are there any BATFE regulations engraving 80 percent lowers that would change the classification from its non-firearm status?

I saw a blog post this week where a guy came up with an 80 percent that he had Russian markings engraved on. The final product is pretty neat, so he blogged on it. I wrote him and asked if he'd just share the digital file if the engravings that he had came up with and he's hesitant in doing that. He proposed that he would order the 80 percents and have them engraved (kind of a mini group buy) and ship them to us. In his pre-planning for all of this he says that one guy said that BATFE has some regs that might render this project dead.

I'm not aware of anything like this. It would as far as I know, just be an engraved paperweight. They'd still be 80 percent lowers, just engraved. No serial numbers, just Russian selector markings and such.


Anyone out there knowledgeable on this?

This is the blog post:
http://blkrfldiv.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-izhmash-300-blk-ar15.html?m=1

Sounds like he wants to make some profit.  Nothing against engraving a paperweight.

This.

If you want those engravings, there's a bunch of firms out there that will do it.  THS, Ident, lots more.

The files can be easily snagged off the internet (they're just jpgs, after all).  Mock up how you want it, send in your 8%, and BAM!  Instant rooskie lower.

 
or etch them yourself at home

I have no idea how to do that. Absolutely none.

My question is what, if any, BATFE regs would prevent this type of project from moving forward?

None, they remain non-firearms until you start hogging out the FCG pocket, you can do anything to them that you want, as long as you don't start the milling process, the BATF really does not care.  They are not under BATF regulation unless they have had the process started.

 
Google search for all the images you want.  You just need them as JPEG files.  You can probably have a member on here clean them up for you in photoshop and save them in whatever file format the engraving place needs them in to run them on their CNC engraver....of course if you're going to go through all that work you might as well just read up on VaderSpade's chemical etching thread and do it yourself at home with some chemicals, a non-automatic battery charger, and some cut vinyl stencils.  


As has been said a few times now, there's nothing preventing it from moving forward.

80% are parts.


As long as you sell them as 80%s. No issue.

If your selling completed 100%.

That is another legal definition to deal with.

But I'm not a lawyer.

Not much fine detail in those designs. Etching would do the job just fine...

This is the long and short of it.

However, there is also another part of it that is geared towards the difference between manufacturing and gunsmithing.

There is some confusion and of course some BATFE wording that doesn't specifically spell out that certain process are not manufacturing so some businesses are taking a conservative approach and saying they can't do that.

In your situation, the bad things that might happen if BATFE decides to bring the hammer down would all be on the part of whoever did the work.

If you search around there are definitely businesses out there that will do what you want.