What's the scam here?

[lurchnp81]

Well since you don't know where he lives. The answer is simple. It's a ban state and no evil features allowed. I've shipped upper & lower separately, before, as long as they pay shipping, i have no issue.

My first thought as well. If buyer is in a commie state like CA, and the rifle has the evil features, the receiving ffl may not have the appropriate AW license required by the state to handle the rifle in that configuration.

[Alpha2]

I considered that this is likely something about wanting the upper and refusing the lower (just not going in to buy it as this is a prohibited person or something.
It also may have something to do with where he lives and a requirement to get a "print" of the rifling and/or shell casing marks (does Maryland still do that?) or something similar. By getting the upper directly from you there is no way to trace the rifling or the marks on the casing without first obtaining the upper.

Maryland stopped that years ago.
1. It was stupid in the first place (Surprise!)
2. It cost a bundle to set up the program. (Surprise!)
3. It resulted in exactly zero successful matches. (Surprise!)
I still can't believe they back off, though. That is SO un-democrat.

[JohnnyEgo]

I have made this sort of request before when I have bought a complete used gun because I wanted the upper but didn't care about the lower. The upper came quick to my house, and I could pick up the lower at my convenience, when I had the time to wait around for a background check. So for me, this request does not seem inherently sketchy, but I think it is fair to ask questions so you are comfortable.

[ray1970]

The guy could just be goofy.

I recently sold a vehicle to a guy that was borderline difficult to deal with because he was just generally weird and insistent on doing things the hard way for no apparent reason. If I was selling him a $5K vehicle I probably would have just told him to pound sand and moved on to the next interested party but I knew despite his quirkiness and odd way of wanting to do things that he was a serious cash buyer and since the amount was well over the $5K I mentioned above I just humored him and went along with it.

I?m in the camp as some of the people above. If you get your money and he eats the shipping for both items and you aren?t sending anything to a communist area where he isn?t supposed to have it then just roll with it. Maybe milk him for an extra $20 for your troubles to ship both items.

[Joe_K]

What brand AR are you selling? If there?s something on your upper that he?s after and cannot find anywhere else could be an explanation.

[DDT951]

Correct.



If the FFL received it with no barreled upper on it, it would transfer as a receiver/frame, regardless if it had a brace/stock. This would require the buyer to be 21 as it then could be made legally into a pistol or rifle, buyers choice.

The only ?logic? I can see in this situation, is the buyer is wanting to turn this into a pistol. Legally, he cannot covert a rifle into a pistol, but can convert a receiver into a pistol, or a pistol into a rifle. He then could sell the upper to recoup some cost.

But is was a rifle to start. A new FFL transfer doesnt make a rifle into a pistol. The lower is what it was when it left the factory.

[DDT951]

Sometimes simple solutions can also work.

If he ships to FFL, he may have to pay sales tax on a complete rifle as the FFL collects sales tax.

If it is just a receiver, the sales tax may be much much lower (what's receiver cost $75?). And since the lower is private sale, no-one is collecting sales tax...

[sic_semper_tyrannis]

Well unfortunately I think there will be no resolution to this mystery, because at this point it's safe to say I've been ghosted. I haven't gotten any reply since asking about his reasoning, nor do I know what state he was in, but I suspect that the state would have been a big clue as to his intentions. Oh well, saves me the hassle of what would likely have turned into an even sketchier deal. Thanks everyone for the reasoned arguments, I saw some good ideas here. My best guess is that he was in a restricted state and was trying to slide something through on the sly.

[rondog]

Fug 'im and feed him fish heads.....

[brutal]