Provisional Patent Application for a

Method of Manufacturing a Firearm Receiver

#62/736,311 Confirmation #4560

 

There exists a market for partially manufactured lower receivers for AR-15 style firearms. An AR-15 is a semi-automatic rifle that has been in commercially available to the public for decades. The AR-15 is comprised of many individual parts. It is the completely finished lower receiver, capable of housing a functional firing mechanism, which is technically classified as a firearm and regulated as such. Partially manufactured lower receivers are commonly referred to as “80% lower receiver blank” by both the manufacturers and the public, only meaning that the receiver has not been manufactured to a completed condition which can function as a firearm. These “80% lower receiver blanks” are not firearms as defined by federal law and by review prima fascia, cannot house a firing mechanism as manufactured and delivered.  It is then up to the customer to complete the steps necessary to make the receiver functional. These final steps constitute legal, self-manufacture of the firearm.

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Since 1968, private U.S. citizens have engaged in the legal, non-commercial self-manufacture of their own private firearm receivers.  This non-commercial construction process, for the vast majority of U.S. citizens, is time intensive and, in many cases, requires them to purchase additional battery-powered or electrical machine tools.  The burden of additional tool purchase stems from current administrative law forbidding the private citizen from “borrowing” or renting the specialized tools that a federally licensed manufacturer would traditionally employ, and buying these tools is generally cost-prohibitive for most U.S. citizens.

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Up until my invention, private, non-commercial self-manufacture of a firearm receiver generally consisted of acquiring an unfinished, monolithic “80% lower receiver blank” and subsequently finishing a multitude of various holes and cavities within the “80% lower receiver blank” to allow it to accept a firing mechanism, thus creating a firearm as defined factually and legally.  These “80% lower receiver blanks” are generally constituted of cast, forged, or billet metal that resemble a finished receiver in overall size, shape and limited features but have yet to be finished sufficiently to house a firing mechanism and functionally perform as a firearm receiver. A federally licensed firearm manufacturer, engaging in commerce, and having the specialized tooling and machinery, can easily manufacture a firearm from raw materials.

However, many citizens do not have the equipment or skills necessary to properly manufacture the “80% lower receivers blank” into a firearm. Also, the machining must be done precisely, which is hard for many customers to do.

Others have attempted to lessen these burdens by constructing complex jigs and fixtures to hold the “80% lower receiver blank” while necessitating the use of power or battery-powered tools to complete into a self-manufactured firearm.  These methods generally preclude the use of manual hand tools as the remaining processes required to finish the “80% lower receiver blank” into a functional firearm receiver generally requires a level of precision work unobtainable with the use of manual hand tools.  Thus, the individual is forced to purchase additional tools and parts not usually found in the average household.  These tools, while more affordable than those employed by federally licensed manufactures, are usually expensive additions for the average citizen.

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A relatively more recent development in the home construction of firearms has been the emergence of “3-D Printed Firearms.”  While this is a viable method of construction, again the equipment required to “print” a firearm is even more expensive than the aforementioned jig methods.

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Accordingly, there is a need for a device and/or method that simplifies the self-manufacturing process such that a customer can easily finish the last steps of the “80% lower receiver blank” without additional electric or battery powered machine tools. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.

I have invented a method of manufacturing an “80% lower receiver blank” (non-firearm) receiver utilizing a plurality of unique parts, none of which individually constitute a functional firearm receiver and, at a minimum, no two parts of which fit together to form a functional firearm receiver without additional finishing work, and that when finished and assembled according to the method described herein, can then be combined to self-manufacture a firearm receiver. When my method is applied to the legal home firearm manufacture industry, the consumer will find the overall construction process to be significantly less expensive and skill demanding when compared to other methods of home firearm self-manufacture.  One of the prime advantages of my method is that it becomes feasible to use simple manual hand-tools to manufacture the lower receiver, whereas other methods require the use of electrical or battery-powered machine tools. Once the pre-requisite processes are completed, as described herein, the plurality of parts mechanically index together at one or more locations and attach together with by one or more mechanical methods and are thus combined to form a self-manufactured functional firearm receiver.  This method eliminates the need for the individual to perform relatively complex machining processes that previous methods have required, including but not limited to the use of industrial machining equipment and wood routers.

 

The problems with the existing methods of construction and self-manufacture of firearm receivers for the U.S citizen are that they are:

•           Expensive

•           Time consuming

•           Require a high level of skill in precision cutting/drilling/milling

•           Require battery-powered or electrically driven tools

My method of firearm receiver manufacture is preferable over the previous methods because it is does not require expensive tools or an unusually high degree of precision work to finish the receiver.

I have included [ 10 ] drawing sheets.

                         Fig. 1 is an elevated front view showing the impossibility of functional assembly without the work done described herein.

                         Fig. 2 is an isometric view of the anti-assembly device still attached to the Receiver Extension Piece

                         Fig. 3 is an elevated view showing the exploded assembly of the Drill jig to the Receiver Left Side, in preparation for work.

