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Hi, I am looking for some decent tactical shops in the Portland area (Oregon only). I will be visiting family for Thanksgiving and was thinking about purchasing another AR-15 for the holidays. I wanted to purchase it in Oregon with the hope I could save on the wretched Washington sales tax and the FFL fees. Right now, I live in the Seattle area and the tax would take a good chomp for such a purchase. I remember from living there some stores like NW Armory and such, but found them to be a bit on the spendy side.. Also, stores like Wholesale Sports and Cabelas seem to just sell mostly sports-rifles and have limited selection of the more tactical and AR-15 type of rifles. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of some good tactical stores in the PDX areas that may have a decent selection of ARs, SIGs and other military style rifles. I'm not a fan of Fisherman Marine's, so that is out. I remember Keith had a great selection and price for handguns, anyone have any ideas about buying from Keith's for ARs?
 
God, I love that word- tactical! Color anything black, or throw on some useless crap, and suddenly it's "tactical"! They should come out with a new show, "Practical to Tactical". LOL!
 
Any new rifle has an 11% federal tax. If you buy the parts and put it together yourself, you don't pay that.

Now buying the parts in Oregon to save Washington sales tax, I could understand.

My advice would be to buy a lower from an FFL, and then buy the parts you want. Even if it's a complete upper and a complete lower (minus the receiver), you're saving 11%.

So You Want to Buy an AR-15 - Features to Consider
 
God, I love that word- tactical! Color anything black, or throw on some useless crap, and suddenly it's "tactical"! They should come out with a new show, "Practical to Tactical". LOL!

I don't know what term to use.. I just use the word "Tactical" vs "Sports" shop.. Give me a break.. You probably haven't been to Idaho from the sounds of your response.. Stores are either "Tactical" or "Sportsman" .. So, that is why I used the term Tactical, as those stores with that label will have better supply of the black guns/miiltary guns and accessories.. If you have a better term for me to use, I would appreciate it..

Anyone else who can actually help me with my question than ridicule me would be appreciated..

I would love to come for the gun show, but sadly I won't be able to make it to Portland area until Thanksgiving to visit family. The cost in gas for just going to gun show would probably be more than the Sales Tax I would pay getting it locally. I figured since i will be down in the area anyway, I might want to take advantage of it. IS there any gun show around Thanksgiving? I assume if it is next week, then probably not.



Any new rifle has an 11% federal tax. If you buy the parts and put it together yourself, you don't pay that.

Now buying the parts in Oregon to save Washington sales tax, I could understand.

My advice would be to buy a lower from an FFL, and then buy the parts you want. Even if it's a complete upper and a complete lower (minus the receiver), you're saving 11%.

So You Want to Buy an AR-15 - Features to Consider


Wow, back when I purchased my guns there was no such thing as 11% federal tax. That must be a new thing.. So, do I have to pay the 11% in addition to the 10% Washington Sales Tax if I buy locally? It has been a few years since I purchased a rifle. Yes, I rather by the rifle in parts. So, I would not have to pay the tax if I buy a complete upper and a complete lower and install the receiver separately? I am assuming the 11% tax would be on the receiver.

Actually, this gives me a new idea.. Maybe, I can mail order all the parts and just buy the Receiver locally.. That way I can save on both the Federal and State Tax.. This gives me a new idea.. Thanks :D
 
Check out Curts discount shooters supply in miluakie. Best selection of tactical equipment I have found in Portland. And I second the notion of buying a stripped lower in-state and picking up the rest of the pieces sans-tax. OF COURSE you will have to pay the sales tax when you return to WA, not trying to encourage tax evasion! The government needs your money so it can print more!! I just finished my first AR build, with Curt's help, and I couldn't be happier. Curt will build you any upper or lower, to your specs, generally while you wait. If you haven't ever built an AR from parts yourself, I highly suggest it! It was a great learning experience, and very rewarding. Definitely call before you head down, as it is a small shop and they are sometimes closed for vacation/gun shows. I can say that you won't be missing much if you don't make the gun show... Overpriced junk for the most part. I noticed that Curts will be open 9-9 on black Friday, so that may coincide perfectly with your travel plans. Good luck!
 
Thanks a lot guys for this information. I might give him a call and see if he will be available on the days I will be there. I might look into purchasing a lower receiver there. Yeah, I think buying parts would be great and having my AR put together in pieces would be much better. I've never done it before and would love it if I could watch someone do it and teach me how. I have books on it, but never actually tried it and would be worried about making a mistake if I did it myself. I'm probably also lacking the tools. That is one thing I meant to do, but because of time constraints, I've not had the time. I was kind of being lazy when I was thinking of buying a complete AR, as that is never the way I wanted to do it. However, with the whole sales tax/federal tax issue, I think now I will be forced to buy the parts, which is probably a good thing anyway!

I've never been a fan of gun shows, but every now and again I get a good deal, like when I got my Ruger LCR for about $100 less than I saw anywhere else from Keith's.. The guy made me a killer deal. Despite, all the naysayers, I find Keith does drive a hard bargain. Not sure what he has to offer in the AR realm.

Now, I guess my next thread will be for suggestions on barrels , lower receivers, upper receivers, rails, etc.. Does anyone think I should buy all the parts individually or buy complete upper and complete lower (minus receiver)?


