If my brother in SC wants to send a pistol frame for me in FL to work on, does he have to have his FFL send it to my FFL? For the return trip, he will be in FL in 3 weeks, so he will pick it up from me.

Yes, I believe so.

It needs to be sent to your FFL. Your brother can send it directly to your FFL, or he can have his FFL send it.

It is legal for an individual to ship to an FFL, but your FFL, the one who receives it, might not want to receive a handgun shipped by an individual. That is not a question of legality, it is the preference of some FFL's not to receive from individuals -- an (over?) abundance of caution.

It's usually cheaper to have a FFL ship a handgun. FFLs can ship handguns through the USPS, but individuals have to use UPS/FedEx for handguns.

When an individual ships a handgun through UPS/FedEx, it has to go Overnight/Next Day, and typically runs $50-$90+.

A FFL shipping a handgun in a Flat Rate USPS box is ~$10-$20. Even if the FFL charges an additional transfer fee of $20-$30, that's still cheaper.

What you are proposing is a transfer of ownership.

once it gets to FL you will need to fill out a 4473 and go through a background check.

It is then your property.

You can not hand it to him to take back home when he visits since he is not a resident of FL. It will need to then be shipped to an FFL holder in his state where he will fill out a 4473 and go through a background check to regain ownership

If the work you are doing can be done quickly, he can bring it with him on his visit, you can do the work and he can return with it all with out the need to transfer ownership across state lines

There is NO Legal way for him to ship a firearm across State lines for work/repair to a non-FFL holder

quote:

If the work you are doing can be done quickly, he can bring it with him on his visit, you can do the work and he can return with it all with out the need to transfer ownership across state lines

This is the smart thing to do if possible, and will save you both money. Going through an FFL on both ends sounds stupid, but it is the only way to legally handle it...

His FFL shipped it to my FFL today. I ordered some lowers from AIM I will hold off picking them up if they come in first and do the background and forms at the same time if that's legal, when he's here, he can,just use my FFL to send to his?

Its a pistol so anything across state lines is through an FFL. Once you get it from your FFL you want to send it back to him, not him sending it back to himself. As the concept of you giving it to him out of state is problematic.

Always transfer legally which is I am sure what you going to do. Remember ATF will readily prosecute law abiding citizens for minor violations.

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Originally posted by Tommydogg:
If my brother in SC wants to send a pistol frame for me in FL to work on,

So you are an FFL or gunsmith with an FFL?

What you have proposed does not sound legal.

I just sent my 320 to Gray guns this week my gun shop charged me 25.00 to ship it. FedEx was 85.00 from Ga. to Bruce one way. When it comes back my FFL will charge me 20.00 to handle the transfer . So the total is 45.00 less than I could have paid just to get it there.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommydogg:
If my brother in SC wants to send a pistol frame for me in FL to work on, does he have to have his FFL send it to my FFL? For the return trip, he will be in FL in 3 weeks, so he will pick it up from me.

Better description of "frame" ?????
Anything internal? or just a hand gun grip?Best to check local state laws and state shipped to. JMO

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Originally posted by kcl1960:
Better description of "frame" ?????
Anything internal? or just a hand gun grip?Best to check local state laws and state shipped to. JMO

Doesn't matter. The frame is the "firearm" in the eyes of the law, regardless of whether it has any internals or not. Everything else on the gun is just parts.

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Originally posted by 454gun:
I just sent my 320 to Gray guns this week my gun shop charged me 25.00 to ship it. FedEx was 85.00 from Ga. to Bruce one way. When it comes back my FFL will charge me 20.00 to handle the transfer . So the total is 45.00 less than I could have paid just to get it there.

Gray guns can ship directly back to you...

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Originally posted by bubbatime:

quote:

Originally posted by Tommydogg:
If my brother in SC wants to send a pistol frame for me in FL to work on,

So you are an FFL or gunsmith with an FFL?

What you have proposed does not sound legal.

I'm going to cerakote his frame, slide and controls, he dissasemble it and kept all the internal parts from the slide and frame. That's illegal? He is not paying me for it, as he is my brother.

I would have your brother ship it to himself at your address. Don't open it. He can open it when he arrives, and take it back with him.

The battle I have had on this is that UPS really doesn't like to deliver a handgun to a non FFL, even though its perfectly legal as described above.

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by kcl1960:
Better description of "frame" ?????
Anything internal? or just a hand gun grip?Best to check local state laws and state shipped to. JMO

Doesn't matter. The frame is the "firearm" in the eyes of the law, regardless of whether it has any internals or not. Everything else on the gun is just parts.

Not if its a P250 or P320 !

Yup, of course not legal. Who would recommend that.

quote:

Originally posted by kcl1960:
Not if its a P250 or P320 !

Yes, even with a P250/P320. A P250/P320 grip is not a frame. The silver FCU chassis is the frame, and therefore the firearm. The plastic grip module is just a part, like a set of removable grips for a 1911. The internals to the FCU are also just parts.

The P250/P320 frame just happens to be smaller than that on a traditional handgun, and fully enclosed inside the plastic grip.