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80% means that 20% of the machining on the receiver is not done yet. It is completely unable to function and cant even be assembled at this point. at 80% or less, the ATF does not consider it a firearm.
You can order 80% completed parts and then finish the rest yourself and there are no serial numbers required or background checks to purchase.
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the only part that gun stores sell that requires a background check is the 100% finished receiver. For example, you can buy every single part of a 1911 except the receiver without a background check. Same for AR15's.
The part with the serial number is the gun, even if it's stripped bare.
80% refers to an unfinished paperweight, not how much of the firearm is present.
Not quite if I understand it correctly. The definition of "firearm" according to the feds is:
Firearm. Any weapon, including a starter gun, which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; the frame or receiver of any such weapon; any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or any destructive device; but the term shall not include an antique firearm. In the case of a licensed collector, the term shall mean only curios and relics.
Having bought a lower or two for handguns, as well as other components such as complete slides, I can tell you only the lower has ever required an FFL, yet other parts do often carry the same serial number, such as the barrel or slide, depending on the gun. So I would say it's not necessarily the serial number'd part, but the lower/receiver that is regulated, and which is why it's always receivers you find available as 80% complete. You know, for those that are good at metal working, maybe even have a proper shop
Heck, you can even buy everything you need to build a gun from scratch, save for the lower, on the anti-gun site Ebay! No mags above 10-round capacity on there or 80% lowers on there though.
Ok, let me rephrase that. If a firearm only has a single serial number, the part that is bares it is considered the firearm. If it bares multiple serial numbers, the part most likely to fit the definition of receiver is most likely the firearm.
The system is arbitrary, In the case of a AR-15 the lower with the serial number is considered the firearm however it is the upper receiver that most closely represents the ATF definition of receiver. Of course in the case of a home built gun they expect you to match existing conventions. If 1911's have a serial number on the frame then the fame you build is considered the firearm. You can't put a serial number on your slide and call that the firearm.
So if I filled a Glock with hot glue or some other easily removable but still challenging type of resin to which had to be machined what then?
LOL!Here is a 0% lower receiver for sale
http://www.80percentarms.com/products/0-billet-ar-15-lower-receiver