Poly80 Pistol Question

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OK so I have a very specific question and it is going to sound like the typical, 'can I carry...' but it's not, so please read the complete post.

If you already own a glock but you like the grip angle and ergo's of a poly80 lower better, and you remove your already owned glock complete upper - do you think there would be any issue with carrying that setup as your EDC/ defensive firearm?

Keep in mind here is that you already own the original glock from which you took to complete upper (i.e paperwork filed with that serial when purchased at your LGS, FFL and you also have that same paperwork in your safe or wherever)

My question is really focused on law as well as perception... (which can be one in the same depending on who is applying/ considering it at the time in question)...

Essentially, if you ever had to use this new configuration in a defensive situation would you be putting yourself in a bad/ looking bad situation with LE or courts or juries etc because a poly80 lower is involved?

[USMC3531]

my rule of thumb is not to carry guns that I "Build" . the numbers on the upper dont matter, only the serial on "the gun" (lower) have any significance.

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thanks for your response, I was pretty much thinking the same thing; didn't want to go an buy it and then have buyer's remorse... but holding one at a local show, I definitely like the grip angle and ergo's way more than stock!

one other thing I though of was having the serial from the upper engraved into the lower by a smith or engraver so that there is no question that the (2) are matched for each other.

but I fear that a stigma may be attached to having a 'home-brew' flavored lower.

[USMC3531]

not just is it home made but its one of those "unregistered" pistols that PA cops dont understand. having one for range/competition use I can see.

[Tacgunner]

Maybe best route is: keep copies of receipts showing you purchased the Poly80, and digital images showing your build of the pistol. Keep those copies where relatives can get them. If you have to use the pistol, and then the police loose their minds over a pistol that has no serial number, you have proof of purchase & personal build. While you chill in a cell, relatives can provide proof to lawyers of legit pistol build for personal use.

Same as moving to PA from another state, with pistols you bought outside of PA. PA has no "record" of the transfers, so they can't "see" these pistols. When they run those numbers, they sometimes get squirrelly about a pistol not in the PA database. Pays to have proof of purchase from outside the borders.

[mpan72]

This is such a sad thread.

[Gunsnwater]

thanks for your response, I was pretty much thinking the same thing; didn't want to go an buy it and then have buyer's remorse... but holding one at a local show, I definitely like the grip angle and ergo's way more than stock!

one other thing I though of was having the serial from the upper engraved into the lower by a smith or engraver so that there is no question that the (2) are matched for each other.

but I fear that a stigma may be attached to having a 'home-brew' flavored lower.

That is an even worse idea. Forge a glock serial number. If you number it go with your initials and a number like 001. Home built for self doesn't need any number. Expect hassles ontop of hassles if you carry a home built even tho it's legal. Expect a jury to see a "gun nut". They won't be your peers, they will be open society progressives seeking to punish the backwards hillbilly psyco cis knuckle dragger. It sucks but that's the perception.

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good points all around, guess i will abandon this effort... sucks because that poly80 lower wouldve finally ended my 'which do i want to carry' debate, i hate the angle and blockishness of my gen 3... guess i will start looking at walther

[Nopetrol]

thanks for your response, I was pretty much thinking the same thing; didn't want to go an buy it and then have buyer's remorse... but holding one at a local show, I definitely like the grip angle and ergo's way more than stock!

one other thing I though of was having the serial from the upper engraved into the lower by a smith or engraver so that there is no question that the (2) are matched for each other.

but I fear that a stigma may be attached to having a 'home-brew' flavored lower.

Technically speaking, there's no reason you can't carry a firearm made from an 80% receiver, as long as you're not a prohibited persons, and it's not a prohibited model. The law says you can, or more accurately there's nowhere the law says you can't. However, if you get the wrong prosecutor, it could cause you a whole bunch of legal trouble.

You haven't done anything wrong, until you implement the idea of reassigning the serial numbers. You've committed a felony by doing that. There is a legal way to do it, but only a manufacturer can. If you are set on using a Poly 80 as the base for a gun, you would have to find an 07 FFL willing finish it for you, assign it a serial number, and put it on paper. While it defeats the purpose of starting with an 80% receiver, putting it on paper makes it a "conventional" gun by perception.

Check out Lone Wolf Distributors. They make a couple different models of a Glock-style frame, finished out and serialized before it comes to you. If you like the Poly 80 receivers, you would probably like theirs. Yes, it would need to ship to an FFL, but then it's a "conventional" gun in anybody's eyes.

Another option would be to just take the Glock model of your choosing, and send it out to any number of the companies, reputable companies, that do frame modifications. They can retexture the frame, eliminate finger grooves, eliminate the hump, change things here and there to suit your grip better. A lot of people have trouble taking a $500 pistol, investing another two hundred bucks worth of modifications in it to make it their own, so it's not as common. What you you are willing to spend your money on, and how far you are willing to go for the sake of comforting ergonomics, is entirely up to you. I've always thought this last point was really funny. Nobody wants to take a $500 Gluck gun, and put $200 worth of modifications in it. But, most guys have no trouble taking a $1k or $1,500 1911, and dumping another $500 to $1,000 into it to make it "theirs".

[Gun]

You haven't done anything wrong, until you implement the idea of reassigning the serial numbers. You've committed a felony by doing that. There is a legal way to do it, but only a manufacturer can. If you are set on using a Poly 80 as the base for a gun, you would have to find an 07 FFL willing finish it for you, assign it a serial number, and put it on paper. While it defeats the purpose of starting with an 80% receiver, putting it on paper makes it a "conventional" gun by perception.

IANAL. I don't believe this to be true.

http://www.gunsholstersandgear.com/2...emade-firearm/

Read the BATFE letters at the end of the article.

If one made an NFA item, for personal use, from pure stock (or an 80% lower) one would have to serialize the lower to comply with FORM 1, as an example.

The one issue about a self-made firearm to be later sold in PA the ROS, and transfer would have to be done at an FFL, and the receiver would have to be serialized by the maker.