I want to buy a firearm as a gift for my stepfather, but he lives in another state. The easiest way for me to do this at the moment would be to buy the gun online, have it sent to his FFL, and then have HIM fill out the 4473 and take possession of the gun.

Is this legal, assuming that I speak with the FFL and get his blessing beforehand?

The explanation of 11a on the 4473 says that I would be considered the actual transferee/buyer if I were to buy and take possession of a firearm with the intention of giving it as a gift, but would my stepfather be considered the transferee/buyer if I wanted him to receive it as a gift, myself having only funded the purchase of the gun but never taking ownership of it?

I feel like this is a no-go, even though if I were to do it by this process it would be closer to the ATF's intent in the first place, that they get to do a NICS check on the person who will ultimately own the gun rather than just doing one on me and then having me privately gift it to someone. I mean, it's basically the equivalent of gifting him the cash and then him buying a gun with it.

I tried to google a little bit, but I was getting mostly questions about gifting to someone via face to face means. If anyone can shine some light on this, or if anyone has successfully done this, I'd appreciate the info.