Every transfer ends one of three ways.
You bought something online and it is being shipped to us. What happens at our counter is a form, a call to the FBI and an answer that comes back in about four minutes. Two of the three answers send you home the same day. Here is all three, including the one nobody wants to talk about.
The check runs at the counter, and it says one of three things.
It is a name search, not a licence, a permit or a waiting period. We key it in after you fill out the form. The three answers below are the only three there are, and they are listed in the order you are likely to get them.
Proceed
Most people, most days. Usually inside five minutes.
Nothing comes back, we get a number, and the transfer is done. You sign, we finish our end of the paperwork, and you carry it out. Total time at the counter including the form is normally about fifteen minutes, and less if you have your ID out when you get here.
There is no second fee for this. The twenty five dollars covered receiving it, logging it, holding it and running the check.
- 01Bring a state ID with your current address on it. This is the single most common reason a transfer stops at our counter, and it is not one anybody can talk their way around.
- 02Fill out the form yourself. We will not fill it out for you, and you should be suspicious of any dealer who offers to.
- 03The check runs while you wait.
- 04Sign, and it is yours.
Delayed
A minority, and it is usually a common name rather than a record.
Delayed means something has to be looked at by a person, and most of the time that something is somebody else with your name and roughly your date of birth. It is not an accusation and it is not a denial.
What happens next is a clock. The examiner has three business days to come back either way. If a yes lands on day one, we call you on day one. Your item stays in our safe the whole time, we do not charge storage, and we do not charge a second transfer fee to finish something we already started.
- 01Go home. There is nothing you can do at the counter, and standing there does not move it along.
- 02We call you the moment an answer lands, whichever way it goes.
- 03Weekends and federal holidays are not business days, so a Friday delay is often a Wednesday answer.
- 04If this happens to you every time, ask us about the federal appeal. It exists, it costs nothing, and it is the thing that fixes it permanently.
Denied
Rare. And we will say so plainly rather than stall you.
If it comes back denied we cannot transfer it to you. Not for a fee, not to a friend standing beside you, not next week, and not by any arrangement suggested at the counter. We will not discuss ways around it, and asking somebody else to buy it on your behalf is a separate federal offence we are obliged to refuse.
What we will do is tell you straight away, give you the transaction number, and point you at the appeal, because a meaningful share of denials are mistaken identity and the appeal is the mechanism built to correct exactly that. Filing costs nothing.
The item goes back. We will ship it to the seller at what the carrier charges us, or hold it while you arrange a refund, and if the seller will not take it we will help you sell it here on consignment. You are not out the item and you are not out the transfer fee.
You proceeded. Since you are standing here, this is the rest of the counter.
Twenty four years in the same building on Center Street. The bench is the half of this business the internet cannot do for you, and everything on it is posted at the same price for everybody.
Repairs and part fitting
Extractors, firing pins, springs, feeding and ejection problems, trigger work, stock repair and refinishing. If a part has to be ordered we tell you the wait before you leave it, and we call with a number before we spend your money.
Sight and optic mounting
Rings lapped, bases bedded, everything torqued to spec and thread locked, bore sighted before it leaves. Bring the optic and the rifle together and it is usually done while you wait.
Cleaning and function check
Full strip, clean, lube, function check and an honest written report on what is worn. Worth doing on anything inherited, anything bought used, and anything that has sat in a safe since the last time you shot it.
Used rack and consignment
The rack turns over most weeks and it is why people stop in on a Saturday. We take consignment at fifteen percent, price it with you, and you get a cheque when it sells and the item back if it does not.
| Item | What that includes | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer, any item | Received, logged the day it lands, form and check at the counter | $25 |
| Transfer, private party in state | Both parties present, both checked | $35 |
| Cleaning and function check | Full strip, clean, lube, written wear report | $45 |
| Scope mounting | Bases, rings lapped, torqued, bore sighted | $40–$75 |
| Sight install | Front and rear, dovetail press, staked if required | $60–$110 |
| Bench work | Extractors, springs, feeding and ejection, stock repair | $70 / hr |
| Storage on a delayed transfer | Held in the safe until the answer comes back | none |
| Return shipping on a denial | Back to the seller, at what the carrier charges us | at cost |
Prices on this page are illustrative for this preview. If a repair is going to cost more than the item is worth, we say that out loud before we start it.
Find us
Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Closed Sunday and Monday.
Give the seller our licence and this address, and put your own name on the outside of the box. We log it the day it lands and call you before we shelve it.
123 Main St
Lathrop, MO 64465
Parking behind the building, off the alley.
Call before you buy, not after.
One minute on the phone tells you whether we can receive it, what the seller needs from us, and roughly when it will land. It also means the box has your name on it when it arrives, which is the difference between a phone call and a puzzle.
Call (816) 555-0163