I'm regretting this already. I used a local FFL holder listed on gunbroker to do a transfer, because he is in my town. When I got there, the Springfield blue box is there and the shipping box isn't. I check the gun and everything is there except the McCormick mag that was supposed to come with it. He says it was not in the package. I call the seller and he says it shipped in the box. Now I am going back to the FFL holder to see if it's in the box, if he hasn't thrown it out or taken it.
Next time I'm going to use someone recommended here. Is it SOP for them to open the package? You'd think he would open it with me present.
I am waiting to hear back from him now.

Dare I ask, did the seller include an itemized packing list in the box?  If he did or if you can get one, you can then ask again where your property is with the documentation to back it up.

Many dealer's will only open a package with the owner present for that very reason. It's quite possible the shipper put the mag in another box he shipped out that day.

The two times I had packages sent to a local FFL by me, he opened them up just to verify the s/n. I can understand that they need to verify what is in the box. According to the NJSP every gun in the store must be accounted for. So if the boys in blue show up and that piece of inventory isn't on the list...they get fined. Who was your local?  (I'm guessing here...Bullet Hole?)

Hey Bad, remember the guy on Rte. 23 Northbound up in Butler? The NJSP shut him down after his second or third violation for incorrect inventory and/or not having everything locked down with some sort of cable or other device. Some of these rules aren't even known by the gun shop themselves. They make up new regulations, don't tell anyone about it and then shut them down.

Again, the state is looking to make it as difficult as possible on us .  

What a prick, ALL the FFLs I have ever delt with would only let me be the one who opens the box.
Get a new FFL fast & Don't look back!  

You should have drop-kicked him in the nuts then raped his wife, and sent his children off to be sex slaves in a foreign country.

My FFL dealer usually likes to finger-fuck my guns, but he's a good friend, so no big deal. He even steals the shipping boxes that mine arrive in so he can use them to mail out his guns. Bastage. The worse thing is when I arrive to pick it up, and he's got three other customers field-stripping my new gun on the shop counter! Then I get the 5 day NICS delay and it sits around for the entire week whilst the entire congregation comes over to play with the latest arrival. By the time I'm 'allowed' by the FBI to pick up my firearm, I'm luckt if its not broken, missing parts, or incorrectly re-assembled.

Moral to this story- Never use an FFL when buying or sending a firearm
just kidding.

How long did you wait after it arrived to drop by? The dealer can't wait forever to get the weapon listed in their bound book, you know. That stuff is all sequential, and unless you are going to drop in the day it arrives, the package would probably be getting opened so the infor could be obtained for the bound book.

My dealer always opens the box and does the paperwork before I arrive for pick up. I've never had a problem with him but I'm not 100% comfortable with it. I would much prefer he would let me open the package when I arrive for the transfer.

Quoted: How long did you wait after it arrived to drop by? The dealer can't wait forever to get the weapon listed in their bound book, you know. That stuff is all sequential, and unless you are going to drop in the day it arrives, the package would probably be getting opened so the infor could be obtained for the bound book.

I was there the same day he called me.
And no, this was not Bullet Hole, but a fellow in Bloomfield. I am waiting to hear back about the mag, I will call tomorrow when he is in the office. I got a bad feeling when he tried pitching me for his business and was very pushy about it.
The seller is not a high volume seller and he SAYS he put it in the box. We'll see what the FFL holder says tomorrow. I'm not going to smear anyone. Worst case I'm out a $30 mag and I find a new FFL to transfer through.

Quoted: I was there the same day he called me.

OK, If I know the buyers coming over, I leave it in the box. Otherwise, like I said, the weapon needs to be entered in the book.

We always open the packages and retain the box(s) they were sent in, especially heandguns UNLESS the person whome we're recieving for asks us not to open the package.
Several things frequently happen: Guns arrive without sufficient documentation, so we have to figure out who it belongs to.  Packages arrive beat to shit, so it's necessary to give the contents a good going over. And guns arrive for someone, but we've no idea who sent them.
We recieve ~15 gun transfers a month, and ship out almost as many. Sooner or later there'll be a problem, even so we've an excellent record.
As soon as a firearm arrives we log it in by make, model, serial number,....and where it came from.
In the case of handguns, the Federal info has to be completed along with a "P12" that's sent to NYSP, and when it's recieved, the same paperwork has to be done again. It's a fifteen minute pain in the ass for each]/u] handgun each way.

The dealer who recieved the pistol for you may have squigged the magazine...having had similar problem myself I make it a point to secure the magazine(s) in such a way that the couldn't "get lost" even to the point of taking a photo before sealing the box.

Here's a HOLY_SHIT! moment:  Two .45's arrived NDA from another "dealer"...opened the box to log them in and they're both loaded and chambered!  The boss really went ape-shit over that one.
ALWAYS CHECK FIRST!

Okay, I called and they dug it out of the box and found the mag. Next time I'll ask for the shipping box.
I'm going to pick it up this afternoon, everything will be cool as long as he doesn't try to put me on the chiropractor's table again

Yeah...its nice when they find the "missing" part. It may have been an honest mistake, but It does seem a bit fishy.  

Quoted: Okay, I called and they dug it out of the box and found the mag. Next time I'll ask for the shipping box. I'm going to pick it up this afternoon, everything will be cool as long as he doesn't try to put me on the chiropractor's table again

My FFL always opens my boxes and gets the paper work ready before I get there.  All 3 of the dealers I have used open the boxes.  

My FFL always opens my boxes and logs in the rifles the day he gets them.   I tell him the day and time that I am going to pick them up and he has the paper work ready and the NICS check done  by the time I get there.

It's not unusual for an FFL to open the box .
Especially in a state with a weapons ban .

my dealer will open the box to log the firearm in his book
but he will keep the box it came in.
good luck on getting your mag