“[The Violence Policy Center] estimates that deregulating silencers would open the market to 1.3 million new customers,” Linda K. Newell writes sltrib.com. “How many more deaths will occur when silencers are on the streets and in the hands of youth gangs and other criminals, as they surely will be?” I’m thinking somewhere between none and not a lot. Hysteria aside, though . . .

If pending federal legislation to remove the paperwork, time and expense of suppressor sales passes, would you buy a can? How many and for what platform(s)? Do you have one or more silencers already? I so, would you buy more in a more deregulated marketplace?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

91 COMMENTS

    • Of course. As a card carrying stamp collector silencers feature promently in my safe.

      Someone should make an ugly brightly colored (safety green?) suppressor that could be the poster child of silencers in the media. All the operator/tactical takes on the suppressor derail the real argument and make the whole silencer thing seem a scary tangent in need of draconian laws.

      To reframe the trajectory of the silencer legal discussions, the cans need to project a safety vibe rather than a spy-killing tool.

      • Perhaps the law should require that they must be painted in alternating black and yellow diagonal stripes?

    • I agree, no….. because i would just make my own. Commiefornia aside, the rules regarding manufacturing seem to be prohibitive when it comes to experimenting at your workbench or appropriating materials for silencer manufacture i.e. ffl/sot rules and/or waiting several months for your form1 before you even start. With the rules brushed out of the way you will see the comercial suppressor side become more competative and contract due to price reductions and the ability of any idiot to LEGALLY experiment and manifacture simple gun mufflers. There will always be a high end commercial market, but the high end market and/or time consuming home manufacturing process won’t be the only options anymore.

  2. If they get deregulated I will be picking up one for a 308, 556, 9mm, 45acp and 22. Might even double up on a couple of those.

    I will also get several integrally suppressed guns, like the 10/22 takedown and MK IV, as well as a 300blk AR.

    • Similar here, except that I’d be getting two .45 cans for the home defense pistols, and I don’t blackout so I wouldn’t get one for that.

    • Just out of curiosity, is there anything stopping one from just using a can designed for 5.56 on a .22 rifle?

      • In principle no.

        In practice, .22LR is *really* dirty. Most .22LR cans seem designed for easy disassembly for cleaning; for the 5.56 /.223 cans, not so much, from what I’ve read.

      • Snatchums — .22 LR is really dirty and gunks up the inside of a suppressor something fierce. There are VERY few 5.56 cans that come apart for cleaning, and for that reason most people would suggest against using it on a .22. Plus, the 5.56 can is going to be larger and heavier than you need for suppressing a .22 well. Disregarding the size thing, if you want a can made for a different caliber that you can also use on a .22, get a can that comes apart for cleaning, like a 9mm pistol can or a super universal .45 pistol can like the Liberty Cosmic (which you can use on an absolutely absurd number of calibers from .458 Socom on down).

        …while I’m posting, I’ll answer the question of the day: I own four suppressors now, which I began acquiring in 2012, and I’d probably own twenty within a year of HPA passing (available supply notwithstanding).

  3. Got two so far. A silencerco Omega and a YHM for .22lr.
    Got two in paperwork jail for now. Eagerly awaiting their freedom. Gonna be using the YHM today at a good friends birthday celebration/BBQ!

  4. I’d like one for my Blackout AR and my .308 hunting rifle. I don’t know if I’d leave a can on the end of a pistol

  6. none yet, but if they were over the counter sales I would have all of my rifle barrels, aside from my .22 inherited from grandpa, and I’d have one for each rifle for hunting, first would be my AR of course, already threaded.

    • This. Everything that could be threaded without reducing the value of the firearm would get a can, and there would probably be some spares. This is my plan with the current system, so it would happen faster without the need for collecting stamps.

  7. I already have several cans and like my guns, none have jumped out of my safe and harmed anyone. Crooks are too uneducated about silencers to use silencers because stolen silencers and unregistered home made silencers are already out there and there has not been any significant crimes reported regarding their use. Very few crooks are gun guys, for them a gun is a tool and the cheaper the tool the more profit from the crime. This story just reflects the uneducated inexperienced bias of those who argue by playing emotions rather than logic.

  8. When I don’t need a lawyer and six month waiting period for one, yes.

    Until then, electronic ear pro.

  10. If they are deregulated and prices drop i will certainly buy one for my 9mm and one for my AR.

  11. A “Mag-lite” and the proper sized automotive “freeze plugs” can be used to make a perfectly functional silencer. Of course, metal machine shop skills are required, but it is eminently doable.
    “Making” a silencer legally, when the federal paperwork (Class III) requirements are dropped will be no different than “making” a firearm…something that is already legal today…

    • If you have lathe and time, don’t bother with the mag lite and auto parts, build it right.

