Anyone know current turn around times on can apps?

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
 
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
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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.
 
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).
 
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.
 
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9x19 said:
Theo,

How are sales these days compared to before 41f took effect?
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Sales of NFA items are much lower than they were in June and the first two weeks of July, that's for sure. And we're still not selling at the same rate we were at any time since December. But sales are increasing slowly as more and more people learn the new rules. I'm also seeing lots of customers who always were skeptical of the trust route but are now buying NFA items because they don't need a trust anymore (it was virtually impossible to get a sign-off anywhere in this area).
 
I bought a Thunder Beast 30P-1 on 1-13-16,the Form 4 was approved 8-31-16,and the FFL called me yesterday that they finally received it.

4 days shy of 8 months from date of purchase.
 
I talked to the two local dealers on Thursday and both report sales of silencers have completely flat-lined since July (neither stocks MGs, SBSs, or SBRs). The most recent approvals they've received were on Forms submitted in Feb.
 
Today we got over 50 stamps in that were sent out between mid-January and mid-February. And one of those was for my LMT SBR (my seventh tax stamp but my first SBR). It's nice to see that the freeze on Form 4s seems to be over. Now let's see how long until the next batch comes in...
 
NFA Timeline

Mine took 14 months, but I purchased mine from an out of state dealer. It had to be transferred to my dealer and then transferred again from my dealer to me. Gotta love the red tape !
 
I Work For a Class 3 Dealer In PA

Our approvals are backed up 9-11 months now. I just had a guy get his stamp 3 days ago. We submitted his paperwork 12/19/15 (give or take a couple).

Basically submit your paperwork, find a wife, have a baby, then you get your can. ;)
 
The HPA's passage would be nice, but...

One local dealer is getting out of the silencer business, says before 41F he'd sell a couple per week, since July he's sold one. He has an estimated $15K in inventory which is money he could use on things that sell. He's already made contact with another local class 3 that will take all his inventory. He's not happy that ATFE can change rules on a whim when doing so has such a deleterious effect on a dealer's business.
 
The HPA's passage would be nice, but...

One local dealer is getting out of the silencer business, says before 41F he'd sell a couple per week, since July he's sold one. He has an estimated $15K in inventory which is money he could use on things that sell. He's already made contact with another local class 3 that will take all his inventory. He's not happy that ATFE can change rules on a whim when doing so has such a deleterious effect on a dealer's business.
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I bet your dealer left out the fact that he probably sold dozens a week in the weeks leading up to 41F. Lots of people who were on the fence about purchasing one or people who planned on purchasing in the future bought early to beat the deadline. In a few months sales will return to normal.
 
No, he didn't have a rush on sales here... this is mostly rural farm and ranch country with strong traditional attitudes toward guns and hunting. The fact he sold two per week surprised both of us, but it was pretty consistent before the rule change.

He has Silencerco, AAC, YHM and a few others in stock (I don't remember all of them), so it's not like he's selling the least popular brands.
 
Purchased Jan 28.
Check Cashed March 22
Approved Oct 26
Received Nov 10

288 day jail sentence..

Form 4 on a trust.

Last year, purchase made about the same time of the year took 143 days..
 
You'd think with less cans, etc., being purchased post-July 14th, there are less F4s going into BATFE for their examiners to review; hence, you'd expect to see turn-around times on approved F4s shrinking. :confused:
 
Just before the deadline, some companies brought in truckloads of completed forms to make the deadline. It takes the ATF 3 to 6 weeks to cash your check, and put your form into the system. Despite all that needs to happen on a Form 4 trust is to check out the form, and verify that the trust is in order, well, it still took a long time for mine. 218 days.. Another 16 days to mail it back.. Mind you, I paid for it on the 28 of January- figuring that I was "beating the rush" that was sure to ensue somewhere around July...

I pity the FFL's that sell only suppressors or sell suppressors mainly.. If nothing changes, I'd bet that a form turned in today will take nearly a year to complete; most people don't want to pay for something, and wait a year or more to get it. Personally, I probably won't consider another can for 6 months to a year.. If the bill for taking suppressors off the NFA gets passed, that will be their saving grace...
 
Supposedly Trump wants to make buying suppressors the same as buying a gun. That's the way it should be, eliminate the ATFE stamp B.S. and the $200 fee. Pass a background check, pay for it, and walk out the door with it. Protecting what little I have left of my hearing is important to me. Handle it Donald!
 
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