Whether or not you need to report this as production depends upon whom you received the firearm from and the nature of the modifications you make.

If you received the firearm (to include a firearm frame, receiver, action, or barreled action) from a licensee other than a type 07 or type 10 federal firearms licensee (FFL), or from a non-licensee, then you would not report it, provided your modifications did not change the firearm’s Annual Firearms Manufacturers and Export Report (AFMER) firearm category.

If your modifications altered the firearm’s AFMER firearm category (as listed on the form items 8a-j and 9a-j), then you would include the firearm in your AFMER report in the category of firearm you have now produced.

If you received the firearm from another licensed manufacturer (type 07 or type 10 FFL), then production should be reported once you enter the firearm into commerce, or export it.

Examples:

• You are a licensed manufacturer and obtain a rifle from a licensee other than a type 07 or type 10 FFL, or from a non-licensee. You remanufacture the rifle by adding custom parts and accessories before selling it as a rifle. You would not include the firearm in your AFMER report since the firearm was previously reported by its original manufacturer, and your modifications did not change it into a different type of firearm.

• You are a licensed manufacturer and obtain a used rifle from a licensee other than a type 07 or type 10 FFL, or from a non-licensee. You strip off the parts and replace the receiver with a new receiver that you acquired from a licensed manufacturer, then sell the firearm. You would include this on your report as a rifle, since you entered the new receiver into commerce as a rifle.
  • In contrast, if you had purchased the new receiver from someone other than a type 07 or type 10 FFL, you would not report it, since the original manufacturer would have reported the receiver previously when it was sold.

• You are a licensed manufacturer (type 07 or type 10 FFL) and obtain receivers from another manufacturer who sold them to you through their firearms dealer’s license. You use the receivers to manufacture rifles and sell them into commerce. This would not be reported, since the manufacturer of the receivers would have included them on their AFMER report when they first entered commerce through their manufacturer license.

• You are a licensed manufacturer (type 07 or type 10 FFL) and obtain a rifle from a licensee other than a type 07 or type 10 FFL, or from a non-licensee. You then remanufacture the rifle into a pistol and sell it. This would be included in your AFMER report because your modification resulted in a change to the firearm’s type (i.e. from rifle to pistol). This would also be reportable for rifles turned into short-barreled rifles, semi-automatic weapons turned into machineguns, or any other remanufacturing that changes the AFMER classification of the weapon.