Bearbong – You only need to have the lower receiver shipped through an FFL if interstate. Upper receivers, barrels, etc. are considered firearm parts, not a firearm. You can order uppers directly to your house, no problem. I look at it this way, if you buy a complete, new AR, that’ll run $800+ for a good one. The 12% excise tax on complete firearms comes to about $100 on that rifle. A transfer fee of $25 plus s/h should still allow you to save at least $50 by buying the upper and lower halves separately. Plus, then you configure the rifle exactly as you want it. Check out AR15.com, there are some awesome deals over there for AR-15s and related items plus mucho information!

Also, you mention planning to purchase at a gun show. Maybe it’s just where I live but I’d recommend being very careful of buying an AR at a gun show. I’ve seen many times “Frankenstein” AR-15s being sold as 100% new Bushmaster, Colt, etc. rifles by handy-with-tools yet unscrupulous vendors. They’ve basically taken a Bushmaster lower, bought an “FN” upper receiver and no-name barrel, put them together, slapped an $800 price tag on it, then sell it as a Bushmaster AR. I took a loser vendor to task in front of potential customers one time over just what I’ve described. He had a Bushmaster lower that had a non-Bushmaster upper on it and he was selling it as a “real deal, top of the line, unfired” Bushy AR. First of all, the colors didn’t match between upper and lower and though this is not a definite indicator itself, it made me examine the weapon closer. The A2 receiver didn’t have any proof marks on it, the barrel was NOWHERE stamped “BMP” (which 100% of Bushmasters do, period), and if it was only test fired by the factory, I wonder what factory test fires 5 or 6 hundred rounds though their rifles? He was a sleazebag, but not atypical of vendors I’ve seen at shows. [:@]

I know this was a long-winded response (sorry!) but as a diehard AR-15 fan, I just want to make sure you get what you want and not get ripped off in the process. AR-15s are awesome and addicting weapons, but there are a lot of garbage parts and garbage sellers out there in the AR world. Beware though, once you get a nice AR, they’re very addicting. I suffer from a nasty AR habit. Feel free to e-mail me for any more info regarding AR-15s if you’d like. Enjoy.