not be the same as federal.
As has been mentioned, it’s not illegal to sell a homebuilt firearm, unmarked or not. When people make that claim I usually ask them to point me to the regulations that support their claim. They can’t do it, it’s just one of those things that “everybody knows” even though it’s wrong.