Why Are Suppressors So Popular?

taliv said:

another point about noise reduction, you can't put plugs and muffs on your furry friends. dogs, horses, etc

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I was going to say that if someone else didn’t.

I'm surprised no one has brought up why the military increasingly is using silencers.
It's not just to diminish the decibels at the shooters ear, but silencers reduce muzzle flash and disguise the origin of the shot.

Those that hunt hogs know that a .300Blackout AR with a 30round magazine AND a silencer lets you take out faaaaaar more hogs than without a silencer.

I wonder how much we’d complain if suppressors were mandated...

We’d probably all be complaining about how much cheaper an un-suppressed handgun would be and wish we could dump the extra weight for “quicker handling”.

Noise reduction is the obvious motivation. Plus, everyone one I talk to who has a suppressor on their rifles say it's one of the best things they have ever bought. Most rifles would come factory equipped with a suppressor if it was legal. The only reason nearly every rifle owner doesn't have one or more is the blasted things are expensive and the government makes it hard on us with an unnecessary tax and a long wait. However, a suppressor is my next purchase.

If it wasn’t looked upon as having no purpose other than used by super secret agent snipers able to allow a gun to be used in the same room as the victim and no one else in the room hears it like Hollywood portrays it up here in Canada I would have one for every gun I could. When in the USA I have shot firearms that had suppressors and was so nice especially indoors.

Sniper66 said:

Noise reduction is the obvious motivation. Plus, everyone one I talk to who has a suppressor on their rifles say it's one of the best things they have ever bought. Most rifles would come factory equipped with a suppressor if it was legal. The only reason nearly every rifle owner doesn't have one or more is the blasted things are expensive and the government makes it hard on us with an unnecessary tax and a long wait. However, a suppressor is my next purchase.

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If the Hearing Protection Act ever passed i guarantee you many guns would come with suppressors on them and the price would come down as more manufacturers popped up.

My neighbors dont like when I function check new pmags. Should probly get a suppressor

Aim1 said:

If the Hearing Protection Act ever passed i guarantee you many guns would come with suppressors on them and the price would come down as more manufacturers popped up.

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Absolutely. Look at Europe where they are not regulated and you can get cheap suppressors that are basically disposable for dirt cheap.

I have no hope that the HPA will pass during my lifetime. Still, I am shopping around for a suppressor to use and willing to wait for a Form 4 or Form 1 approval to use it.

dogtown tom said:

I'm surprised no one has brought up why the military increasingly is using silencers.
It's not just to diminish the decibels at the shooters ear, but silencers reduce muzzle flash and disguise the origin of the shot.

Those that hunt hogs know that a .300Blackout AR with a 30round magazine AND a silencer lets you take out faaaaaar more hogs than without a silencer.

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Well, yes. I did in post #32.

When real world suppressors work like the Hollywood version, where I could practice my marksmanship in my bedroom while my wife was asleep and she wouldn't hear anything at all but a pfffft of air, then I will jump through whatever hoops exist so that I can get one. But I don't expect such a device to ever exist, nor do I expect the ignorant gun haters that make the rules ever make it feasible for me to own one. The people making the rules are the same ones that said new magazines rather than guns should be banned, since when the rounds in the current magazines are used up, no one will be able to fire a gun anyway.The gun knowledge in the brains of the anti gunners is about on a par with that Congressman that objected to the plan for moving a Marine brigade to Guam, if I recall, concerned that the weight of all those soldiers and equipment might tip the island over.

entropy said:

If you've ever shot a firearm with one on it, you'd know the answer.

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Yep.

Anyone who has ever tried one of my demos is instantly hooked.

Noise, blast, flash & recoil reduction. What's not to like?

They're not really appropriate for use on CCW pistols due to the added bulk, but in every other circumstance, I find the extra length and weight a small price to pay, including range use & hunting. With more efficient cartridges and powders today than when the silencer was first introduced, you do not need a ridiculously long stick to have a suppressed hunting rifle; take that .308, .30-06, .270 or whatever, cut it back to 20" or a little less, thread a 6" or 7" can on, you're no longer than a lot of factory magnum rifles sporting 26" barrels, and the weight of more purpose-built hunting suppressors is negligible; my Phantom 8 model, a 1.5 x 8" can, weighs just 8 ounces with mostly titanium and aluminum construction. It's not able to handle high volume of fire due to the materials & thin dimensions of parts, but that is not needed for big game hunting.

I suppress everything I can. Revolvers can't really be suppressed effectively with a couple exceptions, and some guns just aren't conducive to it, but there is a solution for most. In addition to the usual ARs, modern bolt rifles, common autoloading pistols, etc., I have suppressed vintage lever actions, pump actions, single shots (break open, falling block, rolling block), virtually every pattern of rimfire you can imagine (including revolver, still much louder than sutos, but tolerable).

Yes, I have an advantage with being able to professionally manufacture any suppressor I can dream up, register it tax-free with F2 as an SOT, and do the modifications to any firearm myself, but there are so many suppressor options out there now that one can find something to fit the bill. If not, make it on a Form 1. And like I said above, there are solutions for most desired hosts, including skinny barreled sporters, pistols for which threaded barrels aren't available, etc.

vito said:

When real world suppressors work like the Hollywood version, where I could practice my marksmanship in my bedroom while my wife was asleep and she wouldn't hear anything at all but a pfffft of air, then I will jump through whatever hoops exist so that I can get one. But I don't expect such a device to ever exist, nor do I expect the ignorant gun haters that make the rules ever make it feasible for me to own one. The people making the rules are the same ones that said new magazines rather than guns should be banned, since when the rounds in the current magazines are used up, no one will be able to fire a gun anyway.The gun knowledge in the brains of the anti gunners is about on a par with that Congressman that objected to the plan for moving a Marine brigade to Guam, if I recall, concerned that the weight of all those soldiers and equipment might tip the island over.

