A friend of mine has a rifle identical to mine, and is wanting to sell it. What potholes could he run into? Also, as far as the blue book value goes, how closely do AR's run to those values? Should he wait until after the election ?

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Here, a grain of salt.

What type of rifle would be useful information. Does it have any mods such as furniture, optics, trigger upgrades? Accessories or mods don't necessarily add value to a potential buyer. If he has any, I'd remove and return it to stock and sell them separately. If not, you can knock $50-100 off it regardless of how many rounds have been run through it. Any major blemishes? I see this all the time in ads and sellers are looking to get near retail price. Used is used regardless of price. It's not like a car with an odometer. If it were me and the price was only $50 less than new, I'd just get a new rifle instead for piece of mind.

Up to him to sell it after the election or not. Who knows what the market will be like after but it certainly won't go down in value between now and then.

I would recommend transferring the rifle through an FFL and eat the fee as piece of mind knowing it's out of your name. If not, do a bill of sale. Google it and you'll find standard forms for firearms. When doing this I always require a drivers license number to ensure you can identify that person at a later date if needed; even if they move, change their surname, etc. Some people won't give it so it's at your discretion. As always, check with your local state laws about person to person sales.

OK, what about the "$xxx shipped to your FFL" method I see in ads here? Does an FFL have to transfer on both ends, or can someone just ship to the buyers FFL adress? Is there any way(and/or requirement) to verify the FFL you're sending to when selling/shipping? Or are these guys posting these adds FFLs themselves? ugh so many questions. You've hit on something here, I think it'd be worth the fee...

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Here, a grain of salt.

No your friend can ship the rifle directly using UPS ground, Fed Ex ground or USPS directly to the buyers FFL. The local FFL will complete the transfer. This is a very easy and safe way to do a transfer/sale.

Also depending on your state you can do a face to face transfer with another resident of the owners state. You will get a lot of different opinions on if you should do a bill of sale. IMHO you at least want to see a drivers lic and verbally verify that the person is not a prohibited buyer. If it ever comes back to you you want to be able to state I saw a drivers lic and the person stated they were legally allowed to own a rifle in the state.

Some people in free states will still take the rifle to a FFL to do a transfer within the same state but I personally think that is a waste of money since it is perfectly legal to do a face to face transaction and as long as are not knowingly transferring the gun to a prohibited person. YMMV

It is much easier to sell a rifle than it is a handgun to an out of state buyer. With pistols you have to ship overnight UPS or Fedex and cannot use USPS.

In the end the process is pretty simple.

Unless it's someone I know, the sale would be done through an FFL to cover me.

State to State sales require and FFL, regardless of the type of firearm if I understand things correctly. But each State is different concerning the subject too. In PA, a rifle sale does not require and FFL but a pistol sale does because the way the laws are written here.

Also, since I'm a resident of PA, I can't buy a pistol in West Virginia but I can buy a shotgun or a rifle. I'm not sure if it is because of PA laws or WV laws but that is how it is for me. My inclination is that it is because of PA law and the PICS system but I may be wrong. It might even be federal law and I'm confused.

Lots of good information in the post above. If you do sell it across state lines, check with the FFL they will pick it up at. I do recall hearing stories that some FFL's will only accept transfers from the same and not from a person to FFL. If you post on a local board like armslist or even this site, you can just say that you're willing to ship out of state and shipping will be additional to your asking price.

I'd highly recommend transferring through an FFL to ensure you've done your due diligence. Even though my state permits personal sales , it would still be worth the $15 it would cost me. I'm all for the freedom to sell my personal property, including firearms, at my discretion but I don't want to give the anti-2A crowd any statistics that would contribute to their cause should the worst happen. This is just my $.02.

Tell your friend to keep it until the election and good luck if he sells it.

If you sell a firearm to someone in another state it is much cheaper for you to have your FFL ship the weapon to the buyer's FFL. This is because they can ship it priority mail instead of the much costlier FedEx or UPS. If you ship the gun it needs to go through FedEx or UPS for more than twice the cost of your FFL shipping it priority mail .

This is not true with a long gun. A non licesend person can ship a long gun USPS. Handguns can only be shipped USPS by a FFL. There is no restriction on a long gun.

Also if you send it UPS or FedEx it can go ground vs overnight which is required for a handgun. The overnight shipping rule is a UPS and FedEx , common carrier, rule not a federal law. The ATF only states to follow common carrier's tarrif.

Update: I bought his gun, he was hard up and I knew he wouldn't get what it was worth selling it in a hurry. I'm thinking of selling it myself just to make it less of a hassle, or better yet trade it for a DILLON 650xl set up.

I will probably will wait until after the election, especially if Hbomb gets in - God help us. This thing is pristine. The only mark on it is where he had the sights mounted. It's as if it just came off the shelf. So, thanks for the advice guys.

I will probably just let my FFL buddy sell it for me. He said he'd do it for the FFL fee anyway so its probably time to put this one to bed. Thanks again all for the kind advice.

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Here, a grain of salt.