Just an update, I submitted the transfer paperwork on 01/16/2017. Today, 06/20/2017, I called NFA Branch to check on progress and was told it was "pending". It is my understanding that "pending" means the paperwork has been entered into the system, the check has been cashed and the paperwork is processing . If anyone else wants to call to check status of their transfer call 304 616 4500, have your serial number at hand and follow the prompts. My wait was less than 3 minutes.
I am hearing that the usual wait time is from 7 months to 11 months. Does anyone have a better idea what to expect?
They are very efficient about cashing the check. That's where the efficiency ends. Yes, pending means your gun is in the system. What did you end up buying?
When you call to check the status, it really depends on who picks up the phone. The first time I did it the guy asked for the serial number. I paused, looking for where it was on the form and he hung up on me.
One time they lost the form and I had to get a certified copy. Kind of pissed me off because you don't get the $200 tax stamp on the certified copy. I paid for that stamp and I should get it.
One thing you can do during The Wait is to buy mags, accessories and ammo. Probably the best thing to do is put it out of your mind and try not to think about it. Hope for a good Christmas.
Here's my uzi story -- I had just finished a high pressure job that lasted a year and decided to reward myself with my first machine gun. It was going to be a full size Vector uzi. There's this dealer in Florida who is doing a group buy from Vector. $2750 for a NIB Vector uzi. So I send him the money. About a week or so later, Vector sells out of full size uzis and the price jumps $1000. So I go back and forth emailing the dealer and get the serial number. I arrange a transfer to my in-state dealer who is very helpful with this process. I wait several weeks and nothing happens. So I email the Florida dealer -- what's going on? Over the next several weeks it's one excuse after another. My FFL expired and BATF forgot to renew it. I'm working really long hours at a new job and can't make it to the Post Office. Then he says, how about I refund your money? So he's trying to stall, refund my money and sell it for $4000. I go to my dealer and tell him this story and he says 'I'll call this fucker and straighten this out". I don't know what he said, but whatever it was, it worked -- the gun showed up in three weeks.
I send all the paperwork to the Sheriff in Fairfax County for his signature. I wait five weeks and get the unsigned forms back in the mail. Please fill out the enclosed survey. It asks if I own a gun safe, have children in the house, are a member in a paramilitary organization, blah, blah, blah. I fill it out and send it back and wait another six weeks to get the signed forms. So now, five months from when I decided to buy this thing am I finally ready to send it off the BATF. The BATF part was the easiest part of the whole process. Came through in 7 short months.
It's July 3. I load up a bunch of mags and head over to the FFL's to pick up my gun. There's a range just down the road. He insists on going through NICS before I take possession of it. Crap. I always get turned down by fucking NICS. Sure enough I get turned down and we have to wait for a call back. We wait and wait and finally he calls them back. Our computer is down -- try again tomorrow. Oops, I mean the day after tomorrow because tomorrow is the 4-th of July and we're closed. I drive home empty handed.
On July 5-th I get the gun, get the Virginia Machine Gum Permit filled out and notarized and head to the range where I promptly shot the floor learning what open bolt means.
In the year that has passed, I got my wife pregnant and she had the baby. So I conclude that it's quicker to create a human being than it is to buy a machine gun.
