ny vin18,
No need to apologize about asking for info. I did notice that you were asking for info, not overtly claming that you would make a silencer in NY where they are illegal for civilians to own. If you enjoy guns, then you owe it to yourself to leave NY and live in a less oppressive state.
That said, the books linked to in this thread are not good sources of info on making silencers in my opinion. I am speaking as a person who makes silencers as a hobby on my lathe. I have paged through many a book on making silencers and the ones in this thread certainly are not very practical or military grade. Anyone who says they can make a military grade silencer without a lathe (as claimed in the Amazon reviews of the book) is blowing smoke up your butt. Military grade implies that a silencer is of a compact size, high strength and an effective suppressor. The only way to do this is to use high quality metals that resist heat / erosion and make it to fine specifications that allow for a compact size and minimum clearance on the bore. This is not possible without using a lathe or milling machine.
One does not have to be an expert on machine tools to make silencers that perform very well. I learned how to use a lathe while making my first silencer for my AR-15 in 300 whisper. It was easy to make parts that were square and within .001 inches of what was required. It is not rocket science and certainly less difficult than making an accurate firearm.
Tim the student,
I do not know what kind of student you are, but you still have much to learn. One of those things you must learn is that laws normally prohibit an action, not allow it. Therefore if you have never read a law prohibiting a certain thing (like making or owning silencers) and it is obviously not an immoral thing, then the best thing for you to do is assume it is actually legal until you can prove otherwise. That is one of the nice things about living in the USA (and many other countries), if it is not actually prohibited by law, then it is legal to do. If you can’t be bothered to make a tiny effort to research the law, then you need to keep your mouth shut lest the rest of the forum members (those with a clue anyway) think you are a member of the VPC or Brady Campaign.
Another thing Tim; It is sometimes a bad idea to write to the ATF and ask if something is legal or not. You might be giving them ideas which will lead to new prohibitions like the new definition of a machine gun being related to operation of the trigger finger instead of operation of the trigger. Or that a person who is licensed to make silencers can not replace certain parts. These “new” illegalities are the result of someone writing to the ATF to get an answer instead of testing it in court or talking to a lawyer
FFL’s are only for those who sell, buy, make or import guns as a business. No American adult needs a license to make buy sell or own any weapon; with an exception like machineguns made after May 1986. If I want to make a silencer, short barreled shotgun, a grenade, a rocket or other weapon, then all I have to do is submit the ATF form 1 and pay the tax. It is that easy. The ATF NEVER refuses to approve any ATF form 1 that is properly filled out. If anyone knows of a case, I would like to know more about it.
Suggesting that a soda bottle makes for a good silencer is really bad advice. What good does it do to suppress the noise of a cartridge to just ruin accuracy? None of course. You had better intend to hit the target, or else all you are doing is making noise, even when using a silencer. Remember what Dean Wormer said to Flounder before he kicked him out of college.
The worst part of this whole thread is that the gun owners (or those who claim to be) are not sticking together. When a gun owner tries to discourage gun ownership by claiming it is illegal, then we do not need the creeps in Congress to outlaw guns for us. Some of us are all too willing to do it to ourselves. Shameful.
Ranb
