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**Aguila Blanca** · July 6, 2013, 08:05 AM

What does this book mean by buying an "action"? Are they referring to a trigger group that drops into a receiver, or are they talking about something like an AR-15 lower receiver (complete or stripped)? The BATFE considers a receiver to be "the" firearm. That's the part that, in commercial production, gets the serial number. Nothing else is regulated (except in a few backwards states that consider themselves forward).

Let's use the AR-15 as an example. While you can actually fire up a lathe and milling machine and fabricate all the parts yourself, you can also buy everything needed and just put them together to make a rifle. This is often referred to as "building" your own AR-15, but it might more properly be termed "assembling" your own rifle. If you go that route, the lower receiver will carry a manufacturer's name and a serial number and you will have to take delivery of the lower receiver through an FFL, just as if it were a complete firearm.

Or ... you can get a blueprint, buy an ingot of aluminum alloy, and machine your own lower receiver. If you do this, as Brian Pfleuger noted above, no FFL is necessary (under federal law -- some state will have their own laws). You don't need to buy the ingot through an FFL, and YOU don't need to be an FFL to fabricate your own, personal firearm for your own, personal use.

July 6, 2013, 08:05 AM	#3
Aguila Blanca Staff Join Date: September 25, 2008 Location: CONUS Posts: 18,468	What does this book mean by buying an "action"? Are they referring to a trigger group that drops into a receiver, or are they talking about something like an AR-15 lower receiver (complete or stripped)? The BATFE considers a receiver to be "the" firearm. That's the part that, in commercial production, gets the serial number. Nothing else is regulated (except in a few backwards states that consider themselves forward). Let's use the AR-15 as an example. While you can actually fire up a lathe and milling machine and fabricate all the parts yourself, you can also buy everything needed and just put them together to make a rifle. This is often referred to as "building" your own AR-15, but it might more properly be termed "assembling" your own rifle. If you go that route, the lower receiver will carry a manufacturer's name and a serial number and you will have to take delivery of the lower receiver through an FFL, just as if it were a complete firearm. Or ... you can get a blueprint, buy an ingot of aluminum alloy, and machine your own lower receiver. If you do this, as Brian Pfleuger noted above, no FFL is necessary (under federal law -- some state will have their own laws). You don't need to buy the ingot through an FFL, and YOU don't need to be an FFL to fabricate your own, personal firearm for your own, personal use.