P.S. Matt,
Thanks for reminding me about tax evasion.. On that note, I think the whole city of Vancouver, WA is going to be spending time behind bars.. :p
 
Keith's usually has a pretty decent selection of ARs on hand. I paid the same for my SR556FB at Keith's as was available anywhere else in town. I'll have to check out Curt's. From what I read here, it might be worth a look.
 
4Freedom: I put mine together on my coffee table with nothin more than vise-grips, plastic-tape, and a few punches... I think the best part of the experience is the intimate working-knowledge that you gain from putting it together. I have owned an AR for 10 years, and although I knew how everything worked, I definitely wouldn't have felt comfortable enough to work on it myself (handguard and stocks aside, I mean things like trigger, safety, disconnector, etc). Now that I put it together, I'm very comfortable taking it completely apart.
And speaking of Vancouver, I think that they may be collecting quite a bit of new tax revenue from Oregonians, if the pot shops open... Who would have thought that the PDXers would be heading to Vancouver, cause Portland is now so... 'Square'.

Tacticalinsertion: The 11% tax is a federal excise tax that applies to all completed long-guns. Handguns are subject to a 10% tax. It is generally included in the price of the gun; not usually a line-item-charge on the invoice. If you have purchased a gun NEW, from an FFL, you paid the tax, even if they didn't make a big deal about it. It is definitely a good reason to buy ARs as seperate uppers and lowers, and do the difficult task of assembling them yourself! :s0112::s0114:

And re Keith's: I completely agree. In my experience they have always had the lowest sticker prices, though I have never had any luck getting them to knock a few off of said sticker price. They stock XD's new for $30 less than the used ones in the classified section!
 
Check out Curts discount shooters supply in miluakie. Best selection of tactical equipment I have found in Portland. And I second the notion of buying a stripped lower in-state and picking up the rest of the pieces sans-tax.

If an AR-15 is what you want, Curt's Discount is the shop you are looking for.

HOWEVER, the route of taking home a stripped lower receiver @ Curt's and building the rest yourself will not work.

A stripped lower receiver transfers to individuals as "handgun" therefore, you must take possession of the receiver in your state of residence.

The way Curt does this is you buy it in his shop, he sends it to Andrew @ Ortwein International in Vancouver WA (WA FFL), and you fill out the 4473 there and take possession of the receiver.

With that being said, you can purchase a rifle in Oregon w/o paying sales tax. Given the selection of rifles and the Curt's ability to customize on-the-spot (w/o charging for labor), this might actually work out in your favor, financially speaking. And you'd have your project done all at once. What I'd do is call ahead with an idea of what you are looking for--talk to Curt and see if you can't get an estimate and a head-start on tracking down the parts, before you head down.

Even if you're not ready to make a final decision on a build, it's still worth the visit, just to see what's in the shop and get ideas.
 
If an AR-15 is what you want, Curt's Discount is the shop you are looking for.

HOWEVER, the route of taking home a stripped lower receiver @ Curt's and building the rest yourself will not work.

A stripped lower receiver transfers to individuals as "handgun" therefore, you must take possession of the receiver in your state of residence.

The way Curt does this is you buy it in his shop, he sends it to Andrew @ Ortwein International in Vancouver WA (WA FFL), and you fill out the 4473 there and take possession of the receiver.

With that being said, you can purchase a rifle in Oregon w/o paying sales tax. Given the selection of rifles and the Curt's ability to customize on-the-spot (w/o charging for labor), this might actually work out in your favor, financially speaking. And you'd have your project done all at once. What I'd do is call ahead with an idea of what you are looking for--talk to Curt and see if you can't get an estimate and a head-start on tracking down the parts, before you head down.

Even if you're not ready to make a final decision on a build, it's still worth the visit, just to see what's in the shop and get ideas.

No, they do not transfer as "handgun".

Form 4473 (revised April 2012) block #29 transfers the lower as "receiver". This is defined on page six of the form.

The initial assembly (completed lower pinned to a upper) well determine if this become a "pistol/rifle" or "rifle only".
 
No, they do not transfer as "handgun".

Form 4473 (revised April 2012) block #29 transfers the lower as "receiver". This is defined on page six of the form.

The initial assembly (completed lower pinned to a upper) well determine if this become a "pistol/rifle" or "rifle only".

They do transfer as a "handgun/receiver" on the OR state FIC system.

You hit "H" on the first page.

Technically they transfer as a receiver ("RO-receiver only") on the third (computer) page; however, in age requirements and in-state transfer location requirements, they transfer just like a handgun because they can be made into handguns.

Ergo, it is more useful to think of them as handguns in the transfer process.

You can call it a "receiver" all you want, the OP is still in the same position with regard to initial purchase requirements as he would be with a handgun.
 
There has been a lot of good info in this thread and I am sad I never got to see Curt's shop for all the years I lived in the PDX area. It appears unfortunately that I will not be going down to Portland for Thanksgiving, but rather my folks will be coming up to Seattle. However, if I ever go down to PDX , I will certainly have to check out his shop, as it sounds like I would be missing out on a lot, if I don't.

I'm going to post a new thread like this one for Tactical shops in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Now, that I know I can buy the components or a kit and save money on the taxes in this way, I think I have found my solution, regardless of where I am. Also, I am going to post a thread with suggestions about the kits or parts I should buy. I am looking for a rifle of the AR-platform that can be used for bench and long-range shooting with more accuracy than the typical M4 configuration I have with my LMT MRP CQB 16 rifle. I will explain more in the new thread I post.

Thanks for these replies.
 

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