They continued to mark the date code on the end flap of the shipping box. On 8/9/99, stopped stamping the barrels with the date code. One needs to be sure that the barrel is original to the gun before trusting the Barrel Code listing, above. Using these barrel codes to date a shotgun is somewhat unreliable, as shotgun barrels are often interchanged at random. Using barrel codes (such as those listed above) to date the manufacture are reliable on Remington rifles, as the company rarely changed barrels on a customer’s rifle.
Serial Numbers by date (factory record book) – K – P – O – W – D – E – R – X Barrel Code Location Diagram Months of the year, for example B=January, L= February Near the frame that identifies the year and month of Other countries may have different laws (for example, some European countries consider the barrel as a controlled part).Have a code located on the left side of the barrel Note that all the above is per US laws only. Some states may also enforce additional laws on top of the federal ones. The BATFE decides on a case-by-case basis where the dividing line between a partially complete receiver and a complete receiver is. The term "80% receiver" is often seen on internet forums (the notion being that if a receiver is 80% complete, it isn't technically a receiver), but this is just a marketing term and not a legal one. How much of the receiver needs to be complete before it is considered to be a receiver depends on the firearm model and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATFE). Some people circumvent this check by purchasing a partially completed receiver (which is not considered a receiver technically and therefore doesn't need a background check and paperwork) and finishing the rest by themselves in a workshop. However, if they bought other parts such as barrels, slides, magazines, sights etc., no background check is needed. In the US, this means that if a person buys a receiver from a licensed dealer, they have to undergo a background check, the same as the one they have to go through if they bought a complete firearm.
When we say controlled part, this means the part that is monitored by law agencies of a country. Other rifles have only a single receiver part (such as bolt action hunting rifles or the AK family of rifles), so that is considered the controlled part. In the case of other rifles, such as the FN-FAL and some other Heckler & Koch products, the upper receiver is the one that is considered the controlled part. Technically, the AR has multiple receivers (an upper and a lower receiver) and the part we see above is the lower receiver part, but since the lower receiver has the serial number, it is considered to be the controlled part for legal purposes in the US. In the above image, we see a complete AR-15 rifle and its receiver below. In the case of pistols and revolvers, in most cases, the receiver is housed in the firearm body or frame.Īn AR-15 and its receiver. Per US federal laws, the receiver is considered the firearm and therefore, anyone purchasing a receiver has to undergo a background check and complete paperwork, the same as though they had purchased a complete firearm. It is called the receiver, because it "receives" the ammunition and fires it. Think of the receiver as the parts of the firearm that are absolutely necessary to operate the firearm. It does not include parts that are secondary to the firearm (e.g.) the stock, sights, gun sling, magazine, barrel etc.
This includes the trigger mechanism, the bolt mechanism, hammer, the part that holds the magazine to the firearm, the firing chamber etc. In this post, we will discuss what a receiver is.īriefly speaking, a receiver is the part of the firearm which contains all the operating parts of the firing mechanism.
A recent question from a reader of this blog made me aware of something that I wasn't aware of for a long time - it looks like some people are not really familiar with different parts of a firearm and terminology, so I figure we should put together a series of posts discussing the various parts of firearms and what they are used for.