Application Courtesy

D Boone · Post by **D Boone** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 8:18 am

So once you have sent off your Form 1, an form 4 in my case, how long do you wait till you start calling? Who do you call? How do you determine your examiner? How often do you call? What information can you give your examiner that might make the process quicker? Any helpful hints would be great!

Wicked · Post by **Wicked** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 8:21 am

Nothing will make the process quicker. Just sit back, be patient and wait. Best to forget you submitted anything - and when it comes back you will be pleasantly surprised!

flip · Post by **flip** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 8:36 am

Do not call and bother them, there is nothing additional to tell them unless they call and ask you a question. I called 1 time 2 months into my first form 1. If you feel compelled to call you will have to have the serial number you listed on your form 1 and it WILL HAVE HAD TO BE LOGGED INTO THE SYSTEM FIRST. IOW if you call after your check is cashed and they don't have record of your form yet it means they have not logged it into what ever database they use.

YugoRPK · Post by **YugoRPK** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 8:58 am

They have people who answer the phones. They are not examiners. Calling them does nothing to speed the process up or to slow it down. Call if you want but don't expect to hear any good news for at least 3 months .

aquajon · Post by **aquajon** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:49 am

My last form1 was door to door just over 2 months.
I usually call once around week 10-14 after the check is cashed.

dtgman227 · Post by **dtgman227** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:54 am

I wish I had called on my last one. I turned everything in to my dealer, and waited close to 4 months. Then I called, and they said they didn't have me in the system. Long story short, either they lost my forms, USPS lost my forms, or the Dealer is lying and never sent them. Either way I had to draw up new forms, new signatures from Sheriff, and new fingerprints. The whole process to get my can ended up taking most of a year.

I have no problem with people calling, and I with future purchases will call once a month to make sure everything is progressing.

TypeR632 · Post by **TypeR632** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 11:19 am

The best thing to do is buy one or two NFA items monthly. That way you have something coming in all the time. It's like Christmas throughout the year. Now the hard part for me is coming up with the money to support the habit.

ThePatriot · Post by **ThePatriot** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:30 pm

Don't call, just wait.

strobro32 · Post by **strobro32** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:50 pm

+1 to YugoRPK.

LawBob · Post by **LawBob** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 6:22 pm

Wicked wrote:Nothing will make the process quicker. Just sit back, be patient and wait. Best to forget you submitted anything - and when it comes back you will be pleasantly surprised!

"It's like the weather. Nothing you can do. Just sit back and relax until it's over." - Candidate Clayton Williams, on describing rape, during the Texas Gub. Campaign vs. Anne Richards

LawBob · Post by **LawBob** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 6:23 pm

dtgman227 wrote:I wish I had called on my last one. I turned everything in to my dealer, and waited close to 4 months. Then I called, and they said they didn't have me in the system. Long story short, either they lost my forms, USPS lost my forms, or the Dealer is lying and never sent them. Either way I had to draw up new forms, new signatures from Sheriff, and new fingerprints. The whole process to get my can ended up taking most of a year.

I have no problem with people calling, and I with future purchases will call once a month to make sure everything is progressing.

ALWAYS personally send in your FORM 4s...have them sign it, and YOU send them in with your money order attached. send USPS CERTIFIED RRR.

sub-sonic · Post by **sub-sonic** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 8:33 pm

I never call. I just wait. I always think if they are on the phone they are not stamping forms

dtgman227 · Post by **dtgman227** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:02 pm

LawBob wrote:
dtgman227 wrote:I wish I had called on my last one. I turned everything in to my dealer, and waited close to 4 months. Then I called, and they said they didn't have me in the system. Long story short, either they lost my forms, USPS lost my forms, or the Dealer is lying and never sent them. Either way I had to draw up new forms, new signatures from Sheriff, and new fingerprints. The whole process to get my can ended up taking most of a year.

I have no problem with people calling, and I with future purchases will call once a month to make sure everything is progressing.
ALWAYS personally send in your FORM 4s...have them sign it, and YOU send them in with your money order attached. send USPS CERTIFIED RRR.

I will definitely do that next time, and if the dealer won't agree to it, I'll find a new one. It all could have been avoided if he had balanced his checkbook. I know I would notice if my business account didn't balance.

