Do I have to ship this from an FFL?

October 06, 2017, 09:36 PM

cmr076

I'm elbow deep into my second zevtec glock build; a g19 this time with no RMR. I'm coming down the home stretch, with just the frame left, and ceracoating. I'm having the guys at Zev do a FINGER GROOVE TEDUCTION, double undercut the trigger guard, and a silica carbide finish (pretty slick, I've just learned about it recently).

Anyways, the gun needs to get to zev in California. They're saying I need to ship from an ffl to them (an ffl), I could have sworn I've sent sig guns to or other gunsmithing work, and they accepted it from me, and shipped it right back to me (maybe I'm misremembering). Doing a transfer makes no sense, I'll have the gun back in a week.

What do you guys say? The ffl to ffl makes no sense to me, just to have gunsmithing work done.

October 06, 2017, 09:43 PM

VBVAGUY

I am not an expert I only play one on TV however I believe anytime you are getting work done on the serialized part and it needs to be shipped, it needs to go through an FFL unless it is the manufacture. Someone will correct me if I am wrong. God Bless

October 06, 2017, 09:50 PM

nshumway

I'll bet it is a Zev requirement. I've had several worked on where I shipped.

October 06, 2017, 09:55 PM

comet24

If you have possession of the gun and it's your gun you can ship it to an FFL yourself.

Now with that said I have heard of FFL that will only accept it if shipped from another FFL.

October 06, 2017, 10:11 PM

cmr076

quote:
Originally posted by comet24:
If you have possession of the gun and it's your gun you can ship it to an FFL yourself.

Now with that said I have heard of FFL that will only accept it if shipped from another FFL.

What about back to me? This adds a good bit of time and cost to the process.

October 06, 2017, 10:20 PM

Balzé Halzé

I recall shipping my pistol to Grayguns quite a few years ago and didn't have to go through an ffl. It then got shipped directly back to me. Must be their policy I imagine.

October 06, 2017, 10:28 PM

comet24

quote:
Originally posted by cmr076:
quote:
Originally posted by comet24:
If you have possession of the gun and it's your gun you can ship it to an FFL yourself.

Now with that said I have heard of FFL that will only accept it if shipped from another FFL.

What about back to me? This adds a good bit of time and cost to the process.

Is the gun yours, you bought it and you filled out a form 4473? You have taken legal possession of the gun before it was shipped out for work. If yes then they can ship it directly to you.

If the gun went from whoever you purchased it from to someone to do work on it and you have yet to take legal position, then it will have to go to an FFL who will then transfer the gun to you.

Again though I have heard of places that will only ship to an FFL even when it's legal to ship to the owner.

FWIW I am not a dealer or anything. I have shipped firearms to have work done and had them shipped back. Haven't done it in a few years though.

October 06, 2017, 10:37 PM

cmr076

quote:
Originally posted by comet24:
quote:
Originally posted by cmr076:
quote:
Originally posted by comet24:
If you have possession of the gun and it's your gun you can ship it to an FFL yourself.

Now with that said I have heard of FFL that will only accept it if shipped from another FFL.

What about back to me? This adds a good bit of time and cost to the process.

Is the gun yours, you bought it and you filled out a form 4473? You have taken legal possession of the gun before it was shipped out for work. If yes then they can ship it directly to you.

If the gun went from whoever you purchased it from to someone to do work on it and you have yet to take legal position, then it will have to go to an FFL who will then transfer the gun to you.

Again though I have heard of places that will only ship to an FFL even when it's legal to ship to the owner.

FWIW I am not a dealer or anything. I have shipped firearms to have work done and had them shipped back. Haven't done it in a few years though.

Right, it's a gun I've owned for a few years. Must be their own policy (sort of annoying they presentedbit like law, even when I called then out in it l)

October 06, 2017, 10:50 PM

henryarnaud

As a general rule, you don't need to use a FFL to ship a gun for gunsmithing or factory service. However, I think this might be the key:

quote:
Originally posted by cmr076:
Anyways, the gun needs to get to zev in California.

CA likely has different rules for such things. I'm not certain about it, but I think it's certainly plausible.

October 06, 2017, 10:59 PM

redleg2/9

From what I understand, the Tinker Bell state has such convoluted regulations that many FFL's refuse to ship anything there.

October 07, 2017, 12:21 AM

slosig

quote:
Originally posted by cmr076:
I'm elbow deep into my second zevtec glock build; a g19 this time with no RMR. I'm coming down the home stretch, with just the frame left, and ceracoating. I'm having the guys at Zev do a FINGER GROOVE TEDUCTION, double undercut the trigger guard, and a silica carbide finish (pretty slick, I've just learned about it recently).

Anyways, the gun needs to get to zev in California. They're saying I need to ship from an ffl to them (an ffl), I could have sworn I've sent sig guns to or other gunsmithing work, and they accepted it from me, and shipped it right back to me (maybe I'm misremembering). Doing a transfer makes no sense, I'll have the gun back in a week.

What do you guys say? The ffl to ffl makes no sense to me, just to have gunsmithing work done.

CA is "difficult". Not only must it be shipped from an FFL, it must be shippped from an FFL who is registered with the DOJ in CA. This is not a Federal thing, this is a CA thing. :-(

Hmmm, maybe I spoke too soon. If you are bored, you can read the below. Per question 2, it may be possible to ship a firearm to a CA FFL directly. It may just be a Zev Tech thing. I've shipped from CA to GGI and GGI has shipped back to me.

https://oag.ca.gov/firearms/cflcfaqs#2

October 07, 2017, 12:27 AM

Chowser

Ask Zev if it is their requirement. Thankfully I have an FFL that doesn't charge me for transfers.

If it falls through, check out Cold Bore Customs in Texas.

October 07, 2017, 12:58 AM

jimmy123x

quote:
Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
I recall shipping my pistol to Grayguns quite a few years ago and didn't have to go through an ffl. It then got shipped directly back to me. Must be their policy I imagine.

It depends on what license Grayguns or the company has for example AND what state they're in.

October 07, 2017, 04:12 AM

egregore

There is no basis in federal law for that. It is possible that California has come up with some horse shit. You can ship to a FFL yourself. However, there is an advantage to using a FFL. They are allowed to use the mail to ship guns to one another. So you could pay your dealer the postage for Priority Mail and a small fee, say $20 or $25, and save money over doing it FedUp's way (overnight).

October 07, 2017, 11:00 AM

cmr076

quote:
Originally posted by Chowser:
Ask Zev if it is their requirement. Thankfully I have an FFL that doesn't charge me for transfers.

If it falls through, check out Cold Bore Customs in Texas.

I'll check them out. The kicker is I get all this done for free (or next to free), which is hard to beat.

October 07, 2017, 12:02 PM

svick25

I was always under the impression parts with serial numbers needed to be shipped through and FFL, could be shipped from private party to FFL, but on the return shipped back to FFL.

Exception being for warranty or repair work from a company factory.

A 6 pack of flower power is the wager on the line here guys