How to Fill Out and Submit ATF Form 1: Trust, eForms, and Stamp

To fill out ATF Form 1, you submit an Application to Make and Register a Firearm to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives before you build any firearm regulated under the National Firearms Act. You file it through the ATF’s eForms portal or by mail, provide identifying information, photographs, and fingerprints, pay any tax that applies, and wait for approval before manufacturing begins. Starting January 1, 2026, the making tax is $0 for every NFA firearm except machineguns and destructive devices, which still carry the $200 tax.¹ Current processing runs about 36 days for electronic submissions and 20 days for paper.²

Before You Start

Two questions decide whether you can file at all: are you legally allowed to possess firearms, and is the item you want to make something Form 1 covers.

Every applicant, and every responsible person on a trust or entity application, goes through an FBI background check. Anyone federally prohibited from possessing firearms will be denied. The disqualifiers include a felony conviction, being a fugitive, unlawful use of controlled substances, a mental-health adjudication or commitment, unlawful alien status, a dishonorable discharge, renunciation of citizenship, certain domestic restraining orders, and a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction.³ Your state also has to allow the item you want to make. Some states prohibit suppressors, short-barreled rifles, or short-barreled shotguns outright, and the ATF will deny an application for an item that would be illegal at your address.

Form 1 covers the NFA firearm types defined in 26 U.S.C. § 5845: short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, silencers (including their internal parts), destructive devices, and Any Other Weapons.⁴ One category is off-limits: you cannot use Form 1 to manufacture a machinegun. The Firearm Owners’ Protection Act of 1986 banned civilian manufacture of machineguns made after May 19, 1986.⁵

Decide How You’ll File: Individual or Trust

You file either as an individual or through a legal entity like a gun trust or corporation, and the choice shapes the paperwork.

An individual filing means you personally own the item, and no one else can possess or use it unless you’re physically present. A gun trust lets multiple named trustees possess and transport the firearm without the maker being there, and it keeps the item inside the trust for inheritance purposes rather than forcing a fresh transfer application. The trade-off: every “responsible person” on a trust or entity, meaning anyone who can direct management or possess trust assets, must submit their own ATF Form 5320.23 with photographs, fingerprints, and background information.⁶ More trustees means more paperwork on every application.

Gather Your Documents and Information

Have everything ready before you open the form. Missing items are a leading reason applications get bounced back.

Personal Information

Individual applicants supply their full legal name, home address, date of birth, Social Security number, and citizenship status directly on Form 1.⁷ Trust and entity applicants enter the trust or entity’s name and address as the applicant on the form itself, then each responsible person completes a separate Form 5320.23 with the same personal details.⁸

Trust or Entity Documents

Trust filers upload signed copies of the trust instrument and any amendments. Corporations and LLCs upload their state registration documents. The eForms portal has a dedicated step for these files.⁹

Photographs

Each applicant, or each responsible person on a trust, needs a passport-style photograph: 2 by 2 inches, taken within the last year, with the person’s full name and the last four digits of their Social Security number written on the back. Paper applicants send two physical prints; eForms applicants upload a digital image.

Fingerprints

eForms accepts electronic fingerprints in EFT format meeting FBI specification 8.1.0, uploaded during the responsible-person step. You can also mail two completed FD-258 fingerprint cards using a cover letter that the eForms system generates.⁹ Paper applicants always mail two FD-258 cards. Local police departments and private fingerprinting vendors typically charge $15 to $100.

Firearm Description and Serial Number

You’ll enter the firearm’s type (SBR, SBS, silencer, and so on), model, caliber or gauge, barrel length, and overall length. Project the finished measurements accurately, because these numbers become part of the permanent registration record.⁷

The form requires a serial number. If you’re modifying an existing firearm, use the serial number already on it and never alter it. If you’re building something entirely new, you assign your own serial number, but it cannot duplicate one you’ve used on another firearm.⁷

Fill Out and Submit the Form

eForms

Most applicants file through the ATF eForms portal at atf.gov. You create an account, work through the form on screen, upload your documents, photographs, and fingerprint files, and pay any tax by credit or debit card. The system walks you through each section in order. Electronic submissions currently average about 36 days.²

Paper

You can still download a paper Form 1, complete it, and mail it in with photographs, fingerprint cards, entity documents if any, and payment. Paper applications average about 20 days.² If a tax is owed, include a check or money order payable to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Tax

As of January 1, 2026, the making tax is $0 for SBRs, SBSs, silencers, AOWs, and every other NFA firearm except machineguns and destructive devices, which still carry the $200 making tax.¹ The change came from Public Law 119-21, Section 70436.¹⁰ A $0 tax doesn’t change anything else about the process. You still need ATF approval before you build.

