Anyone have recent experience with ATF wait times?

[Machineguntony]

It has been 9 months, and still no stamp. According to ATF, I have two more months to wait. Unless efiled, 11 months total, last I checked.

[Sharkbite]

I sent my first Eform in on Dec 1. Emailed BATF today asking what to expect for wait times. The reply was "Expect 4-6 months"

No specifics on my form. Just a generic time frame

[Machineguntony]

Efiling is significantly faster than paper filing.

Believe it or not, there are some dealers who refuse or do not know how to efile. They insist on paper filing, which adds many months to the process. I bought from a dealer who refuses to efile, despite my pleas.

I was at another class 3 dealer when a gentleman picked up his silencers and he got all huffy, maybe jokingly, when he asked why he didn't receive an actual stamp, like in the old days.

Some people are just old fashioned.

[Sharkbite]

Ive got stamps backed up like air traffic into LAX.

The waiting is tough

[Machineguntony]

You know what makes the wait even tougher, Shark?

I was at the store when some dude, who efiled 5 months ago picks up his stamp, while I am going on 9.5 months. Grrrrrr.

[Sharkbite]

I cant even comprehend waiting a year to get my stuff

It was the ability to Efile that prompted me to get off my butt and jump into NFA stuff.

Now im waiting on 1 SBR and 3 cans. Should have all in my safe before June

I dont understand dealers not doing efile. Even if only as a cust service thing. But i guess if they are paid 100% up front they have no incentive to speed the process up.

[Machineguntony]

If anyone buys off of gunbroker, do not assume that the dealer will efile. Some of them will not or do not efile. You will be waiting 11-12 months if paper filed. I am learning the hard way.

One dealer told me that an examiner said that the ATF is 80,000 paper files behind, and because of the influx of applications, the line is moving like molasses in snow.

[Tom Servo]

I dont understand dealers not doing efile. Even if only as a cust service thing. But i guess if they are paid 100% up front they have no incentive to speed the process up.

A lot of that may be due to technical issues. The site is nearly impossible to access most of the time. The ATF has acknowledged that the system is shut down for reboot for several hours a day, most of those times being during business hours. During what windows of operation do exist, tons of users flood in trying to access the system, which also causes it to crash.

It's possible to get through, but even then, the system will kick the user out. Right now, it's a logistical disaster. I've been trying to get one filed for the last week and a half, and I've poured about 9 man-hours into that one form.

If it gets to working the way it should, it'll be a real asset. The problem is, it rarely does.

[Machineguntony]

I called the ATF today and checked on all my NFA toys, a boatload of 'em, from suppressors to FA rifles.

The person, Mary, who answered the phone recognized me. She said that the wait, from the pending date (not from the check cashed date) is now TEN MONTHS! And it may get longer because they are really backed up. BARF!

What the hell?! I remember reading some regulations somewhere that the ATF was striving to get stamps back in 9 months max.

This pushes me back to late June, and I bought my first NFA items in early June of 2013. They cashed my check in late June, but the forms didn't go pending until late August. So 2.5 months for a form to go pending, and then ten more months from the pending date. OMG!

At this pace, I won't be shooting my M60 until late 2015 or early 2016. Wow the wait is painful.

[kinoons]

I received a stamp two weeks ago for a SBR I sent off 10 months ago, so the 10 month number is just about right, at this moment.

[Machineguntony]

Is that ten months from when you sent off the paperwork? When did you first file? I filed in early June of 2013, and I'm still twiddling my thumbs.

For me, it has been 9 months already. It took a week for my check to clear. Then two months for the the paperwork to start pending. It is now ten months from the pending date, according to the lady on the phone. I'm hoping to get my stamps next month, according to what you say. That'd be sweet.

The pain of the wait.

Congrats. I'm very jealous.

[Willie Lowman]

It depends on what inspector you have. Some of them are faster than others.

[Elkins45]

I sent a paper Form 1 on 4-6-13 and the stamp arrived 2-8-14. Almost exactly 10 months. I bought a can on a Form 4 earlier but the dealer dragged his feet and didn't submit the form until 4-20. That stamp arrived 2-24. Almost exactly 10 months. I'm just happy I got in before the CLEO signoff for trusts is implemented, assuming it is.

I efiled a Form 1 on 12-12. Still waiting on it.

