FFL required
 

Do I need to use an FFL holder to send only the action with no internal parts and the forearm iron and trigger guard out of state for engraving ?

You're not transfering ownership and there's no such requirement (to the best of my knowledge) requiring an FFL for service or repairs of a firearm - and the 'action' even when stripped is considered a firearm.... and engraving is considered to be a service.





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Bill, Dean is correct.

Not correct.

It IS required for the gunsmith (engraver in this case) to have an FFL since he is taking in peoples firearms and holding them for work. However, Gunsmithing guidelines with the ATF allow the firearm to be returned directly to the same person who sent it to the gunsmith.

So, to summarize... your engraver (if he is above board) should be an FFL. You can ship directly to him and he can return directly to you.

If your engraver is NOT an FFL and he is not in the same state as you, then you are both considered “non-licensees” and an 3rd party FFL would be required on the receiving end of both trips to legally transfer the firearm to the recipient.

Thanks for the clarification Brian.





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Brian, he was asking if he needed to "use" a FFL holder to send the receiver to. I thought the person receiving the gun needs an FFL but he doesn't need to have an FFL holder to ship it for him, or that's the way I thought I understood the law. A regular person who doesn't have a FFL can send a gun to a FFL holder for repair or some sort of work, that's not correct?

Eric,
That is what i said in my post.

I was responding to Dean’s post which seemed to suggest that the receiving gunsmith does not have to be an FFL holder. But i may have misunderstood this post the way it was written.

No, you were right Brian - I was mistaken.





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Thanks guys I think I got it.

To simplify, "a receiver is the same as a gun" and "a gun is no more than a receiver". No need to take the gun apart to send it to a gunsmith to work on the receiver.