The AR-15 lower receiver shortage

I was online today looking at purchasing some extra AR-15 lowers and found most every shop sold out and waiting for deliveries. See this example link www.impactguns.com...
Notice how most models are not available in the listing. Check around and you will find there is almost no lowers available any place,

From bravocompanyusa Due to the political climate and the demand of Bravo Company Lower Groups we are completely sold out.

If you did not have one already sorry bud you are out of luck now.

If I had a factory making these right now I would be one happy man.

Probably because the lower is considered by the feds to be the "gun". You can buy a complete upper, barrel and all, with no FFL requirement, I believe. You can buy a partial lower and build it out. Seems like people skirt the background check by doing this?

I am no expert so anyone who knows for sure, do tell.

Originally posted by exitusstatuquo
If I had a factory making these right now I would be one happy man.

If there is an all-out ban, you are going to see a rise in CNC milling machine sales.

reply to post by AwakeinNM


You're right. The lower is the serial numbered "firearm" you need the paperwork on.

You can buy all the uppers you want to swap barrel types or even calibers with a conversion kit for the magazine well. It's the lower you can's just buy like any accessory.

Explanation: S&F!

Here ... this may help ... Legally Make your own Gun. (by Ares Armour)



Personal Disclosure: Become self sufficient comrades!

Originally posted by AwakeinNM
Probably because the lower is considered by the feds to be the "gun". You can buy a complete upper, barrel and all, with no FFL requirement, I believe. You can buy a partial lower and build it out. Seems like people skirt the background check by doing this?

I am no expert so anyone who knows for sure, do tell.

You can't skirt the background. You can buy every single piece to an AR styled weapon except the stripped lower receiver, without filling out the 4473 and doing the background check, but you NEED the lower to build the weapon. And to get one of those, you have to go through a FFL dealer, and do the deed.

The problem with the shortage, is the renewed boom in AR sales! Just like the last election, the demand went up, which burdened the suppliers and manufacturers, which, in turn, drove up prices. Then add in the new talk of "ban" and they can't keep up! Prices continue to climb, as inventories shrink. And the more desirable, higher end models, are nearly double in price as just a few years ago...Which fuels the fire, so to speak...Everyone is looking to cash in...

3 years ago, after the AR market softened, a dealer could buy a stripped lower, a lower parts kit, the buffer tube assembly, and a complete upper, for about $550, wholesale...A little gunsmithing to assemble and flip it for $750 - $1,000 depending on features...Not anymore....

You don't think that the "gun-grabbers" decided to follow the rule, "If you can't beat them, join them!" do you???
Who currently owns all of the major gun manufacturers, now???

Seems like a good way to get pretty rich, pretty fast, for the right unscrupulous group...

reply to post by AwakeinNM


The lower receiver is the serialized part of an Ar15. When one is purchased the buyer is subject to all of the requirements of a complete firearm including all background checks and waiting periods.

The main attraction is that you can (hopefully) beat any upcoming legislation and only spend a couple hundred bucks instead of a grand on a complete rifle.

reply to post by OmegaLogos


Thanks for that. My shop can likely make the 80%ers for sure

reply to post by OmegaLogos


Your not allowed to just make your own.

www.justice.gov...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Two men and one woman have been charged with aiding, abetting and assisting one another in dealing and manufacturing firearms without a federal license, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. The seven-count sealed indictment, returned July 25, 2012, was unsealed upon the arrests of Michael Yarbrough, 22, Ashley Phillips, 24, and Stephen Atkinson, 29, all of Corpus Christi.

The defendants are scheduled to appear in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Janis B. Ellington in Corpus Christi today at 2:00 p.m., at which time the U.S. expects to seek their detention without bond pending further criminal proceedings.

Yarbrough, Phillips and Atkinson are charged with aiding, abetting, and assisting one another in willfully engaging in the business of dealing in and manufacturing firearms without a federal license between Jan. 1, 2011 up to the date of the indictment, July 25, 2012. If convicted, they each face up to five years in prison.

So don't promote illegal activity as a good idea.

reply to post by JBA2848


It is perfectly LEGAL to make your own gun in America!!!

You just can't sell, transfer or trade your homemade weapon, to another!

The laws broken in your post are because they were "dealing" in weapons without a Federal Firearms License.
That, is a no-no...

reply to post by GoOfYFoOt


Manufacturing firearms without a federal license.
You have to have a serial number on it or it is illegal.
You can't put a serial number on one with out a federal license.

reply to post by JBA2848


This is incorrect. You cannot *sell* firearms as an occupation or hobby without a license. You can build as many as you want.

reply to post by JBA2848


Explanation: Incorrect!

The reason they [note the plural] broke the law IS becuase they were ...

aiding, abetting and assisting one another in dealing and manufacturing firearms without a federal license.

If you watch the video I provided in my post above ... it becomes clear that if YOU make YOUR OWN WEAPON that is NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION ... that it can be unlicenced and unregistered!

The reason for this is the commerce has been taken out of the weapon.

Personal Disclosure: However I am not a legal expert and neither is the bloke in the video ... so check with your own local and federal laws.

Information IS Power!

Be Safe and Powerfull Comrades!

Originally posted by JBA2848
reply to post by GoOfYFoOt

 

Manufacturing firearms without a federal license.
You have to have a serial number on it or it is illegal.
You can't put a serial number on one with out a federal license.

Sorry for the double post, but I had to address this one too. You cannot *sell* without a serial number, and infrequent selling of homebuilt firearms are allowed by the ATF. You could build a hundred with no serial numbers but you cannot transfer them legally without an 07 FFL.

How infrequent? Good luck getting the ATF to answer that one. Ask two different investigators and you're likely to get two different answers. Based on previous ATF policy wordage, the best I was able to find was less than 2 per year.

reply to post by JBA2848


you are legally allowed to make it them for personal use, as long as the do not fall under the NFA. So it is legal to purchase an 80% lower and finish it yourself. You just better not sell it then you are " In the business of dealing and manufacturing firearms without a license"

Just as it is legal to make your own beer and wine for personal consumption, if you sell it, your are in deep do do

reply to post by netwarrior


www.law.cornell.edu...

a) No person shall engage in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in firearms, or importing or manufacturing ammunition, until he has filed an application with and received a license to do so from the Attorney General. The application shall be in such form and contain only that information necessary to determine eligibility for licensing as the Attorney General shall by regulation prescribe and shall include a photograph and fingerprints of the applicant. Each applicant shall pay a fee for obtaining such a license, a separate fee being required for each place in which the applicant is to do business, as follows: (1) If the applicant is a manufacturer— (A) of destructive devices, ammunition for destructive devices or armor piercing ammunition, a fee of $1,000 per year; (B) of firearms other than destructive devices, a fee of $50 per year; or (C) of ammunition for firearms, other than ammunition for destructive devices or armor piercing ammunition, a fee of $10 per year.

importing, manufacturing, or dealing in firearms, or importing or manufacturing ammunition

All the or's in there means any one of those is illegal by itself not just all combinations.

two things, first off, if you make it for yourself you are not " in the business of" secondly, if you remove the business aspect, and it is for personal use, not to be transferred in anyway, then the federal government has zero jurisdiction over it, and it is up to local and state laws

To make my point, it says the manufacture of ammunition, well, it is perfectly legal to reload you ammo. you can to thousands of websites and brick and mortar stores and buy the required components and tools all day long.

reply to post by JBA2848


Explanation:

No person shall engage in the business

Read again OK!

Personal Disclosure: Business implies trade and money and commerce!

There is no commerce in making your own weapons that are not for sale and or distribution to 'others'.