I have a pending sale to a MN member, and he wants to drive here to pick it up. We have a FFL willing to do the transfer, but now we're running into snags finding out whether it would be a legal transfer-can a MN resident buy an AR out of state, or do we have to arrange payment through a MN FFL? Still not a problem, just makes it one more step to stay legal.

How far out are you? Might be cheaper and easier to mail to an FFL in MN and be done with it.

If the trasaction would be happening in Iowa it would only fall under IA and Federal laws

as a ND FFL I can sell long guns to MN residents... but maybe your state has a different law concerning assault style firearms for MN residents????   the laws of the state where the transaction takes place is what rules the day.  I will check ND laws again...
I have been told MN dealers have to transfer to a ND dealer in the case of assault style weapons,... and handguns, of course.

so many laws, so confusing and so much bullshit.  no matter what the assholes in washington do,  bad guys will do bad things.

Well said, and we went the safe route, transferring through a FFL in Albert Lea. Went as painless as a headache caused by one of our 20,000 gun laws can be. Good buyer, paid, filled out the paperwork and took his gun.

Before I had my permit to purchase, I was refused the sale of a M&P 15-22 at a Scheels in Wisconsin. They said I needed to show my MN permit

I believe it's legal in contiguous states as long as the seller and buyer comply with MN law; i.e. the seller needs to see a permit to purchase and the buyer needs to have one. (Or a CCW).

This means an MN resident couldn't buy a rifle in Nebraska, but can in say Illinois...

OP has taken care of question but for background - back in the day working at Gander we were told both states laws had to be addressed.  To the point we had to contact the other buyer's home state local PD to make sure the weapon was legal there if they bought it in MN.

From the ATF website:

Contiguous States. The “contiguous state” provisions of the Gun Control Act (GCA), as enacted in 1968, allowed nonlicensed purchasers to acquire long guns from Federal firearms licensees (FFLs) located in a State contiguous to the State in which the purchaser resided if (1) the purchaser’s State of residence permitted such sale and (2) the sale fully complied with the legal conditions of sale in both such contiguous states.

This provision of the GCA was amended in 1986 to allow FFLs to sell or dispose of long guns to residents of any other state (not just contiguous states) provided — (1) the transferee meets in person with the FFL to accomplish the transfer; and (2) the sale, delivery and receipt fully comply with the legal conditions of sale in the buyer’s and seller’s States.

A number of States patterned their laws after the original provision of the GCA that allows nonresidents to purchase long guns from FFLs only in contiguous states. Many of those States have not revised their laws to reflect the 1986 amendments to the GCA that allow over-the-counter sales of long guns to residents of any State, as outlined above. This has caused confusion among FFLs, who often read such “contiguous state” State laws as prohibiting sales to residents of noncontiguous states.

ATF does not read State laws that refer to “contiguous states” as prohibiting sales of long guns to residents of noncontiguous states unless the language contained in that State’s law expressly prohibits residents from acquiring firearms outside that State. Thus, if the language in the State laws authorizes sales of long guns to residents of contiguous states, that State law also authorizes the sale of long guns to residents of all other states.

I did purchase my first AR in WI in 2007 without a permit, I had no idea I needed one at that point, and obviously neither did the FFL