SHORT-TERM CLOSURE

 Tim Smith - Gunsmith, LLC, will be closed Thursday, September 28th, through Monday, October 2nd.

I will be able to receive and respond to texts and e-mails that do not require me to access my computer records. But in-person appointments (including FFL Transfers) will not be possible during this period of time.

Common carrier delivery services (including US Postal Service, UPS & FedEx) offer, but all too often do not provide reliable or secure vacation hold services. I do not recommend making an online firearm purchase and trusting that the carrier will diligently secure your investment until I return. If you are considering the purchase of a firearm that would be delivered during the period of closure, I urge selection of another FFL dealer to receive and process the transfer.

I expect to return to normal operations on Tuesday, October 3rd.

RECALL NOTICE: HENRY LEVER ACTION .45-70 RIFLES

Henry Repeating Arms recently discovered a safety issue affecting certain lever action .45-70 Gov’t rifles manufactured during the period from December 14, 2022, through January 11, 2023. Henry voluntarily initiated a recall to address the issue and protect the safety of its customers.

To prevent the possibility of death or serious personal injury, you should immediately stop using all Henry Repeating Arms lever action .45-70 rifles and not load or fire them until determining whether the rifle is subject to this recall.

The Issue & Fix:

Under certain conditions, it is possible that some of these rifles may unintentionally discharge without the trigger being pulled if the hammer is released or dropped from the cocked position. Henry has identified the cause of the issue as firing pins that may not meet specifications and is replacing the firing pin to correct it.

Models Affected:

The list of models affected by this recall includes: H010G, H010GAW, H010GAWP, H010GCC, H010X, H024-4570.

To determine whether your specific Henry lever action .45-70 is subject to this recall, navigate to the following website:

https://www.henryusa.com/recall/

Scroll to the bottom of that page, enter your serial number in the box, ensuring you’ve entered the correct letters and numbers, and select [LOOK UP] to see if your firearm is affected.

According to Henry Repeating Arms, your firearm is not subject to this recall if you obtained it before December 2022, or if looking up you serial number returns that your rifle is not affected.

Actions To Take:

Confirm whether or not your firearm is affected by inputting your serial number as indicated above. If your firearm is not affected, no further action is needed.

If your firearm is affected, continue filling out the form to submit a recall service request. Once approved, you will receive a prepaid return shipping label and further instructions.

After your firearm is serviced with a replacement firing pin, Henry Repeating Arms will send a $50 eGift card for HenryPride.com. 

MEASURING AND ADJUSTING IRON SIGHTS

When considering replacement of the iron sights on your pistol or rifle, there are some measurements differences you must be aware of to prevent frustrating mistakes when placing orders. 

Likewise, when adjusting iron sights, understanding which direction to move front and rear sights to achieve the desired aim point can be confusing to new and seasoned shooters, alike.

The first thing to understand is that sight height is measured differently on pistols than it is on rifles. The height of pistol front sights is measued from the top of the slide to the top of the sight. This differs significantly from rifles where front sight height is measured from the bottom of the dovetail to the top of the sight. 

So, now you have your new sights, they are the correct height, and have been installed on your firearm. But when shooting at your target, you notice the point of impact is low and too far to the right. Which way should you move your sight to correctly move the point of impact?

Most firearms make sight adjustments by moving the rear sight. When adusting rear sights, you move the sight in the same direction you want the point of impact to move. In the above example, you want the point of impact to come up and move to the left. So, when adjusting the rear sight, you want to raise the front sight and move it to the left.

Some firearms (i.e. AK-47) make sight adjustments by moving only the front sight. Using the same example above, to accomplish the same point of impact correction, the movement of the sight is exactly opposite of what is done with rear sights. To move the point of impact up and left, the front sight must be moved right and down.

ATF SLIDES ON BRACE RULE

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (BATFE or ATF) conducted webinars in the wake of the publishing of ATF Final Rule 2021R-08F, yesterday. Although the final rule was announced on 01/13/2023, the rule did not become effective until 01/31/2023 when it was published in the National Register.

Take aways from the webinar:

1. Possessors of what is now classified as a NFA short barreled rifle or SBR (previously, a braced pistol, AR-style pistol or AR-caliber pistol ) have until 05/31/2023 to bring their firearm into compliance with the new rule. There are _ options for coming into compliance.

     ° Register the firearm as a SBR using ATF E-Form 1. 

     ° Remove and sell, give away, destroy, or otherwise divest themselves of the brace to avoid being in "constructive possession" of an unregistered NFA firearm.

     ° Replace the barrel with a 16 inch barrel, thus converting the firearm to a non-NFA rifle.

     ° Destroy the firearm.

     ° Turn the firearm into the ATF.

2. Besides a brace that affords the ability to shoulder fire the firearm, the ATF also indicated receivers fitted with magnified optics or scopes are an indication that a firearm is an SBR.

3. For those who choose to register the firearm as a SBR, the ATF will accept the Tax Forebarrence E-Form 1 until 05/31/2023. The form does not have to be approved by 05/31/2023, only submitted in order to be in compliance with the rule. The possessor of the firearm MUST maintain in their possession a copy of proof of submission until final determination is received.

4. The waiving of the tax is only during the grace period and only for those firearms possessed at the time of the rule change. If the firearm came into the possession of the owner after 01/31/2023, then the ATF says the tax must be paid.

5. Tax forebarrence is only for registering the firearm. All transfers that occur after the firearm is registered will incur the normal taxes.

6. As long as the firearm has the name of the manufacturer, the model, the caliber (if one is

specified) and the serial number present on the

receiver, no additional markings are required if the firearm is submitted for registration by

05/31/2023.

7. Purchase and transfer of AR receivers that include a brace, but do have an upper receiver with a barrel, are not restricted by this rule.

