Upgrading existing suppressor on Gamo

[rodensouth]

Is it legal for me to use some PVC and epoxy and such to affix a permanent sound moderator on my Gamo Whisper? I don't think the dinky one that came on it does much.

It's a .22 pellet and louder than I like for backyard practice.

I know we don't like to discuss air rifles much here, but this is the best spot I know to ask.

 

[JohnKSa]

About half the noise from a spring-piston air rifle is mechanical, not muzzle blast. So a perfectly effective suppressor will only cut the noise by about half.

If you can build it up piecemeal, directly onto the airgun in such a way that you never have anything that could be defined as a suppressor separate from the air rifle, and insure that as you build it, it is affixed progressively throughout the process in a manner as to make removal impossible without destroying it completely, you might be able to avoid breaking any laws.

That would mean that you never had a suppressor separate from the airgun (where it could meet the legal definition of a silencer), and by the time it could be reasonably called a silencer, it was already permanently part of an airgun and therefore not legally a silencer since it can't be affixed to a firearm.

Of course, that's just me talking common sense. It's the BATF that will ultimately make the call. It would be worth asking them in writing with a fairly detailed explanation of how you plan to proceed.

 

[rodensouth]

Thanks John that sounds reasonable. I was only considering the legality of suppressing the air gun, not the possibility of creating something they might consider a separate unit.

Contacting them is likely the thing to do.

 

[Fred in Wisc]

Pretty sure an airgun isn't considered a firearm, otherwise they would not be able to sell it with the supressor without all the extra paperwork and a tax stamp.

 

[TurtlePhish]

I was considering something similar to this a while ago and posted it here on THR. The general consensus was that the act of building the suppressor onto the airgun still potentially made the pieces-to-be-affixed silencer parts in the eyes of the ATF. The only way to know for sure is to send them a letter.

 

[JohnKSa]

Pretty sure an airgun isn't considered a firearm, otherwise they would not be able to sell it with the supressor without all the extra paperwork and a tax stamp.

It isn't, but suppressed airguns typically have integral suppressors that can not be removed without destroying them.

The general consensus was that the act of building the suppressor onto the airgun still potentially made the pieces-to-be-affixed silencer parts in the eyes of the ATF.

You'd have to be pretty careful about things, I certainly wouldn't collect all the parts and then begin working. I'd build it up a piece at a time, acquiring a piece at a time and installing that piece permanently before acquiring the next piece.

The only way to know for sure is to send them a letter.

That's the bottom line.

 

[Hunter125]

By that line of reasoning, wouldn't an integrally suppressed weapon of any kind where the suppressor is a part of the gun itself be legal without the tax stamp? I'm hopeful, but wary.

 

[TurtlePhish]

No. If the suppressor is on a firearm or can be attached to a firearm in some way, it's an NFA item.

The reason Gamo can put them on airguns without regulation is because they're a permanent, non-removable part of something that is NOT a firearm and the suppressor of the airgun cannot be removed from the airgun and affixed to a firearm without damaging or destroying it.

 

[Hunter125]

Ah, I see. Too bad. There is an integrally supressed 77/22 I'd like to get, but of course I'd have to be out of IL first. Guess ill have to pony up for the tax stamp after all.