                       Fig. 4 is an elevated view Showing the assembled Drill Jig and Receiver Left Side, in preparation for work.

                       Fig. 5 is an isometric view of the Left Side Receiver installed in the Drill Jig assembly and the associated work to be done by the Drill.

                       Fig. 6 is an elevated view Showing the assembled Drill Jig and Receiver Right Side, in preparation for work.

                       Fig. 7 is an isometric view of the Right Side Receiver installed in the Drill Jig assembly and the associated work to be done by the Drill.

                       Fig. 8 Is an exploded view of the components for final assembly, showing how the Anti-Assembly Device must be removed to make assembly possible.

                       Fig. 9 Is an exploded view showing the general assembly of the worked parts.

                       Fig. 10 is an isometric view showing the locations of the Receiver Assembly Fasteners for final assembly.

 

The components of my invention are:

1. A Receiver Left Side

2. A Receiver Right Side

3. An Anti-Assembly Device

4. A plurality of Receiver Assembly Fasteners

5. A Receiver Extension Piece

6. A plurality of Drill Jig Stand-offs

7. A plurality of Drill Jig Securing Plates

8. A plurality of Drill Jig Assembly Fasteners

9. A Drill Jig

10. A plurality of Drill Jig Guide Bushings

11. A Manual Drill

 

The method and arrangement of the above components will be well-known to those with ordinary skill in the mechanical arts.  The Drill Jig allows the user to perform precise work on the parts that require precise work done.  Specifically, it assists in locating the precise locations that holes must be drilled and assists the user in drilling the holes precisely.

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The invention achieves its results as follows:

A Receiver Left Side [1] is affixed to a Drill Jig [9], containing a plurality of Bushings [10], via a plurality of Drill Jig Assembly Fasteners [8] and at least one Securing Plate [7]. At least one Drill Jig Stand-off [6] is sandwiched between the Securing Plate [7] and the Drill Jig [9] to provide the proper orientation of the Receiver Left Side [1].  The assembly is depicted in Fig. 4.  The assembly is then rotated to bring the Drill Jig [9] to the top where the user can employ a Drill [11] as depicted in Fig 5.  The Drill [11] is inserted through the Drill Jig [9] at the locations of the plurality of Drill Jig Bushings [10].  These Drill Jig Bushings [10] allows a normally crude hand tool [11] to perform precise work in these locations.

Once this work is performed, the Left Side Receiver [1] is removed from the Drill Jig assembly, the assembly consisting of the Drill Jig [9], Receiver Assembly Fasteners [4], Stand-off [6], and Securing Plate [7], are completely disassembled in preparation for the work to be done on a Receiver Right Side [2].

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The Receiver Right Side [2] is affixed to a Drill Jig [9], containing a plurality of Bushings [10], via a plurality of Drill Jig Assembly Fasteners [8] and at least one Securing Plate [7]. At least one Drill Jig Stand-off [6] is sandwiched between the Securing Plate [7] and the Drill Jig [9] to provide the proper orientation of the Receiver Right Side [2].  The assembly is depicted in Fig. 6.  The assembly is then rotated to bring the Drill Jig [9] to the top where the user can employ a Drill [11], Fig 7.  The Drill [11] is inserted through the Drill Jig [9] at the locations of the plurality of Drill Jig Bushings [10]. 

Once this work is performed, the Right Side Receiver [2] is removed from the Drill Jig assembly, the assembly consisting of the Drill Jig [9], Receiver Assembly Fasteners [4], Stand-off [6], and Securing Plate [7], are completely disassembled in preparation for the final assembly.

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The next step is to remove an Anti-Assembly Device [3] from a Receiver Extension Piece [5].  These pieces are combined as a monolithic structure in order to prevent full, final assembly without the requisite work described hereafter.  This work is considered to be non-precise and can be performed with an ordinary hacksaw, rotary-tool, or any other metal cutting tool the user determines to be appropriate.  The Anti-Assembly Device [3] is removed from the Receiver Extension Piece [5] at the location depicted in Fig. 2. Once this work is completed, the next step is final assembly.

Final assembly consists of securing the Receiver Left Side [1], Receiver Right Side [2], and the Receiver Extension Piece [5] together via a plurality of Receiver Assembly Fasteners [4].  This is only possible when the Anti-Assembly Device [3] is removed as described in the previous step.  This final assembly is depicted in Figs. 8, 9, & 10.

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There are alternative ways my invention can be implemented:

• Instead of an AR 15 receiver, the receiver can be intended for use in an AR 9, AR 10, or any other similar style receiver.

The preferred embodiment, nor the various other implementations described herein are, in any way, intended to encompass the entire spirit and scope of my invention.  While the preferred embodiment and various alternative embodiments of the invention have been disclosed and described in detail herein, it may be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.