The deer control "Quiet Shotgun" (7 foot barrel!)

[KAR120C]

They did an article on this a year or so ago in the local paper (Minneapolis). As I recall the guns they were talking about had long barrels, not normal length barrels with extensions.

The originator developed them to make crow hunting quieter, so as not to rile his neighbors. They then went on to use them for deer suppresion in urban parks.

We have a lot of parks here, with a lot of deer. The article said the long gunners would work from tree stands, some of which were only a couple of hundred feet from houses. No one had noticed the gunfire or complained, though the hunters would only go out after dark, and wouldn't give their names, because they were afraid of being harassed by deer lovers.

I find it odd that there is concern over our growing wolf population, when wolves have yet to kill or attack anyone, but there is no talk about reducing the deer population, even though deer kill several people every year (in traffic accidents)

 

[Cesiumsponge]

What if you have a traditional baffled suppressor on a paintball marker instead of a vented barrel? If a paintball marker wasn't considered a firearm and exempt from the ATF's rulings, then you could use the traditional can suppressors on a paintball marker and get away with it just as you can freely use a vented barrel. There would be a healthy aftermarket support for it and you'd see it on paintball fields

However, the ATF website says:

A. §921(a)(24) The terms "firearm silencer" and "firearm muffler" mean any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including any combination of parts, designed or redesigned, and intended for use in assembling or fabricating a firearm silencer or firearm muffler, and any part intended only for use in such assembly or fabrication.

Numerous paintball silencers tested by the Firearms Technology Branch have been determined to be, by nature of their design and function, firearm silencers as defined in 18 U.S.C., Section 921(a)(24). An individual wishing to manufacturer a firearm silencer must receive prior approval from ATF by submitting an ATF Form 1 and paying a $200 making tax.

My brother used to paintball extensively and has a large collection of paintball rags. One of the main "buy ours and not theirs" arguments in direct-atmosphere vented barrels was the argument of reducing sound signature. In fact, there are articles that compare and contrast these aftermarket barrels, and sound signature is discussed often. Yet the ATF rules the can-type paintball silencers aren't legal to own without the tax stamp but oodles of aftermarket barrel companies providing atmospherically vented barrels are arguing that theirs are quietest without attracting much attention?

Maybe it's that ATF oddity we've all come to know and depend on. Addressing the tube/barrel point, Dye makes two-piece barrels. The first is non-vented and the second is vented. Someone with a bone to pick with paintball markers might be able to stretch an argument into considering the vented portion as a tube extention with intent to suppress sound. There are other barrel makers that have two-piece designs similar. The first piece has varying diameters (since paintball ammunition itself and weather conditions seem to cause irregularity in size) and the second vented piece is usually a standard diameter.

 

[Smoke]

you know some day a soccar mom is going to shoot espresso out her nose when she walks out to her Lincoln Navigator to take the kids three blocks to school and trips over a gut pile.

Funniest thing I've read in quite awhile....

There is usually a lot of truth in humor.

Smoke

 

[JohnKSa]

A long barrel is quieter than a short barrel. That means that when I legally remove an 18" barrel from my 870 and legally install a 36" barrel, I'm reducing the report. If I put a 7' barrel on it would reduce the report even more and would still be legal. Long barrels are not illegal--even though they clearly reduce the report of the firearm that bears them. So clearly it is legal to put a device (longer barrel) on a gun to reduce the report in SOME circumstances.

Bloop tubes and muzzle devices which are drilled straight thru are perfectly legal. Witness the legal "fake silencers" you can buy or the unrifled barrel extensions on competition rifles to lengthen the sight radius. There is no upper limit on a bloop tube length or on the length of a muzzle attachement which is drilled straight through. Therefore if you want to put a 7' "bloop tube" on a shotgun it's perfectly legal to do so. That would reduce the report. Therefore it is clearly legal in some cases to attach a device (very long bored through muzzle attachment) the the barrel that reduces the report. You might have a tiny bit of legal risk here since "muzzle attachment" is a dirty word these days.

Porting is legal. Venting a barrel is legal. I have never seen any ruling that even HINTS that drilling a hole in a barrel or a barrel extension is illegal. Therefore it would be legal to drill holes in your 7' barrel or in your 7' bloop tube.

ABSOLUTELY THE WORST CASE. If you wanted to be PERFECTLY SAFE--the guy simply has a 7' barrel made (instead of hanging an aluminum tube off the end) then he can port it all he wants and it will still be legal. Since this would provide exactly the same functionality, and is indisputably legal, it's easy to see why the BATF is not trying to prosecute him.