import markings

[glocke12]

Ive actually been meaning to ask this for some time (as in a few years).

Back in the 90's I was heavily into the mil-surp thing..I acquired many nice rifles back in those days, and all of them had import markings that were not very visible. It seems like the importers went out of their way to not ugly up the gun with excessive markings.

These days, the reverse is true. Any gun Ive seen imported during visits to guns shows the past 5-6 years have these large, ugly stampings that look like they were done with a dot matrix printer.

Have the regulations changed with regards to import markings that requires them to be more visible?

[JayBell]

Ive actually been meaning to ask this for some time (as in a few years).

Back in the 90's I was heavily into the mil-surp thing..I acquired many nice rifles back in those days, and all of them had import markings that were not very visible. It seems like the importers went out of their way to not ugly up the gun with excessive markings.

These days, the reverse is true. Any gun Ive seen imported during visits to guns shows the past 5-6 years have these large, ugly stampings that look like they were done with a dot matrix printer.

Have the regulations changed with regards to import markings that requires them to be more visible?

short answer, yes.

some importers were hiding the markings or including non english/arabic characters and numersls causing issues in recordkeeping and traces.

the ATF published marking regulation changes somewhere around 2001 I think, they are effectively the same for all MFGs, Importers and makers of firearms including NFA

marking regs sticky I made... again, same for MFGs, importers, and NFA

http://forum.pafoa.org/nfa-class-3-t...nfa-items.html

the relevant portions:

- The S/N must be marked on the receiver or frame, and must be no less than 1/16" in height and no less than 0.003" deep.

- The remaining information (name, city, state, model and caliber) may be placed EITHER on the receiver OR the barrel, and must be no less than 0.003" deep. There are no minimum height requirements for these markings.

- All required markings must be in Roman letters (English) and Arabic numerals (1,2,3 ...), and be "wholly unobstructed from plain view". In other words, they may not be placed under handguards, grips, inside mag wells, etc.

[Kramer]

I remember some Blue Sky import stamps that were big and deep plus the barrels were distorted.

[glocke12]

short answer, yes.

some importers were hiding the markings or including non english/arabic characters and numersls causing issues in recordkeeping and traces.

the ATF published marking regulation changes somewhere around 2001 I think, they are effectively the same for all MFGs, Importers and makers of firearms including NFA

marking regs sticky I made... again, same for MFGs, importers, and NFA

http://forum.pafoa.org/nfa-class-3-t...nfa-items.html

the relevant portions:

- The S/N must be marked on the receiver or frame, and must be no less than 1/16" in height and no less than 0.003" deep.

- The remaining information (name, city, state, model and caliber) may be placed EITHER on the receiver OR the barrel, and must be no less than 0.003" deep. There are no minimum height requirements for these markings.

- All required markings must be in Roman letters (English) and Arabic numerals (1,2,3 ...), and be "wholly unobstructed from plain view". In other words, they may not be placed under handguards, grips, inside mag wells, etc.

thanks...glad I picked up what I did when I did..The markings these days really deface the guns.

[bogey1]

they may not be placed under handguards, grips, inside mag wells, etc.

Thats exactly where my info is on my tommygun sbr.

[JayBell]

Thats exactly where my info is on my tommygun sbr.

unless your SBR was marked prior to the reg change in 2000/01, you are not in compliance with NFA marking regs, and your SBR could be considered contraband.

my AR SBR was marked under the grip in 1998/9.. so I'm good

[bogey1]

unless your SBR was marked prior to the reg change in 2000/01, you are not in compliance with NFA marking regs, and your SBR could be considered contraband.

my AR SBR was marked under the grip in 1998/9.. so I'm good

2006 I'm an outlaw My dealer did it, he said he didn't want to boog up such a nice gun.