Seriously, this is a pretty well discussed topic within the Gun world. The NRA ILA and even USA Carry have discussions on the subject of gifting.
Your father lives in another state, and you use him to buy a non-roster handgun for you. You then have him transfer the gun to you through wonky CA law. Because you are not legally allowed to buy that gun in another state yourself, and your father is acting as your agent, its illegal.
If your father buys the pistol with his money as a bona fide gift, and then gifts that to you, you are bound by the transfer laws for that non-roster handgun as you were implying.
It comes down to the intent of the purchase.