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With rimfire, subsonic 9mm, subsonic .38 in lever action, .300 blackout bolt action, it can be pretty friggin' close to "hollywood quiet".

This is my Phoenix IX model on a Marlin 1894 shooting Geco 158 gr. .38 spl



A prototype of mine on a Suomi post sample full auto



An integral build I did on a 6.5 Creedmore shooting full power supersonic factory ammo:




Waiting on the process to get less onerous, however, is a fool's errand. NFA has been law for nearly a century, and the government has never been interested in reducing revenue or reducing the size of an agency. But it's really not that big a deal to do a F1 or F4. A picture, a couple finger print cards, a submission (paper for Form 4, but you can efile Form 1), the tax and then wait a bit. Once you've done it, you'll wonder why you waited so long.

Noise reduction. I am almost 100% deaf and anything that can help making it worse is a plus for me.

One of the biggest things I love is not having the kids have to wear ear pro and being able to instruct them easily.

MachIVshooter said:

Once you've done it, you'll wonder why you waited so long.

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I have been waiting quite a while...
Just about to get another 5.56 and haven’t fired my own yet.

If you have hearing lose from using any number of rifles and shotguns for 40 years without suppression you would like to have a way to suppress the muzzle blast from firearms that destroy one's hearing. One can easily use ear protection on the range but hunting is much more difficult. You have to hear to hunt so anything that limits that is a handicap.

Why congress hasn't passed a bill to remove suppressors from NFA is beyond my grasp.

I don't own any because of the registration trap. Nobody who uses a firearm to commit a crime is going to take the time (six months) and pay the fed $200 so they can shoot someone with a suppressed firearm. Hollywood created the mystique of gangsters and suppressors and we're still living with it. Time to move on.

Aim1 said:

If the Hearing Protection Act ever passed i guarantee you many guns would come with suppressors on them and the price would come down as more manufacturers popped up.

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There is a portion of the price that is there due to NFA compliance also. I have a couple of the Witt Machine suppressors in NFA jail right now. The suppressors are just over $200, but the total cost each is still over $500 by the time you pay for the NFA stamp and other costs.

I think you would also see people develop more small combination flash/sound suppressors that are meant to just take the edge off the noise. With the built in $200 plus compliance costs, that isn't really worth doing right now. There would be a lot more room for innovation if the regulatory burden were removed.

MechAg94 said:

There is a portion of the price that is there due to NFA compliance also. I have a couple of the Witt Machine suppressors in NFA jail right now. The suppressors are just over $200, but the total cost each is still over $500 by the time you pay for the NFA stamp and other costs.

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"Other costs"? Like a trust? If so, you waaay overpaid.

I think you would also see people develop more small combination flash/sound suppressors that are meant to just take the edge off the noise. With the built in $200 plus compliance costs, that isn't really worth doing right now. There would be a lot more room for innovation if the regulatory burden were removed.

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Tell me more about "compliance costs" and the "regulatory burden".
I'll answer, there isn't any more "compliance cost" or regulatory burden" for a manufacturer of NFA firearms than for a kitchen table dealer. Both pay for an FFL 01FFL Dealer is $200 for the first three years and a whopping $90 for each three year period after that and my SOT is $500 a year.
An 07FFL Manufacturer is $150 for the first three years and $150 for each three year renewal. His SOT is also $500yr unless his gross recepts exceed $500,000.....then he pays a whopping $1000 a year SOT.

Recordkeeping is the same except for filing a Form 2 when manufacturing.

In short, you want to crank out silencers?
07FFL $150 every three years + $500 SOT every year that's a whopping $650 a year. Any "manufacturer" that can't absorb that or the minimal recordkeeping requirements isn't much of a manufacturer or businessman.

SOT means Special Occupational Taxpayer.........which means a yearly tax that allows me to deal in NFA firearms and an 07 to manufacturer NFA firearms WITHOUT paying for a tax stamp on each NFA firearm.

dogtown tom said:

07FFL $150 every three years + $500 SOT every year that's a whopping $650 a year. Any "manufacturer" that can't absorb that or the minimal recordkeeping requirements isn't much of a manufacturer or businessman.

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I don't like having to pay it, but yes, it's a pittance compared to the other costs of manufacturing, even at my small level. I'll spend several times that just on carbide cutters & inserts in a year.

I don't like but can afford the tax. It's the rigmarole of registration paperwork and waiting that keeps me from investing further ... at least at this point.

@MachIVshooter "I'm taking a knee not for any political reasons but for the fact I forgot my tripod for my chronograph." Love it.

And the integrally suppressed 6.5 CM rediculous!

Legionnaire said:

I don't like but can afford the tax. It's the rigmarole of registration paperwork and waiting that keeps me from investing further ... at least at this point.

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Agreed, if it was a simple as pay a tax (of which is unconstitutional in my opinion) I would be in trouble with NFA items draining the bank account.

Legionnaire said:

I don't like but can afford the tax. It's the rigmarole of registration paperwork and waiting that keeps me from investing further ... at least at this point.

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One of our local NFA dealers, Stryker's Shooting World (I have no affiliation with them other than I purchase things at their store), makes it very easy. Bring in pictures and a check, pay for the item, they finger print you, you fill out the paperwork, they mail it all in and you wait. It's really not that hard.