My guess is that it’s going to be difficult to get a straight answer on this, but I thought I’d ask anyway. After a recent E form 4 submission I did in late February I started reading about these quick turnarounds taking just a couple of days. This got me excited but after doing my individual E form 4 via Silencer Shop during the last week of February and not seeing it yet, I just don’t know if maybe they aren’t all going that quickly or if something is going on with my submission.

I would have to look up the exact date, but my individual e-form 4 was certified through Silencer Shop with my dealer in the last couple days of February. In looking on the tracking thread on this site, I’m seeing people getting these back in as little as 2 to 3 days so I figured mine should be back by now. For those of you who have been keeping a close eye on this timeline, was mine maybe submitted just before they started grabbing them and knocking them out quickly? Just looking for a little affirmation that the fact that I don’t have mine back yet is not a sign that there’s a problem with it.  I guess the only way to get an idea on that is if some of you out there are seeing the same thing with submission dates around the time of mine.

Thanks for any insight any of you might be able to give me on this.

Yeah, you will not make any sense in anything these people do..Do not even try..I did a Single Shot trust way back in Sept 23..I have seen people that have done Single Shot trusts recently and were approved quickly..While mine lays at the bottom of some obscure pile and is never even looked at..

Thats the most frustrating part of the process, for me. How about some transparency and letting us know whats going on.

Just keep buying and submitting stuff. Waiting on several is easier than waiting on 1.

I submit on a trust, so contacting someone after 4-5 weeks seems silly, but tons of info about who you can contact here should you want to.

There has never been any consistency or transparency from the ATF on how they process NFA paperwork. I've literally had forms submitted at the same time approved over a month apart. I've had one form submitted months after another get approved before the first one. It's just how it is. You're dealing with the government after all, don't expect it to make sense.

Thanks for the responses, everyone. This is not my first NFA rodeo and everything you all are saying is basically what I expected to hear, but I just thought I would check since it seems that all of a sudden forms are getting processed very quickly. I guess we are just hearing about the success stories out there but it sounds like things are still all over the road.

Thanks again.

I inquired by email this Morning and got this response from them..Not sure if it will mean it is going to be processed anytime soon..But this is what they sent back.. Maybe it will mean it is finally going somewhere..Maybe not..

"It was submitted on November 29, 2023 and it has recently been moved into the trust processing queue and will be processed by the next available trust examiner."

This is my understanding and it's worth what you paid for it.

The expedited process only applies to eForm-4 Individual submissions.

If you submitted prior to the institution of this new process (02/2024?), you will continue to wait in whatever queue you are in.
If you are an eForm-4 Trust, you will wait.
No idea if any of this applies to eForm-1 submissions.
No idea if any of this applies to paper Individual Form-4 or Form-1 submissions.

Finally, are you sure your SS submission is actually certified? This is typically done at your receiving dealer. I thought I was certified with SS recently and it turns out I wasn't. I will be certifying with my dealer tonight. Then I wait for the (hopefully short) approval. It took, almost 3 weeks from when I purchased the silencer and did all the SS paperwork until now. (original purchase date is 3/13)

If your local dealer has it in stock, you can (ideally) do all the paperwork and certify same day, wait for approval and then take possession. In my case, this was 4 days total. Bought/Certified on Tuesday; approved on Thursday; picked up on Friday.
If you do it with Capitol Armory, all paperwork is done through them. Once approved, you'll wait an additional ~2 weeks for CLEO notification and shipping but it will be delivered to your door.
If your transfer involves a Form 3 approval (always the case with Silencer Shop?), they are stating a 2-3 week delay.
Obviously, if its not in stock you'll wait until it is, to even start the process.

FWIW, I submitted an eForm 1 on 3/25 -> approved this morning 4/2
eForm 4 on 3/27 -> approved yesterday 4/1

Both individual.

The Form 4 actually took 3 fewer days than the Form 1.


Reading around other sites, it seems like there was an issue prior to 3/12 that began around the end of February or early March, and some of those submissions are being held up.

I’m going to the trouble of obtaining a UPIN and maybe even submit another NFA item.

If I could cancel it all , I would.

Edit to add:

I’m not entirely sure Silencer Shop isn’t to blame for some of this, I did some rimfire cans on a trust years ago, have received the cans and they still show pending on my account.

I know mine was all certified and submitted..There is no problem on our end..It is the ATF..

Don’t cancel it. If approved for your UPIN, send it along with your serial/control numbers to IPB and ask for your UPIN to be added to your submissions.

I certified  3 on 3/18, still waiting

I have done 1 NFA item a month since August of last year. Also did a Form1 back in December.  All on SS Kiosk with exception to the F1 which I did myself.   I am still awaiting on them all.  Last certify was done on 3/15.  

I have plenty of NFA stuff and I guess you could call me a stamp collector, I am hoping for a batch approval, but who knows

We should all be FLOODING our reps and NICS and whoever with emails.
Every day, send a round of emails.

These fucksticks need to do their job.
They should be getting annoyed and uncomfortable with the amount of complaints.

I don’t disagree. However, anytime I’ve contacted them before the “current posted average processing times” I’ve only ever gotten a copy and paste response with a link to here. Including when my Rep has contacted them.

To answer a couple of the questions above, yes I am positive this transaction was certified through SS. That occurred on February 21. This is an electronic form 4 for an individual on an item that is in stock at my transferring dealer. I saw someone mention above that they think there may have been some issues that might include the timeframe of my submission. People who have submitted e-form 4s as individuals several weeks later than mine are getting theirs returned with an approval already. I guess maybe I didn’t get so lucky???

I’ve done the same thing since eforms went live in Jan 2022. I usually would get 3-5 batched at the same time, but April 2023 I got 19 in one day, it was glorious.

I’ve still got 5 pending, oldest goes back to Dec ‘23, newest was 15 days ago.

There is no rhyme or reason to the fast approvals, but individual def helps and having a NICS check that comes back immediately is a plus.

I did the Congressional Rep thing, that was as worthless of an attempt as the Phone calls.. Called a couple times..Got the robot response.. The email to the DOJ and the ATF IBP I think may actually help..I am expecting my approval now by weeks end.

Well that did not work..

I did get a response a couple weeks ago that said my form was moved into the Trust queue, to be examined by the next available Trust Examiner..Whatever that means..