  12. Pricing is a bit of a deterrent for me. $1000+ for a good rifle can is ridiculous. Most centerfire handgun cost as much or more, before tax stamp, as the gun I hang it on.

    Not to mention 10+ month wait times, stamp money, and all the other pains that come along. It’s hard for me to to throw hundreds of dollars at a tube of steel and walk out the door empty handed for almost a year.

    • ^^THIS +1^^
      The cost of production vs. what these companies charge is sickening. The muffler on my truck cost $199. Also, who wants to have to file paperwork every time you go on vacation?

      • Jeremy S is right, no paperwork required by the feds to take a can to another state on temporary basis, that is a bit of a problem for SBRs though. That is why when I get a .308 can for my blackout pistol I will still not be changing it over to an SBR. On top of that I will be moving in a few months (possibly out of state) and that would mean more paperwork if were a stamp collector, no thanks.

        I will eventually be buying a couple of cans each in .308, 9MM, 5.56, and .22.

    • I expect that if they are deregulated that several new manufacturers would pop up and that existing manufacturers would expand their offerings and production. If that occurs, it should ultimately result in prices falling. (Initially, post deregulation, prices could conceivably increase as demand would spike before production could catch up.) Right now, there is really no incentive to offer a can below $200 and not much market below $400 as the tax is so high relative to the price. It is tough to market any product with a 50% or higher tax penalty attached. I think this dis-incentivizes designers and manufacturers from working on products in lower price ranges. I doubt there is a market, at present, for a $100 item with a $200 penalty attached but, without the tax, I think there would be a huge market for $200-$400 suppressors.

      I think the marketplace for suppressors could certainly mirror the marketplace for optics. Functional, value priced models in the lower triple digits on up through high end products costing as much as or even substantially more than the firearm they become attached to. Imagine how many fewer $250 scopes would sell if they had a $200 tax. As it stands, however, $250-$300 scopes are a relatively large market even though a high end optic can cost upward of ten (or even twenty) times that price point.

  13. The quote by Ms. Newell is simply asinine. I didn’t realize that silencers, in and of themselves, expel bullets. I’m not seeing the rationale here. I thought silencers had to be attached to guns, and gangs already have guns. I guess the silencers she is thinking about send out two bullets simultaneously and track the target reigning instant death on the target, all the while doing it as loud as a mouse fart. Is that how a silencer results in greater deaths? Where can I get one of those mythical silencers she is talking about?

    • Agree it is asinine. This line of argument from the anti’s has been going on for a while now and, to me, it is the best evidence yet that they merely use crime and safety as means to obfuscate their real position which is “Stop liking things I don’t like!” How, I would like one of them to tell me, is a silencer going to increase crime? Seriously. How?

  14. I would buy as many as I could afford. I could easily forsee that since silencer deregulation is now a safety issue, then someone would mandate a color for them in either bright yellow or bright orange.

    • May not sit well with hunters of various sorts, who are a primo demographic for needing the hearing protection of a silencer since many are loathe to wear any on/in their ears.

  15. Heh. I wonder if that very long can was chosen on purpose. They do make them shorter, after all. But hey, even with the smallest suppressors it makes any gun it’s attached to way harder to conceal.

  16. I have 3, a Silencerco Spectre 2 for 22, a Dead Air Ghost 45m for pistols, and a Dead Air Sandman-S. I admit that the waiting period, money, and “getting permission” are a big hassle, but everyone “waiting on the HPA” are shooting the movement in the foot if you ask me. We need to be showing legislators that suppressors are in demand and in common use, but as it is now the market is stagnant with all the “wait and see’s”. I have hearing damage in one ear so the fight is a bit more personal for me, but until more people start buying NOW and making silencers more mainstream, the HPA has an extremely uphill battle. Many manufacturers are giving some serious incentives on their cans, and there hasnt been a better time to buy. IF the HPA passes, prices will go up and supply will dry up, and I expect most people will end up waiting another year for supply to stabilize anyway. My opinion is, if you’re more concerned about the wait time than anything else, like I was, buy your silencers from a range, as most ranges that are also dealers will let you have “conjugal visits” with them, as mine does. Mine are all still technically in NFA jail, but I have still used them extensively. Will hopefully get my first one back in September or October.

    • Agreed. Everyone waiting on HPA would already have two cans in their possession if they purchased one after the other when rumors of HPA first began. “The wait is too long” isn’t a valid argument when that amount of time has come and gone repeatedly while waiting for proposed legislation instead of assured paperwork.

