Lately it seems as if everybody would like to use their AR as their "bump in the night, grab & go" firearm for home protection, and with 30 rounds of 5.56 or .300AAC, who can blame them? The only problem with the traditional AR is that with a 16" barrel, it can become quite cumbersome when attempting to clear your home of potential intruders. One simple fix is to just swap the barrel out to one of a shorter length and you're good to go, right? Not so fast. The ATF has (in my opinion; stupid) restrictions on what you can and can't assemble, build or even put to your shoulder.

Under 26 U.S.C. 5845; 27 CFR 479.11, the ATF regulates certain firearms under the National Firearms Act (NFA) and one of which is considered a Short Barreled Rifle (SBR). An SBR is defined as "a rifle having a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length". So what does that mean? Long story short, in order to acquire one of these fancy guns, you have to get a list of information about your intended firearm such as make, model, serial number, overall length & more, then you have to submit all of that information to the ATF along with a check for $200 made payable to BATFE and wait the long couple months for your tax stamp approval.

So that's it? Well, not quite. The last step is one that has been discussed heavily in online forums, blog posts and magazine articles and I've got news for you - everything you read on the internet isn't true. Once you receive your tax stamp, you MUST then take that NFA item and have it engraved with either your name or the name of your trust and the city and state in which you/the trust resides in. 

Once you get to this stage, you've probably just waited the longest 6+ months of your life, so why bother taking a shortcut now? All too often, we hear horror stories of people dropping their lower off at their local trophy shop and having them engrave the required information onto their lower receiver. I see a couple problems with this. Firstly, I highly doubt the trophy shop has an FFL and can therefor not legally take possession of firearms for the purpose of generating income. Secondly, the trophy shop probably isn't up-to-date with the always-changing laws that the ATF sets in place, so don't expect your engraving to "pass inspection" for lack of a better term. 

This is where we come into play! Other than making PMAG's look awesome, putting your family crest on the side of your lower, or engraving profanities onto a bottle opener for your Brother's birthday, we do NFA Engraving. Not only can we do it, but we do it well. We engrave all NFA Text (Name or Trust, City & State) to ATF Specifications (1/16" High, with a minimum depth of .003") on your SBS or SBR. NFA engraving will be done in standard CAD lettering to ATF specifications unless you're feeling fancy and want something different. We are currently offering this service for only $55! So, if you or someone you know is looking to get NFA engraving done, give us a call, shoot us an email or stop by the shop!

For more information on marking your Form 1 NFA Firearm, check out this video put together by our good buddy Jon over at The Gun Collective!