How many are actually buying suppressors?

[andrewP]

It's kinda sad how many friends, told me "I can't wait to buy a suppressor", and now are opting out due to the paper work.

It's funny, I'm the opposite of your friends. I'd be willing to put up with the hassle/paperwork if I could afford/justify the funds, but $1000+ for something that's not an actual need is kind of a non-starter for me right now.

[yukonjasper]

Why are they so expensive? Is it simply supply and demand and there aren't that many suppliers.

I guess I can see the need for some engineering, but for the most part they seem simple enough that they shouldn't cost that much.

Will there be a day when the cost will come down - when other manufacturers realize there is a market for these and start mass producing..............?

[JJ]

Will there be a day when the cost will come down - when other manufacturers realize there is a market for these and start mass producing..............?

As log as the NFA process is cumbersome, the price will always remain high. Remember that in this case, the cost is not just in the parts themselves, but the paperwork process/hassle on the manufacturers side.

[yukonjasper]

As log as the NFA process is cumbersome, the price will always remain high. Remember that in this case, the cost is not just in the parts themselves, but the paperwork process/hassle on the manufacturers side.

I didn't think about the manufacturer. Good point.

[jshuberg]

I guess I can see the need for some engineering, but for the most part they seem simple enough that they shouldn't cost that much.

Professionally manufactured suppressors look simple, but there is quite a bit of R&D involved. Anyone can add baffles to a tube, and screw it onto a threaded barrel, but to be competitive manufacturers need to invest a lot of money and effort into development.

A suppressor is very much like a car muffler - it is designed to provide room for extremely hot expanding gasses to expand and cool before entering the atmosphere. The big difference is that on a firearm it needs to be light, small, mounted in a perfectly reproducible position, and not effect accuracy. Those are fairly complicated design criteria. It takes hundreds if not thousands of computer simulations that model the fluid dynamics inside the can. Then comes the physical prototypes and testing. It's an expensive process.

[Bitter Bastard]

Got my Form 4 in the mail on Tuesday. I waited until July 1 to get the paperwork from my dealer to make sure there were no ATF hijinks for getting it signed prior to July first, got the form 4's signed on Monday, and in the mail Tuesday. Went with a .22 silencer to start with, will add either an AR or a .45 or a 9mm can later this year with any luck.

To those who think it's a big deal, it really isn't too bad in your in an area where the chief will sign. My city does free fingerprints for its citizens, and I took my own photos with my phone and printed them on the color printer at work. So, the whole process is a bit more work than walking in to a store an walking out with a silencer, but not much. Here's the "hassle" I've gone through:

1) Got fillable PDFs emailed to me from my dealer, filled them out and printed them. 10 minutes
2) Had a friend at work take a pic of me in front of a whiteboard. Put the pics in Word to play with sizing, and printed them out. 10 minutes.
3) Went to my dealer, who let me shoot my suppressor plus a few other goodies he had in stock. Yay! Paid him, got my paperwork from him. Turned a 5 minute trip into an hour, but that was my fault. (Thanks Jason if you're reading this!)
4) Went to my local PD, got printed and since the chief wasn't in, left my forms there for him to sign. 15 minutes.
5) Went back to the PD later that day to get my paperwork. 5 minutes.
6) Double check everything is together, write a check, put it all in an envelope. 5 minutes
7) Take to post office to make sure the postage amount is correct. $1.20 and 5 minutes

Total time so far dealing with this "hassle" - under an hour, plus the range time at the dealers. That's not bad. It could be lessened with a trust, but I don't have one of those and I DO have a chief that signs, so I just went that route.

I'm not counting the wait for the approval as part of the hassle since it doesn't impact my life one iota. Oh, and add another trip back to the dealer to get my toy when the paperwork comes in, but there is a good chance that will involve shooting more of his inventory, so I'm not counting that as a hassle at all!

So, YAY! silencers. And poo on anyone who corrects me to say suppressor. My form 4 said silencer, that's good enough for me!

Good luck!

Bitter Bastard

[Hmac]

Got my Form 4 in the mail on Tuesday. I waited until July 1 to get the paperwork from my dealer to make sure there were no ATF hijinks for getting it signed prior to July first, got the form 4's signed on Monday, and in the mail Tuesday. Went with a .22 silencer to start with, will add either an AR or a .45 or a 9mm can later this year with any luck.