Good advice.

audiojason · Post by **audiojason** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 11:48 pm

I think you should check after 3mo or so. My first go round I sent in a form 1 and two form 4's at the same time. Form 1 was back in about two mo. After 8mo still no approved form 4's. Called in and asked to leave a message for the examiner, he called back the next day and stated they had still not gotten my fingerprint cards back from the FBI. I told him that at the same time I sent in the two form 4's that I also sent in a form 1 that has already been returned to me. He stated he would check my file and see what could be done. looks like the FBI discarded the fingerprint cards that went in with my form 4's. One week after talking with examiner my approved forms where at my dealer and was able to collect my cans. Again after all this I think it is best to look after this and check from time to time. Just my thoughts.

stevejobs · Post by **stevejobs** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 12:17 am

I've only called once and that was to cancel a Form 1. I figure if they cashed the check then they got the form, so I just check my bank statement.

Diomed · Post by **Diomed** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 1:29 am

LawBob wrote:ALWAYS personally send in your FORM 4s...have them sign it, and YOU send them in with your money order attached.

Some dealers won't play ball with this. Should they, sure, but it's their business and they can set the terms.

Cobra700 · Post by **Cobra700** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:23 pm

Diomed wrote:
LawBob wrote:ALWAYS personally send in your FORM 4s...have them sign it, and YOU send them in with your money order attached.
Some dealers won't play ball with this. Should they, sure, but it's their business and they can set the terms.

Different dealer

PTK · Post by **PTK** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:25 am

I call a few weeks after the check is cashed to make sure there are no issues with the form and that it's been entered.

Diomed · Post by **Diomed** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:02 am

Cobra700 wrote:Different dealer

Sometimes that isn't an option...

JohnDS · Post by **JohnDS** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:42 am

Form 1's and Form 4's - Submit with delivery confirmation and a personal check. Call 4-6 weeks after the check is cashed. Call 4-6 weeks after pending. Know who your examiner is, if it's one of the unlucky long wait people patience is your friend

Form 3's call after 3-5 weeks.

Why you ask? Well the people answering the phones are contracted - not examiners. So you aren't wasting time. Be concise, friendly and clear. Have your serial #'s ready, and any pertinent information - i.e. form type, tranferor/tranferee. I check because forms get lost or miss-placed sometimes. I've had a Form 3 that was 3 months, and found out that it was lost and had to be re-submitted.

Also - make copies of your forms before you send them. If it gets lost, it makes it easy to resend... just get it resigned by the transferor.

ArevaloSOCOM · Post by **ArevaloSOCOM** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:02 am

Usually I don't call, but i have been calling lately b/c of the God awful TAT.

Been pending since Dec 2nd on 3 fucking cans.

Christ's sake.....

flip · Post by **flip** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:13 am

ArevaloSOCOM wrote:Usually I don't call, but i have been calling lately b/c of the God awful TAT.

Been pending since Dec 2nd on 3 fucking cans.

Christ's sake.....

Did you s--t in your examiners socks or what?

Dolphinvet · Post by **Dolphinvet** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:36 am

ArevaloSOCOM wrote:Usually I don't call, but i have been calling lately b/c of the God awful TAT.

Been pending since Dec 2nd on 3 fucking cans.

Christ's sake.....

Who's your examiner? I've been pending for 2 months on one can and also on an SBR. My examiner on those 2 items is Nicole Dudash.

D Boone · Post by **D Boone** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:23 am

My checks are cashed now. What branch do you call? How do you know who your examiner is? Will I have two different examiners since I have a form 1 and form 4 in?

Dolphinvet · Post by **Dolphinvet** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:41 pm

Call ATF NFA branch, the number is on their website. (304) 616-4500. They are open 7 to 5 eastern time. You will need the serial number of the NFA item that you are registering/transferring. You will get the NFA front office person initially, they will ask you for the serial number, as that's how they keep track of things. If that person says "it's pending", you can ask who your examiner is, when it was put in the pending status, and also if there are any error messages on the NFA item. You may have 2 different examiners for the form 1 and form 4 or the same one for both.

Not that I've ever done this before.

Application Courtesy

Application Courtesy

checks cashed!