There is no surprise here and nothing is out of the ordinary. Yes you can ship a gun to a gunsmith or manufacturer and have it sent back to you with no muss no fuss. Shipping to a different address than to the one on record is going to be treated as any other transfer; sent to an FFL and you got to do the 4473 and background check.
ETA: The address on record is the address that they logged it into their Bound Book. Nobody that I know is going to use White Out or similar in their Bound Book. BATFE is very, very, nit picky with their Bound Book inspections.
Last edited by sbrmike; 04/22/20. Reason: clarification