CLEO Notification

Before you submit to the ATF, send a completed copy of Form 1 (for individual applicants) or a copy of each Form 5320.23 (for each responsible person on a trust or entity) to your local Chief Law Enforcement Officer. The CLEO is your local police chief, county sheriff, head of the state police, or local district attorney.¹¹ You do not need the CLEO’s permission or any response. The requirement is notification only. The ATF published a proposed rule in May 2026 to eliminate CLEO notification, but as of the comment-period deadline of July 6, 2026, the rule has not been finalized and the notification is still mandatory.¹²

After Approval: Stamp, Engraving, and Building

When the ATF approves the application, eForms users get a digital tax stamp as a PDF. Paper filers get the original application back with a physical stamp affixed. Either version is your legal proof of registration. Print the PDF and keep a copy with the firearm.

Do not begin making the firearm until the approved stamp is in hand. Manufacturing an NFA firearm without prior approval is a federal felony under 26 U.S.C. § 5861.¹³

Federal regulations require you to engrave certain information on the frame or receiver before or during manufacture. At a minimum:¹⁴

The serial number listed on your approved Form 1.
Your name as maker, plus the city and state where you made the firearm.
The caliber or gauge.
The model designation, if you assigned one.

All markings must be engraved, cast, or stamped to a minimum depth of .003 inches, and the serial number must be at least 1/16 inch in height. Markings must be conspicuous and not easily removed or altered.¹⁴ Professional engraving typically runs $25 to $125 if you don’t own the equipment.

Common Reasons Applications Get Returned

The NFA Division returns applications rather than denying them when the problem is a fixable error. The recurring ones:

Missing signature. The most frequent issue. Check every signature field.
Blank serial number field.
Payment problems: a declined card, wrong payee on a check, or no payment when a tax is owed.
Incomplete personal information.
Using an obsolete version of Form 1 instead of the current one.

The ATF mails or emails a return letter explaining the problem. You correct it and resubmit, but the processing clock restarts from the resubmission date.

If You Later Travel With the Firearm

Rules for interstate travel with an NFA item you made on a Form 1 depend on the type. Short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machineguns, and destructive devices require you to file ATF Form 5320.20 and get written authorization before crossing state lines, and the authorization covers only the specific dates you request.¹⁵ Suppressors and AOWs don’t require Form 5320.20 for interstate travel, but they must be legal in every jurisdiction along your route and at your destination. California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Hawaii prohibit suppressor possession, so carrying one through any of those states would violate state law regardless of your federal registration.

What’s at Stake If You Skip the Process

Building an NFA firearm without an approved Form 1, or possessing one that was never registered, is a federal felony under 26 U.S.C. § 5861. The penalty statute allows a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both.¹⁶ A false statement on the application is separately prosecutable. The approved stamp adds the firearm to the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, the central federal registry for NFA items.¹⁷ There is no after-the-fact way to register a firearm that was made without approval; the violation is complete the moment manufacturing begins.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5821 – Making Tax
2
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Current Processing Times
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5845 – Definitions
5
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. National Firearms Act
6
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. OMB 1140-0107 – NFA Responsible Person Questionnaire, ATF Form 5320.23
7
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. ATF Form 1 – Application to Make and Register NFA Firearm
8
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF Form 5320.23 – National Firearms Act NFA Responsible Person Questionnaire
9
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. NFA Form 1 Submission External Guidance with Q&A
10
Congressional Research Service. The National Firearms Act and P.L. 119-21 – Issues for Congress
11
eCFR. 27 CFR 479.62 – Application to Make
12
Federal Register. Removing CLEO Notification Under the National Firearms Act
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5861 – Prohibited Acts
14
eCFR. 27 CFR 479.102 – Identification of Firearms
15
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Transport Interstate or to Temporarily Export Certain National Firearms Act (NFA) Firearms
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5871 – Penalties
17
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. National Firearms Act Division