Making a firearm

D

Deltayo

Inactive
I'm interested in making a rifle for my own personal use. How old must I be, and what paperwork must I fill out? I am also presiding in California.
 
I'd love to sit in a workshop and create for myself a Delisle silent carbine.

I've wanted one of those for as long as I can remember.

Alas, I am unable to afford the raw materials and the tools required. until such time as I can I will be too damn lazy to look up the local laws and regulations.

One thing at a time
 
Lots of people manufacture their own rifles. Most of them use 80% complete AR-15 recievers and machine them out themsleves. You do not need to fill out any paperwork at all in order to meet Federal Law. State law in California probably requires regisatration after manufacture, but I would research it. Your local Sherrif's office will be clueless, so don't bother. Do a solid internet search and you will likely turn up the statutes.


Willie

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Lots of people manufacture their own rifles. Most of them use 80% complete AR-15 recievers and machine them out themsleves. You do not need to fill out any paperwork at all in order to meet Federal Law. State law in California probably requires regisatration after manufacture, but I would research it. Your local Sherrif's office will be clueless, so don't bother. Do a solid internet search and you will likely turn up the statutes.
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Pretty sure he's a troll, so it's probably a moot point. But technically, the receiver is the firearm, so buying the lower would be the same as buying any other firearm in California. Whether you buy the rest of the parts or machine them yourself somehow, you aren't manufacturing a firearm, you're just building a rifle.
 
@coachteet, technically an 80% AR receiver is just a hunk of metal and subject to no regulation. By finishing it you are in fact manufacturing a firearm in the eyes of the law.
 
I should have made my post less vague. I plan on making a lever-action rifle by putting together a factory barrel and other parts such as the stock assembly. I have very little machining experience which I intend to expand through some classes I am currently enrolled in. Whatever parts I cannot purchase, I plan on machining myself (mainly the receiver and trigger assembly).
 
I would not finish making the lower receiver until after you're legally 18. While you're not "buying/transferring" the receiver, California can be scary with that stuff.

I must plead ignorant on whether you need to register your firearm, however there was a new law that started in Cali during 2013 regarding long gun registration. I wont be buying a new long gun in California ever, however, you may want to look up the new policy. It may or may not pertain to making your own.

I waited til 22 to get mine purely to avoid all issues regarding age.
 
Making a lever action rifle with no machining experience??? You're way off the mark - this is not the kind of project a novice can tackle. I don't think you can even find an 80% receiver to just do the finish work on in a lever action.
 
So you can legally make a firearm without a license? I would assume that would vary from state to state. I had never heard that.
 
coachfeet said:
So you can legally make a firearm without a license? I would assume that would vary from state to state. I had never heard that.
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Making your own firearm is 100 percent legal under Federal law ... as long as you don't make a machine gun or some other type of firearm that's an NFA weapon. While this is the logic behind the so-called "80 percent" receivers, it also allows for people with more skills and a good milling machine to start with a block of metal and a blueprint.

It's also legal under the laws of most states. I suspect that any problems under state laws would derive not from the act of manufacturing the firearm, but with laws that would apply to ownership or registration of the firearm once it has been completed. For example, in some states you can possess a rifle at 18 years of age but you need to be 21 to possess a handgun. So you can manufacture your own 1911, but if you're 18 it's not legal to possess it once the receiver passes 80 percent of completion.
 
I have very little machining experience which I intend to expand through some classes I am currently enrolled in.
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This is not the project to hone your skills on. I have been a machinist/engineer (BA to prove it) for over 20 years. Take it from someone who has been there. Make things that dont threaten your life when they dont work first. You can easily create stress in the wrong part merely by choosing the wrong type of endmill for an operation.
 
I did not asked for advice and dissuasion for my future project, I just requested legal information on making firearms for personal use. Thank you to those who have given me what I asked for, and I will continue onto Calguns for further information. I appreciate those who express a concern for my safety due to my naivete and ignorance in the machining field, but I doubt I will be as such forever.
 
^^^

Summary:

1: You can machine whatever you like to, under federal law, without any legal issues. If you are taking a CNC class and want this to be a graduation project, or whatever, go for it. It's not rocket science.

2: Ownership of the receiver is age restricted. A receiver that is not yet assembled as a rifle is a "neither a rifle nor a pistol" receiver, and as such, since it COULD be made into a pistol would normally only be sold to someone 21 or over if sold by an FFL. BUT that's only for a FEDERALLY LICENSED sale, and does not affect you. You will be OK at 18.

3: California State Law might very well require registration. Research this.


And good luck, once you start making things like this you'll never stop.


Willie

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