      And agreed on pricing and availability. Suppressor prices have never been lower! If you think prices will drop when HPA passes you might be right, but not for maybe years afterwards. The demand is going to SKYROCKET and if you’re lucky enough to find anything acceptable in stock, it’s going to cost a fortune. Or maybe you can get on a manufacturer/retailer waiting list for a certain model, wait as long as a Form 4 currently takes, and then pay the new, higher, full MSRP.

      If it’s about not wanting to submit information to the .gov, then fine.

  17. Unless rendered mute by some federal legislation, not a chance.

    I live in California where the enlightened few dictate the terms of freedom to the masses.

    ….for our own good.

  18. Not likely until one is made that I can holster with my carry guns, draw and shoot normally. I no longer hunt, and do not shoot for “sport” so have no use for a suppressor.

    • Those exist currently. They’re designed to be shot “wet” (e.g. with some ultrasound gel inside the suppressor baffles) as they often aren’t really hearing safe without ablative. See, for instance, the GEMTECH AURORA. Thompson Machine makes a couple teeny tiny .22 ones that also use wipes to cut sound down and trap ablative medium inside the can so it doesn’t leak while you’re carrying it, etc…

      • Oh, but “disposable” tiny suppressors that are cheap and suit this use would be real cool.

  19. I’d get the integrally suppressed 10/22 takedown barrel. That thing is just amazing considering that the barrel is 10 inches, but the OAL is only 16 inches long. Makes it more quiet than sticking a can on the end of a threaded barrel and very compact.

    Then I’d also get a .45 can and maybe a .40.

  20. I have about 8 with a Maxim nine on the way.

    My 3 bolt guns have them, one for my M16, one on my 22 pistol and one on my 22 rifle, a couple of others. None on my ARs though, too loud to wear without ears so there is no point.

  21. Pigs will fly before the Provisional Government of Massachusetts permits me to buy a can.

  22. Yep. A Dead Air Mask. It works for my .22s and 5.7 weapons.

    Why should I lose my hearing, defending my home?

  23. I doubt there will be an escalation in gun violence. The upside to it, Chicago will continue on it’s path of population control, only quieter.

  24. I would only consider buying a silencer if free market competition brings them down into the $100 range.
    Seriously, how hard can it be to machine little baffles and put them together? The only reason they’re so expensive is because of monstrous regulation.

  25. I do not own one. If it passes I would purchase two. One for 300blkout and one for .45 acp. If it doesn’t pass I am going to go the long way and purchasing one that can be used for both.

  26. Yup, if regulation ends I start shopping. I’ll be in the market for a threaded 1911 barrel and an integrally suppressed .22 rifle (Ruger, please answer the phone) and will be looking to build an integrally suppressed AR when the right bits and pieces hit the right price points. Maybe spring for some barrel threads and a can for a couple .22 handguns as well. I’m also wondering about the efficacy of a suppressed lever gun, maybe that old Marlin 336 in the safe.

    • I’ve built 3 on Form 1s and the .45 does double duty – my USP and my Marlin 45/70 lever. Subsonic handloads are extremely quiet and factory hunting loads are tolerable out of the supressed 45/70.

      • Nice, the Marlin I’m thinking of is a 30-30 which, seems to me, would be a reasonable round to suppress. I also figure that a .30 caliber can would be potentially useful on a lot of other things. Hmm, suppressed M1 Carbine would be cool.

  28. If it passes, will buy two for self defense guns. Bedside and always in car. Of course, this means I’m stuck with my choice of bedside and always in car. I’m kinda enjoying changing them out at the moment.

  30. Nope. Will get a few (my AR and a 22 one at the least. Just getting a threaded barrel is too much to bother with it for my handguns) as soon as the HPA or Ginsberg/Breyer passes.

    • “or Ginsberg/Breyer passes.” – I chuckle every time. It’s probably wrong, but I do it anyway.

      But on that note, I wouldn’t be surprised if a more pro 2A court didn’t overturn the NFA as applied to silencers even though it should barely pass rational scrutiny, let alone any form of heightened scrutiny.

  31. I’m assuming the introduction of the SHUSH act means the HPA is dead. Which of course means SHUCH is dead. So no, I won’t be getting one.

  32. If deregulated, I would buy up to three suppressors, depending on price, for the following platforms:
    — rifle chambered in .22 LR
    — rifle chambered in .44 Magnum
    — handgun chambered in .45 ACP

    I would also consider making my own if that were “legal”.

    I have no suppressors right now because I REFUSE to pay a $200 tax, wait 10 months, tell Fedzilla what I have, and ask for permission to take it into another state. Also, I refuse to pay $800 for a steel or aluminum tube with some baffles and a threaded end. (That should cost about $30, not $800.)

    • A lot more than $30 goes into it than that. The best suppressors should cost about $400-$500. Which is what they cost in countries where they are deregulated and produce a lot of them. New Zealand for example. With as many companies as there are in the U.S, deregulation should eventually see prices at less than $400.