8. Effective 01/31/2023, Type 01 (Dealer), 02 (Pawn Broker), and Type 07 (Mannufacture) FFLs are required to have a Class 3 Special Occupancy Tax stamp to possess or transfer a firearm classified as a SBR under this rule.

A PDF copy of the slide stack presented during the webinar, which contains links to additional resources related to NFA registration and FAQs can be found at:

https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/docs/undefined/finalrule2021r-08f508pdf/download

ESTATE FINDS

As age and disease claim ever more of our Korean War and Vietnam War Veterans, a potential legal pitfall for their survivors is on the rise. Some families of those Veterans are discovering firearms stored in safes, closets, sheds, and garages which were brought back as momentos -- some legally, some otherwise -- that no one, except the veteran, knew about!

Sometimes it's a rather simple matter of finding an old pistol, hunting rifle or shotgun. But occassionally, it can be really tricky. Especially when firearms that fall under the control of the National Firearms Act (NFA) are involved. Some of the more common include:

• Machine guns or firearms capable of firing more than one round with one trigger pull (aka fully automatic)

• Short-barrel rifles (less than 16 in.) and shotguns (less than 18 in.) 

• Suppressors (aka silencers)

Broadly these firearms fall into two categories: Registered (Legal) or NOT Registered (Illegal).

But it is more complicated than that, as the legal machine guns are further categorized as;

"Fully Transferable": can be transferred to anyone who is legally able to possess a machine gun, with a $200 Transfer Tax. These are worth the most.

"Pre-May 19, 1986 Registered Dealer Sample machine guns": Guns that can be transferred between Federal Firearms Licensed (FFL) Dealers that also have an Special Occupational Tax Stamp (SOT) without a “Law Enforcement Sample Request Letter”. While worth a lot less than a Fully Transferable machinegun, they are easy to transfer between  FFL Dealers with a SOT so these have gone up substantially in value

"Post May 19, 1986 Restricted Dealer Samples" : Guns that can only be transferred to another FFL dealers that has an SOT, but require a “Law Enforcement Request Letter." These guns are much harder to transfer so the value is quite low, often just a bit more than the parts would be worth

It can be very confusing!!

If a firearm is located during the process of cleaning out an estate, after making sure it is not loaded,  the first question should be, is there any documentation about the firearm present or elsewhere on the premises? Documentation, if any, will be key in communicating with anyone about the discovered property.

Documents to look for include:

• Documents creating a Firearms Trust, which will identify the firearms that are controlled by the Trust and the individuals named as Trustees 

• A Special Occupational Tax (SOT) stamp affixed to an ATF Form 4 (Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of Firearm)

• A SOT stamp affixed to a Federal Firearms License (FFL) for a Dealer.

• Any letter on US Department of War (Prior to 1947), Department of the Navy, Department of the Army (After 1947), Department of the Air Force (After 1947), Department of Defense (After 1949), Department of Transportation (Coast Guard, prior to 2003), or Department of Homeland Security (Coast Guard, 2003 and later) letterhead transferring ownership of a military firearm to a service member

If the firearm turns out to be a NFA firearm that was Not Registered  in the National Firearms Act (NFA) Registry, it is Not Legal to possess and could result in a $10,000 fine and 10 years in prison.

In the case of a NFA weapon without any documentation, the proper thing to do is to contact local law enforcement agency and turn it in as an "Estate Find." In all likelihood, firearms surrendered to law enforcement will be destroyed.

You could also contact the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives BATFE or, more commonly ATF), but usually local Law Enforcement (City Police Department or County Sheriff Department) is sufficient and, if you are familiar them or someone who works there, will be a much less dramatic experience.

You can also ask to strip the parts, but be aware that a complete parts set, even without the receiver, are still considered a NFA firearm. You can have some of the parts, but not all.

Family members and estate executors are always wise to consult with legal counsel if a firearm is found and not otherwise documented or addressed in a decedent's will.

Now, if proper registration paperwork is available, there are processes for legally transferring ownership. So dig deep for the paperwork. But sadly most of these “bring-backs” were never registered. So be very careful!

Again after checking for paperwork, if none is found, I would turn it in to local Law Enforcement. Very sad, but this one is probably going to the destruction pile.

***RECALL OF FN 502 TACTICAL PISTOL***

 FN announced a voluntary recall of certain number of FN 502 Tactical pistols due to a safety concern with the manual safety lock lever. Under certain conditions, it may be possible for the pistol to fire when the trigger is pulled, even if the manual safety lever is in the SAFE position.

The recall includes FN 502 Tactical pistols with a serial number lower than LR010300. FN requests owners of pistols subject to recall to cease using their pistol immediately. 

All available information about this recall, including how to return a pistol for retrofit to correct the safety issue, is available at:

https://fnamerica.com/customer-support/fn-502-safety-recall/

***RECALL OF APEX ACTION ENHANCEMENT KITS***

 Apex Tactical Specialties announced a mandatory recall of a limited number of Apex Action Enhancement Kits for Slim Frame Glock pistols sold between October 2021 and March 2022. These specific kitswere assembled with an Apex in-house manufactured trigger bar - NOT a Glock factory trigger bar - and were sold through Apex's dealer and distributor network.

Apex identified an issue with the Apex trigger bar where, under certain circumstances, the demensions are out of spec resulting in failure to reset the trigger. Apex instructs customers to discontinue use of firearms fitted with trigger kit part numbers 102-117 (Black) and 102-157 (Red) and contact Apex Tactical Specialties to return the affected kits for replacement.

Note that Apex kits assembled with Glock manufactured factory trigger bars and sold prior to October 2021, as well as Apex "No Bar" kits with part numbers 102-114 and 102-154 are NOT affected by this recall.