[Oldshotout]

Something has to be able to be done to improve this Federal disaster. If I were applying for food stamps, welfare or a job with Social Services I would be investigated front and back. In my state and county that process takes about 3 weeks, max. If it took that long for people to get those benefits they would be revolting, And rightly so.
What they would do is scream for the government to hire more employees to process their claims. What is the difference here, other than people eating and surviving is not the issue. But we should not have to wait for a government agency to spend one year or more processing an application that a gun dealer can do instantly when buying a handgun.
I just called ATF in WV on one of my Form 1 forms and was told it would be December, 2014 for one that I filed last November (2013).
This is absolutely ridiculous and it's more ridiculous to just sit back and not do anything about it but send emails to online forums. I've spoken with my congressman three times and he just gives me the old political crap about "looking into it".

[Sharkbite]

Ive got a bunch of Eforms waiting on stamps. My dealer says he is getting back stamps via eforms at the 5 month mark now

Nov 2013 eforms coming back now...

[GoingQuiet]

Stack of Form 4's came in this week.

At 10 months.

[Machineguntony]

I don't understand if it is 10 months from the date the ATF cashed the check or 10 months from the pending date. I hear everyone saying that it is ten months from the date the check is cashed, but the ladies at the ATF phone center says it is 10 months from the pending date.

Also, ATF tracker has some people showing a wait of 11 months.

OMG. This sucks so bad. I am now at 9 months and three weeks. This is why when I hear Brady, MAIG, OR Moms Demand Action say, "it's common sense to do background checks, I think...barrrfffffff". These are probably the types of background checks that they really have in mind. Just ridiculous.

[Tom Servo]

The background check isn't what takes 10 months; it's the filing of paperwork by a very small staff.

I had one come back Saturday that had been filed on 03/21/2013. That's the worst, but the best I've seen was submitted last June.

[Machineguntony]

I finally have my first ever stamps.

Made a big purchase of silencers on June 8, 2013. Got all my stamps today on April 7, 2014. One day short of ten months.

Hopefully my machine guns come soon.

These were all paper filed, btw.

[Sharkbite]

Congrats dude

Hoping the efile stoppage doesnt hurt the ones ive got coming

[Machineguntony]

First, the ladies at the NFA hotline are not correct, with all due respect to them, as they were very kind and helpful. They tell you that it is X months from the PENDING date. Or maybe they're correct, but the examiners are getting faster.

I had several suppressors. All purchased on same day. Stamps came in one day short of ten months from the date of purchase. The tax checks cleared a week after purchase, but for some reason, the applications did not go pending until three months later. Ten months form the pending date meant I would have received my stamps in late May, instead I got them early April.

As for my machine guns, I purchased them around the same time, within a month period. The checks each cleared a week after issuance, and the applications went into pending a month later.

I purchased the machine guns 1-2 months after I purchased the silencers, so I did not expect the guns until June. Instead, all the guns came in about one day after the silencer stamps came in.

I had different examiners, btw.

As another point of reference, it took ten days from the approval date until the time that the dealer had stamps arrive, via USPS, and in the dealers' hand. Once the dealers had stamps in their hands, it took me .5 milliseconds to run to the dealers, and pick them up and jump for joy.

[balyon85]

...my first form 1 has come back approved! Only took from August 7th, 2013 (when I dated my signature) to April 9th, 2014 (when they dated their signature) to come back!

[kawasakifreak77]

Got my can in! Local dealer had it in stock, I paper filed.

Mailed it off Sep. 10th 2013

Received stamp Jun. 10th 2014

9 months to the day.

Was shooting it on my bolt gun (300blk) with subs the next morning. There are pellet rifles that make more noise than this thing! Best gun related purchase ever!

[Theohazard]

Originally Posted by kawasakifreak77

Best gun related purchase ever!

Isn't it? I've noticed that most gun owners who have no interest in owning a silencer haven't ever actually shot one. But once they shoot one, they want one of their own. Or a bunch!

By the way, what can did you get?

[kawasakifreak77]

You're right about that. I always had an interest in them even as a young boy studying several designs including the original Maxim. It wasn't until here recently I relocated & a local dealer having some in stock I got serious.

We went out to shoot with a Kestrel & a YHM Phantom. Host was my AAC Micro 7. The YHM absolutely blew the Kestrel away even though I wasn't hip to the QD. I purchased the YHM that day.

I could have gotten a pricier can but I still feel really good about my purchase as they say bang for buck the YHM is dang hard to beat. Now that I've gotten used to having the QD I'm glad I got it. I never have to worry about the threads on the barrel itself getting messed up & it'd basically be impossible to mess up the crown.

Everybody complains about the weight & yeah at first it totally messes up the balance of a trim carbine. Once again getting used to it I like it more now & haven't shot unsuppressed since. The balance is like a big automatic shotgun now & I feel my offhand shooting is actually steadier now with the extra weight up front.

Overall I'm tickled freakin' pink!