Anyone know current turn around times on can apps?

[tahunua001]

hello all,
I'm part of an NFA trust. we put in for a couple of cans here about a week before ATF posted the deadline for the new fingerprinting rules. I'm hoping they approve it before the deadline and the jerks turn it down, but I was just wondering if anyone has a guestimate on the current turn around time on apps.

[Sharkbite]

My last 2 came in at 5 mo and 4.5 mo respectively.

As long as you have your application post marked before the deadline it will be processed under the current rules. Only AFTER that date do the new rules take over.

[Theohazard]

My shop is currently seeing Form 4s take anywhere from 3.5 to 6.5 months from when we send them out to when they're mailed back to us. The ATF seems to be sending them back to us less frequently but in larger batches than normal, and we're seeing more than normal that are approved and then not being sent to us for over a month.

And Sharkbite is 100% right; as long as your forms were mailed off to the ATF and postmarked before July 13th, you still go by the current rules.

[CCCLVII]

been out of the loop for a while. What are the new rules?

[Rob62]

CCCLVII - Here is a pretty good break down of the issue and what happens in July.

https://silencerco.com/blog/2016/02/...about-atf-41f/

[tahunua001]

thanks for the info guys. I didn't know that they were grandfathering in predated post marks. that's a relief.

[Mobuck]

More than 3 months

[Vt.birdhunter]

Buddy in VT. is taking possession of his first can today.
He submitted his application end of January. The square wheels of bureaucracy turned pretty quick on this one

[Chainsaw.]

Im at 4.5 months with no word.

[Chainsaw.]

Just got mine. Just shy of five months.

[lockedcj7]

Dropped my paperwork off at the dealer in mid January and they called on Thursday. Picked up can on Friday.

[Handloader109]

Form 4 first suppressor, sent in from dealer December 27, cashed check Jan 10th and received stamp May 10th

[Mobuck]

"More than 3 months"

I'm at about 4.5 months now.

[Footslogger]

Over the years times have varied wildly.

In 2008 it took six weeks for my SBR.

In 2014 it took 38 weeks for my .22 can.

[tahunua001]

well that's discouraging considering that I still have yet to get the paperwork back on mine.

[Mobuck]

"I'm at about 4.5 months now."
I made that post in May and still waiting on that electronic Form 1--going on 9 months.
Talked to SilencerCo today and that one may be in hand by X-mas(maybe before if I'm lucky).

[bbqncigars]

A good site for this is nfatracker.

[vtchopperdude]

5 months for my Octane 9HD

[TMD]

In the last few weeks leading up to the deadline the ATF got swamped with form 1's and 4's. People getting theirs back now were submitted about 5-6 months ago but I'm betting people who submitted in that last few weeks will probably be seeing a 12-15 month wait. If you look back at the wait times over the last 8 years you will see when the panic buying took place and how the wait times skyrocketed. Back in 2012 I bought two cans and the wait was 50 weeks. A few months after I bought mine the school shooting in Conn. happened. Immediately there was another panic buy and the wait times climbed as high as 18 months. After things calmed down and purchases slowed the wait times dropped rapidly. Early last year I bought another can and filed for two SBR's. That time the time to file till I got my stamps was between 90-120 days.

[Chainsaw.]

Mine took 5 months. If your paperwork was in before the deadline you fall under the old rules.

[taymag]

I still look at all the tracking info and all that, but in the end it is pointless in my opinion. In December it was showing 90 days for some, anyone filing then was happy, but people filing then ended up waiting 180 days. If the current wait time is 200 days, that's what the wait time was if filing 200 days ago...

In less than a year times doubled, hopefully in another year they're cut in half.

I would LIKE to think the ATF will bring in more people since 41f and wait times will hover around the same time. I think they would have to, if they didn't wait times would have to be 2 years with the amount of forms they probably got the last 6 months

[TMD]

I would LIKE to think the ATF will bring in more people since 41f and wait times will hover around the same time. I think they would have to, if they didn't wait times would have to be 2 years with the amount of forms they probably got the last 6 months

Processing a form 1 or 4 under 41f isn't going to take the atf any longer than if it was filed under the old rules. The reason the atf tracker is up to 200 days and climbing is because of the flood of panic buying by people who wanted to get their app in before 41f kicked in. I guess if I planned on never ever buying a nfa item again I would have done the same. Funny thing is most of the people who filed already have one or more stamps and will likely get another in the future. They panic bought for no reason other than not wanting to get finger printed or a photo taken which you already had to do if you didn't have a trust.

[Machineguntony]

From what I hear, the sales of NFA items, of which silencers account for the vast bulk, have recently ground to a slow crawl. I'm curious if others who work in the business report the same thing.

Either people spent their entire NFA wad trying to beat the deadline, or people are reluctant to purchase under the new rules, wherein now everyone in the trust has to be fingerprinted.

I know Theo works in the business. What's your take, Theo?

The slow down in sales might be good or bad, depending on your perspective. Bad if you're trying to make a living selling such things, but good if the wait is like 30-60 days because no one is buying/submitting (I'm still very skeptical when some of the old timers tell me that the wait was week in the old days).

[Theohazard]

We haven't got any stamps back in a while now. I'm guessing it's been over a month, but that's just off the top of my head (I'm off now and I can't check at the moment).

In the last several months we've seen two main changes: First, wait times are going up drastically. Second, forms are being approved but it's taking them up to a month or more to send them back to us. At least once a week I get a call from a customer who says he contacted the NFA branch and they said his Form 4 was approved and he's wondering why we haven't called him yet. It usually takes me several minutes to explain that no, we didn't forget to call him and no, the ATF probably didn't lose it; the NFA branch is just taking a longer time than usual to both approve the forms and send them back.

Twice now we've had customers who called the NFA branch, were told their forms were approved, called us and found out that we didn't have them yet, and then filed with the ATF for replacement of lost forms. The ATF then sent us a certified copy of their Form 4 (a copy that doesn't have a tax stamp on it) that replaces their "lost" Form 4 so we can release their NFA item to them. And in both cases, their actual "lost" Form 4 with the tax stamp on it showed up in the mail a few weeks later.

I really wish people would stop constantly calling the ATF and requesting a status on their forms. And if they are told their form is approved I wish they'd give it a month or two before they start asking the ATF for a replacement form. All that does is slow down the system for all of us.

It's pretty simple: There was a HUGE increase in forms sent in to the NFA branch as everyone tried to get in before the 41F change. I know I did; before 41F was finalized in January I was worried I'd need a sign off that was impossible to get. And after 41F was finalized I knew I had to get in before the deadline because my wife is on my trust and she refuses to be fingerprinted or photographed for my next NFA item.

The Form 4 for my last NFA item (my Mask HD) was sent off on December 11th and was approved exactly four months later on April 11th. And it took less than two weeks for them to send it back. Now, we haven't seen anything come back from after the last week of January. I submitted the Form 4 for my LMT SBR in the first week of February and I'm still waiting. And wouldn't be surprised if I had to wait a while longer.

[9x19]

Theo,

How are sales these days compared to before 41f took effect?