Well, as most of you read, I picked up a new bushy the other day, and thought i got a great deal on a pre-ban. The rifle is configured as such,with matching bushy 16" hb upper. I emailed busmaster my serial number, and this is their reply.

The lower receiver was manufactured on 6-6-94 and that is before the start of the ban, but it was sold as a lower receiver only. We can not document that it was built up into a complete rifle before 9-13-94. I would go back to the dealer and see if he can provide any documentation that it was built into a complete rifle before 9-13-94.

 Thanks, Matt

Can someone please help me find out how i can be sure this is a pre-ban rifle.. Thanks

Matt, the answer to your question is in the response you received from Bushmaster.  Go back to the dealer and see if he can provide documentation that is was assembled into a complete rifle by the date above.

I would take a printed copy of the email with you and show him what Bushmaster said.  If he cannot provide you documentation I would ask him to take the rifle back and provide you with a full refund.  

Good luck!

Well if he only picked it up the other day, it is unlikely it has been sitting on the original dealer's shelf for the past 10 years. The gun has probably changed hands several times.

If Bushmaster cannot provide the name of the dealer they sold it to, then it is unlikely he will be able trace it any further.

It is not possible to "prove" a gun is pre-ban SAW, only thjat it is post-ban non-SAW.

Enjoy your rifle and go shoot it. That is my advice.
Ideally, if you could find the orig owner and get a letter from him stating he assembled it into an AW prior to 9/94, you would have your butt covered. My understanding is that ATF will accept that. ATF letters nothwithstanding, I think they are still obligated to prove you are guilty of some crime, though select federal judge's MMV.
I don't think that, unless you commit some other crime, you have much to worry about. Forget about it. In 1 year no one will care either way. My 2 cents.

ditto. unless you commit a crime with it, make it into a illegal select fire, or turn it into a SBR without the paperwork, you're concerning yourself with nothing.

Yep, people panic way too much about that. Few, if any, people have been procecuted for overly blatent violations of the AWB . A grey area technicality procecution as a sole count would be almost unimaginable . You should worry about dying from an undercooked burger, before you worry about getting in trouble with that Bushie.

The receiver was made before the ban. You bought the rifle with the understanding that it is a pre ban. Where is the problem here? The absolute worst thing that could happen is the ATF could seize the weapon. What are the chances of that? If it troubles you that much you could always call the ATF and ask them to open a case and trace the receiver. Do you know what will happen? If there is no proof that the rifle is a pre ban AW, they will seize it, no one will be prosecuted and you will be out the rifle and your money.

Indulge me while I tell you a story. In 95, I bought what I thought was a Pre ban XM15E2S from a co worker (cop) who had a class II FFL. I found out a few years later that the receiver was post ban. I contacted my now retired co-worker and tried to get my money back or a genuine pre ban rifle. He stone walled me. I found out that he had done the same thing to at least two other guys. That's at least three counts of an FFL Mfg. illegal SAW's. I along with the other guys confronted him about this. He offered to turn them into post bans. I contacted the ATF. They talked to him, he offered me market value for the rifle. I accepted. The ATF confiscated the rifles and no one was prosecuted. That seems to be an example of how concerned the ATF is with the SAW question. Unless there are other charges to accompany it, they couldn't care less.

I appreciate the help guys.. Im not really that concerned with the legal aspect of it, being im a leo, but more the ability to re-sell the rifle as pre-ban without getting myself in a bind.. Thanks for the replies.

Have the words preban on the receipt from the dealer who you bought it from.  The liability shifts to him as he would have sold you an illegal weapon under false pretnses and youd be off the hook... or whoever you sell it to.