August 2012 Range Report:

Since we haven’t had much in the way of range time the last 6 to 8 weeks this report will be limited to administrative issues.  We’ll cover the visit from our friendly BATFE agentette, our new manufacturing license, NFA transfers and lead times,  new boxes on the 4473 (if you’re Hispanic they’ve segregated you, can you say fast & furious), and of course berate leftists democrat kook types at every opportunity. 

First, about 2 months ago our friendly local BATFE agentette performed a routine inspection of our records.  Although we are not the guilty lot it’s inevitable that a specific body orifice tends to pucker up when you get that phone call (I guess we’ll be prepared for when the IRS calls us to make sure we have our mandatory health care).  However, we were fortunate to have a professional investigator who was not out to put us out of business, fine us, or provide us with new 6x9 accommodations and a roommate named Bubba, who likes men with puckered orifices.

During the inspection Mrs. Smith (this is an alias, if we gave her real name she or her husband, who works for some other nebulous LE agency, I’m sure would be glad to assist us with a one way trip to new accommodations) she inquired about the business and during the explanation we described our passion for our custom built AR-10 rifles.  (About that point alarms were going off and I could tell she was thinking “I’ve got a live one here as she’s mentally reaching for her Sig”.)  Although we had called down town, she confirmed with their lawyer that what we were doing was considered manufacturing.

Fortunately Mrs. Smith didn’t pull out her gun and arrest me on the spot.  However, true to her word and professional courtesy she logged it as a violation along with two other paper work errors and described the process of repenting our sins. 

First, we had to apply for an 07 (MFR) license, then close down the 01 (DLR), roll everything up into the new license, and then ship all our forms off to the BATFE repository.  For each custom rifle we assemble we’ll now have to engrave it with the D9Firearms logo (which looks totally bad-ass).  We’ll be limited to 49 rifles a year to stay under the taxing and State Department (UN) radar.

Overall it was good to get it over with and get back to business.  From an economic perspective we basically dedicated 3 weeks to reviewing 5 years of records a few times over and still found trivial errors.  (We now fully understand when the business channel discusses how worker productivity is on the decline.)  Additionally, we did see one thing that has made our business successful and that is the number of repeat customers we have.

We are expecting by August 30, 2012 to close out our existing license and start using our new license.  If you are planning a transfer please contact us so we can issue the new license to the seller.  We plan to issue our license to several wholesalers and retail shops that we do business with.  Along with this change we will also be increasing our transfer fee to $25. 

Suppressors:

At the time of our inspection we had approximately 103 suppressors pending or in transfer and since then we’ve started to see some improvement in transfer times.  We still currently have over 100 suppressors pending but the NFA boys have hired several new assistants and inspectors to speed up the approval process.

Our inspector is Jason Bowers (we can use his name without going to prison) and we’ve had to call him a few times and again just as Mrs. Smith we’ve found that he is a professional.  We’ve prepared a checklist document that we’ve started providing since the forms we’re getting back were having missing or incorrect information in the prescribed box.  We’re also trying updating our templates to help prevent missed information.

Check List For KS residents:

Form 4 Instructions For Individual: (Fill out both forms)

1.                   Sign Box 15.

2.                   Attach passport photo box 16.

3.                   Local sheriff to fill out box 17& sign.

4.                   Local sheriff to provide two finger print cards.

5.                   Mailing address above box 1.

6.                   Provide $200 personal check per device. 

a.       1 check is fine for multiple devices.

Certification of Compliance:  (Stating you’re a US citizen)

1.                   Sign and date at bottom.

Form 4 Instructions For Trust:  (Fill out both forms)

1.                   Sign Box 15.

2.                   Mailing address above box 1.

3.                   Provide $200 personal check per device. 

Since each suppressor has to go through a form 3 process before it’s assigned to us lead times from the manufacturers have also increased along with the higher demand.  We maintain a minimum monthly standing order with SWR &Silencerco that allows us priority, but doesn’t help us if we get a spike in demand.  However, we have increased our orders but it will take 6 months before we see it.  Our highest demand from Silencerco is the Osprey 45 and Sparrow 22.  We’re also hoping to see more products from those guys in the coming months.

Recently we picked up the Thunder Beast Arms product line and have been very pleased with their products, customer service, and turnaround times.  They only offer rifle suppressors which are made from titanium, which increases the cost.  In the last 4 months we’ve transferred approximately 20 of their suppressors.  The 30P1 is the most popular and adds less than 1lb on the end of your rifle.

We’ve also have standing orders with Yankee Hill Machine, which is a longtime favorite of ours, for several of their rifle suppressors.  YHM offers a solid product and a lower price point.  For a 30cal bench rifle the Phantom stainless steel suppressor is an excellent choice for sound reduction and again the price point.  There titanium series is very good as well and when it comes to quick detach I haven’t found a mount that locks up tighter than theirs.  They’re currently running about 3 – 4 months and we’re expecting a shipment in August.

We’ve ordered a few Liberty suppressors but we’ve not had much enthusiasm for them yet.  Additionally, we’ve only received two of them for clients and haven’t had a chance to take them out.  We’re not discounting them, but we just need to get some more interest before we buy a dozen of them.

We’re also trying to get a line on the Mack Brothers suppressors out of SD.  They look promising and would fit well with our rifles.  Unfortunately we don’t see getting any of these in for a while. 

We’re still working on trying to get more AAC products but contacting them is not an easy task.  One issue we have is that they require payment upon submitting an order without any commitment on delivery.  (The other companies are pay upon receipt of a serial number.)  This makes it a little more difficult but not insurmountable (we just increase your cost) since we have a fairly large capital outlay.  We’ve started offering a prepay discount, which we can’t advertise, to help offset and allow us to continuously place more orders.

New 4473 Forms:

Since the revelations with the fast and furious program became known (of course only after prominent Mexican family members were killed, hundreds of other non-cartel Mexicans were killed, and of course one of our border agents was killed) the BATFE issued new 4473 forms.  It’s apparent they think thatMexicans were just wandering in off the streets buying truckloads of guns only in Arizona (in Sheriff Joe’s backyard, yea right) and bringing them back down to Tijuana to kill other Mexican cartel thugs.

So their infinite wisdom the brain trust at the DOJ has issued new 4473 forms.  They’ve added a box 10a that segregates our Hispanic and Latino clients.  Box 10a requires you to specially identify yourself as a Hispanic or Latino/a or check another box that states you’re not a Hispanic or Latino/a, Box 10b is for the rest of the major ethnic groups.

New T-Shirt Concept:

Barack Built My Business

El Rapido’ y Furioso

(Picture of Mexicans running with guns across the border yelling “Gracias el Presidente”)

D9Firearms.com Mfr.