The arsonists of the BATFE thank you for the lead.
I *think* that if you make it yourself and do not transport across State lines or transfer it to someone else, it’s fine. I’m sure another Freeper can confirm/deny this.
Pretty sure you need to do the work yourself.
I have an 80% lower and as I understand it, once the piece is milled it must be registered and if not registered at at that point, then you might have legal issues. Of course I’d like to learn more about it myself.
http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=3&f=4&t=418576
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=187265
http://www.80percentarms.com/pages/faq
http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0218/5770/files/ATF_Letter_Public_Release.pdf?125
http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/firearms-technology.html
Should get you in the right direction. Para C. Line 1. should apply per the atf site as you have a forging.
The law states that you must do the work yourself. A few years ago a company that makes 80% frames for 1911s out in Montana or Idaho had a gathering where you could bring your unfinished receiver and put it on their machines to finish them. The ATF didn’t like it, but there was nothing they could do. I believe that technically, if you put the receiver in the machine and clamp it down and hit the start button, then you are finishing the receiver. The programming is no more than coaching.
ATF&E should be a convenience store.
As someone who might have theoretically built an AK before, the answers above are correct.
Find an AR build party in your area and do the work as a group. You will find someone with the tools and experience to show YOU how to do it.
You must finish the work yourself.
I’ll try to send you a company in California who makes 80%’s.
Their instructions are unbelievably easy.
A caveman could do it.
gimme an hour and when I get home I’ll get you their link.
This is a very timely topic and is in a state of flux right now. The BATFE is cracking down big time on "build parties" in California and since they do not enforce California law but federal law I expect it will be seen elsewhere. I tried to find the thread and references on Calguns.net but they seem to have disappeared which tends to happens when to much information is given or strategy revealed.
Anyway, the background. The rifle above is legal as it sits, even in California, as long as it does not have a magazine with a capacity of greater that 10 rounds inserted. You cannot see it but on the other side it has a magazine lock, known popularly as a "bullet button" that requires a "tool" to release the magazine. After December 31 of this year this rifle would have to be registered when finished. You can still build one yourself but you have to send a "voluntary registration" with the DROS fee and I am uncertain but would assume it needs a serial number to be registered. Naturally this spiked a lot of interest in building AR's before the cutoff date. Rifles owned before the registration requirement are grandfathered and need not be registered, similar to handguns legally possessed in California prior to 1991.
Thus arose the "build party" where 10 or so guys would buy an 80% receiver and get together at someone's house who owned a drill press or a mill and learn how to finish the receiver and assemble the rifle. Then some machine shops saw an opportunity to make some money and started "renting" time on a CNC mill. The mill would have the program loaded and the buildee would push the start button, which was held to be the operation that finished the receiver.
Soon people were lined up outside the doors of these shops and as anyone who has had dealings with the BATFE (I had a Class 1 & Class 6 FFL in the eighties) would tell you, they weren't going to stand for that. One shop, as I recall it was ARES in San Diego, was made the example of and raided and shut down. Then a "cease and desist" letter was sent to the other shops that had been doing the same thing and they stopped and the rest soon followed. According to the legal eagles who have analyzed it the BATFE is concerned about "for profit" manufacturing by entities without a Class 7 license and SOT cranking out unserialized weapons with no paperwork that may be in the possession of prohibited persons. They now look at where the machines used to finish are located and who owns the machines and the premises they are located in. So going to a machine shop and pushing a button to finish a receiver may now constitute a violation of Federal law.
But building one for yourself with you own skills remains completely legal under GCA 68. You can buy one of the new polymer 80% receivers like EP Lowers sells and use a Dremel tool to remove the color coded polymer and there you go. Or you can buy a polymer 80% that comes with an one time use jig and finish it with a drill press. Or if you have a friend with a Bridgeport 0304 in his garage, as I do, who will instruct you in how to run the machine and you manually mill it yourself, as I did and no money changes hands then it's presumably legal.
The finished receiver cannot be transferred to anyone unless you mark it. There are detailed requirements on the markings and as I recall they must include the builders name, city and state and a unique serial number. The marking must be a minimum of 3/16" high and .003" deep but that's only what I remember and you should check to be sure before embarking on that course of action. Also the receiver (or rifle) cannot be sold for profit.
Having completed many PCR-80 lowers you should do the work yourself. While you may give the PCR-80 lower to the machinist, when he returns it to you it is no longer a PCR-80 and is considered a firearm.
You will have to remove it from the machine only.
I am offering no advice or counsel.
I researched the 80% lower issue and my course of action would be, if I were to go that route,
Do the finish work myself with a professional jig.
Stamp it with “1”.
Not transfer it to another person nor transport it across state lines.
