ATF Form 1: Application to Make and Register an NFA Firearm

ATF Form 1, officially Form 5320.1, is the federal application you file to get permission to make a National Firearms Act firearm before you build it. Under current law, the making tax is $0 for short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, suppressors, and any other weapons, and $200 only for destructive devices.¹ The application requires a background check, fingerprints, and ATF approval. Starting work before that approval arrives is a federal felony.

What Form 1 Covers

“Making” an NFA firearm means creating or assembling a regulated firearm that didn’t previously exist in that configuration. The most common project is a short-barreled rifle: attaching a barrel shorter than 16 inches to a standard rifle receiver. Others include building a short-barreled shotgun with a barrel under 18 inches, constructing a suppressor, or assembling an “any other weapon” like a short smoothbore pistol.

Form 1 is not the form for buying. Purchasing a pre-existing NFA item from a dealer or private party uses Form 4, a transfer application. And Form 1 is not a path to a new machinegun. Federal law has prohibited the manufacture of machineguns for civilian ownership since 1986, so civilians cannot use Form 1 to make one. The NFA covers eight categories in total: short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machineguns, suppressors, destructive devices, and “any other weapons.”²

Check State Law First

Federal approval does not override state law. If your state bans the item, an approved Form 1 will not shield you from state prosecution. Suppressors are prohibited in California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island, along with the District of Columbia. Short-barreled rifle and shotgun laws vary widely, with some states banning them outright and others adding their own registration requirements. The ATF will itself deny applications when making or possessing the item would violate the law.³ Confirm your build is legal locally before investing time in the application.

File as an Individual or Through a Trust

You can file as an individual or through a legal entity like a firearms trust, LLC, or corporation. Every NFA firearm must be registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record to either the individual maker or the entity.⁴ The choice controls who can legally handle the item once it exists.

Individual Registration

Filing as an individual is simpler on the front end. You submit your own background information, fingerprints, and photograph. The trade-off is possession: only you can legally hold the item. A spouse, family member, or shooting buddy cannot take it to the range without you physically present. Moving the item into a trust later requires a separate Form 4 and any transfer tax then in effect.

Trust or Entity Registration

A firearms trust lets multiple trustees legally possess and transport the item, which is its main practical advantage. It also brings more paperwork. You must submit the complete trust instrument, or for a corporation or LLC the founding documents proving the entity exists. Every “responsible person” on the entity must individually clear a background check, submit fingerprints, and provide a photograph.⁵ A responsible person is anyone with the power to direct the management or policies of the trust or entity, including settlors, trustees, partners, members, officers, and directors. Beneficiaries who lack that authority are generally excluded.⁶

What to Gather Before You File

Missing a single item can delay an otherwise clean application by weeks. Collect the following before you open the form.

A 2×2 inch passport-style photograph for each applicant or responsible person, front-facing, taken within the last six months.⁵
Two FBI Form FD-258 fingerprint cards per responsible person. A local police department or private fingerprinting service will do these, usually for $40 to $100 per set. The eForms portal also accepts digital fingerprints uploaded as an EFT file conforming to FBI specification 8.1.0, with a maximum file size of 12 MB.⁷
For trust filers, the complete trust instrument. For corporations or LLCs, articles of incorporation or organization.
The firearm specifications: original manufacturer’s name, model, caliber or gauge, barrel length, and overall length. Measurements must be precise to the nearest fraction of an inch.

The form requires a single caliber or gauge, not “multi.”⁵ If your build accepts multiple calibers through conversion kits, enter the primary caliber and note the others in the remarks field. Getting this wrong is one of the most common reasons applications come back for correction.

If the receiver already carries a serial number from the original manufacturer, use it. For items without one, assign your own unique sequence that complies with federal marking rules. Inaccurate dimensions or serial data will get the application returned or denied.