Bitter Bastard

I agree, it's a minor inconvenience if your CLEO will sign off.

Did you remember to print the Form 4 on both sides of a single sheet of paper?

[Bitter Bastard]

Got my Form 4 in the mail on Tuesday. I waited until July 1 to get the paperwork from my dealer to make sure there were no ATF hijinks for getting it signed prior to July first, got the form 4's signed on Monday, and in the mail Tuesday. Went with a .22 silencer to start with, will add either an AR or a .45 or a 9mm can later this year with any luck.



Bitter Bastard

I agree, it's a minor inconvenience if your CLEO will sign off.

Did you remember to print the Form 4 on both sides of a single sheet of paper?

Yup, handy dandy duplex printer did it for me. Two copies of the form 4, two fingerprint sets, 1 certificate of compliance, 1 check for $200.

[hammAR]

Bitter Bastard pretty much nailed it - relative simple
it is strange to hear all the hassle/paperwork/cumbersome comments

I agree that the NFA regulations and paperwork plus $200 tax for a simple tool is a hassle and BS,
both the BATF and NFA should be shut down and abolished
but for now it is what it is.....so deal with it

Also, IF one is going to spend $200/tax stamp and $1,000/silencer,
then one has absolutely no excuse to not protect it and your family properly and spend $200-500 for a Trust..........

[Erud]

Don't for me wrong, I think suppressors are awesome and I'm glad they are finally legal here. That said, the main "hassle" that prevents me from buying one is the same one that kept me from ever getting an SBR. Call me paranoid, but I just can't convince myself to voluntarily surrender my fingerprints to the federal government. I've never been fingerprinted for any other reason, and I guess I kind of like it that way. That coupled with the cost, and the fact that I have no use for one, will likely keep me suppressor-less for the foreseeable future.

[Ghost]

Call me paranoid, but I just can't convince myself to voluntarily surrender my fingerprints to the federal government. I've never been fingerprinted for any other reason, and I guess I kind of like it that way. That coupled with the cost, and the fact that I have no use for one, will likely keep me suppressor-less for the foreseeable future.

And that's why a trust is something you should look into.

[Erud]

Call me paranoid, but I just can't convince myself to voluntarily surrender my fingerprints to the federal government. I've never been fingerprinted for any other reason, and I guess I kind of like it that way. That coupled with the cost, and the fact that I have no use for one, will likely keep me suppressor-less for the foreseeable future.

And that's why a trust is something you should look into.

Maybe so, but I still have no use for one and have other things to spend money on. The type of shooting I do, there would just never be an opportunity for me to use one.

Unless HammAR throws down the gauntlet and challenges me to a $1000 suppressor shootout or something...

[hammAR]

Unless HammAR throws down the gauntlet and challenges me to a $1000 suppressor shootout or something...

That was for fun - hope that you are not developing a flinch -

[Holland&Holland]

A Trust is something I am thinking about a lot lately. And I understand how in the case of my passing it protects these items however does it also offer risk to these items?

I guess my thinking is what if the government comes down on trusts as has been suggested in the past. Would the items now owned in these trust now be invalid?

I just do not feel like I have a good handle on the legalities of trusts and different scenarios.

[igofast]

A Trust is something I am thinking about a lot lately. And I understand how in the case of my passing it protects these items however does it also offer risk to these items?

I guess my thinking is what if the government comes down on trusts as has been suggested in the past. Would the items now owned in these trust now be invalid?

I just do not feel like I have a good handle on the legalities of trusts and different scenarios.

All the reason to act sooner rather than later. Of course it's speculation, but realistically invalidating existing trusts is a can of worms I wouldn't expect the BATFE to open. They would need to follow up on all the ones that have been approved and what? Refund/transfer/invalidate? They going to show up at your house and cut up your stamp(they better have my money, buddy)? How are they going to deal with E-Stamps(you don't get physical stamps when you e-file)?

They can't keep up with the demand now and their funding is not expanding. More likely they will stop accepting any new applications from trusts and grandfather in existing ones.

However - IMHO - something bad would have to happen relating to an item in a trust for any traction around changing anything.