Submitting the Application

Most filers use the ATF’s eForms portal, which processes faster than paper. The system walks you through screens for your personal information, firearm details, and document uploads.

eForms

After completing the digital form, you’ll be sent to pay.gov to pay any applicable tax. For SBRs, SBSs, suppressors, and AOWs that tax is $0; only destructive devices carry the $200 making tax.¹ If you uploaded digital fingerprints, the application is complete once payment processes. If you didn’t, you must mail your paper FD-258 cards with the generated cover sheet to the ATF within 10 days of submitting the eForm.⁷ Missing that deadline risks having your application withdrawn.

Paper

Paper filers mail two copies of the completed form, fingerprint cards, photographs, and payment by check or credit card authorization to the ATF’s mailing address for NFA forms: P.O. Box 5015, Portland, OR 97208-5015.⁸ Paper takes substantially longer to process than electronic.

CLEO Notification

All applicants must send a copy of the completed Form 1, or for entity responsible persons the ATF Form 5320.23 questionnaire, to the chief law enforcement officer in the jurisdiction where the applicant or responsible person lives. That’s usually the county sheriff or city police chief. The notification is procedural. The CLEO does not need to approve or sign anything, and no response from them blocks your application.

Processing Time and the Wait

Once submitted, the ATF’s NFA Division reviews your application while the FBI runs a background check. Current eForms processing runs approximately 36 days.⁹ Paper submissions can stretch into several months. Timelines shift with application volume, so check the ATF’s processing times page for current estimates.

Approval comes back stamped, either digitally through eForms or by mail for paper. That approved form is your proof of legal registration. Do not begin any work on the firearm until it is in your hand. The statute is explicit: you must file a written application, pay any applicable tax, and receive the Secretary’s approval before making the firearm.³

Engraving After Approval

Once your Form 1 is approved and the build is complete, you must permanently mark the firearm. Federal regulations require the frame or receiver to bear your name, or your trust or entity name, the city and state where the item was made, and a unique serial number.¹⁰

The markings must be engraved, cast, or stamped to a minimum depth of 0.003 inches, and the serial number must be printed no smaller than 1/16 of an inch. It cannot duplicate any other serial number you’ve placed on another firearm, and it must be placed so that it resists easy removal or obscuring.¹⁰ A professional engraver typically charges $20 to $125. Unless you have the equipment and experience to hit the depth and size specs yourself, outsource it.

What Happens If You Build Early

Making an NFA firearm without an approved Form 1 is a federal felony. The prohibited acts are set out at 26 U.S.C. § 5861, which covers making a firearm in violation of the NFA’s requirements.¹¹ The penalty runs up to 10 years in federal prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.¹² This applies whether you skipped the application entirely or started assembly before your approval came back. There is no “I was going to file” defense. Assembling even one regulated component before the approved form is in your possession puts you on the wrong side of the statute.

Store your approved form securely and keep digital copies somewhere separate. It is your only proof the item was legally made and registered. Replacements can be requested from the ATF, but the process is slow.

After the Build: Two Things to Know

Owning an NFA firearm does not mean you can freely carry it across state lines. Short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machineguns, and destructive devices all require prior ATF authorization on Form 5320.20 before crossing state lines, and transport is only authorized during the window shown on the approved form.¹³ Suppressors are not on that list, though state laws along your route still apply.

If the item ever needs work beyond your skill set, you can ship it to a Federal Firearms Licensee for repair without filing a transfer form; the ATF does not treat a temporary repair shipment as a “transfer.”¹⁴ If the gunsmith is out of state and the item is an SBR, SBS, machinegun, or destructive device, you still need an approved Form 5320.20 first.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5821 – Making Tax
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5845 – Definitions
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5822 – Making
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5841 – Registration of Firearms
5
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF Form 5320.1 – Application to Make and Register a Firearm
6
eCFR. 27 CFR 479.11 – Meaning of Terms
7
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. NFA Form 1 Submission External Guidance with Q&A
8
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. New Mailing Addresses for Many ATF Registration Forms
9
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Current Processing Times
10
eCFR. 27 CFR 479.102 – Identification of Firearms
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5861 – Prohibited Acts
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5871 – Penalties
13
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Transport Interstate or to Temporarily Export Certain NFA Firearms – ATF Form 5320.20
14
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. NFA Handbook – Chapter 9 – Transfers of NFA Firearms