      • Stateisevil,

        I was referring to less-expensive suppressors … to which I hinted when I said “steel or aluminum”. I see no reason why a simple steel or aluminum tube with a threaded end and some washers welded inside should cost more than $10 or $15 to manufacture in decent quantities. Remember, companies manufacture entire firearms — which are more complex than suppressors — for less than $300. A can is far simpler and should cost considerably less.

    • There is no restriction on traveling with suppressors other than they need to be legal where you’re going. No permission is required to cross state lines. SBRs, machine guns, and a couple other NFA firearms, yes. Suppressors, no.

      • Jeremy,

        Oh, thank you for the clarification. I thought we had to notify the ATFe for suppressors as well. That is good to know. Now I can tick one more item off of my list of “objections”.

  33. I have 3; a .22 rf,, a 9, a 5.56, and another 9 in the works. However after having/using them off and on (no pun intended) for several years, my thought is: “meh”. The money & time probably could have been better spent. Most of my shooting these days is done on public ranges. I still need ear protection and would even if they were universally available. Not everyone shooting along with me would buy one. I don’t find them to be all that useful for the type of shooting I do. I don’t/wouldn’t use them in competition. I don’t hunt things that a suppressor would be useful for. The .22 and 9’s are just something else that needs to be cleaned. And that’s more of a pain in the rear than cleaning the guns, especially the rimfire. They’re novelties that I bring out on occasion just for grins. But, that’s just me. I imagine that sales would go through the roof for the first couple of years after normalization but after the novelty wears off, not so much.

    • I initially read your first sentence as: “I have 3; … and another 9 in the works” and thought, whoa working on numbers 4-12, this dude is trying to corner the market.

  34. If I get a silencer, can I become a deadly assassin like the leftards talk about? ‘Cause i saw it in a movie once so it must be true.

    • Here I’ve always assumed you were already a deadly assassin. Guess I’ve been reading the clues wrong (or you’re just trying to fool me now).

  35. Here in California, the only legal cans are what the plastic surgeon puts in, and the aisles of them at the supermarket. However, I still root for the rest of the nation to have the overreach of the state brushed aside so that simple metal tubes are no longer treated like radioactive yellow cake.
    When it happens, I will toast the rest of you your good fortune and I’ll await reading about how great an impact it is having on the gun community as a whole.
    I also anxiously await the missives, rhetoric, agitprop, and pure dirty money spawned anti screed against those same simple metal tubes, from the lefty fauna here at home. SSDD.

  36. I have a .22 that I got in May so it’s in jail hopefully it will come in soon it should be really fun to play with..

  37. I probably won’t buy any more if the HPA or SHUSH pass, as I have silencers in all the calibers I want. Maybe one more in 22lr or 223, just for convenience. I bought all of mine before the 41F regulation deadline, the last about a month before, which I already have in hand.

    I don’t like paying the Feds the $200 tax. I don’t worry about how much the Feds know about me, as the industry I worked in pretty much required a background check for security clearance, and I’ve also had a couple of CCW permits, and bought DCM & CMP rifles and ammo.

  38. None not burnt and drowned.

    But suppressors are worth it, and over-the-counter sales should occur.

    For all those trapped behind enemy lines, we’ll dance around the fire for you.

  39. “As they surely will be.” Jesus, the arrogance of these people to give advice on a subject they know next to nothing about is beyond belief. They can’t even give the correct definition of an assault rifle. Yet, they “know” the sociological and criminological implications, which will be none, of deregulating silencers.

  40. Don’t have one. Would like one for the SR22 which has a threaded barrel already. My wife has a .223 bolt action with a threaded barrel. I would love a 12 gauge suppressor to shoot clays in the backyard.
    Not a big fan of suppressors on handguns due to the cumbersome nature of such a rig.
    A honey badger setup in 300 blk is on the horizon and I might suppress my AR.
    Again, more likely to suppress a long gun than a handgun with the SR22 being the only exception.

  41. For anyone interested…I will be buying some of these when/if they become deregulated….looks like they are not trying to rob, I mean make them to expensive for your average shooter. Can be cleaned rather easily also. Looks pretty nice. Noise reduction seems to be on par with most expensive cans…Go to rebelsilencers.com if you are intrigued. I have no affiliation and do not own one YET but heck for $99 (& I believe $249, and $299) worth giving one a shot. No pun intended lol…..anyway he has a few YouTube videos as well. I watched the “rebel silencers $99 suppressor is back and better! “… good luck friends.

    • Actually $99, $200, & $249…..maybe someone with more knowledge of them can weigh in on it, or maybe we can get a review of one. Especially the one for .22 for $99 lol.

  42. For anyone interested…I will be buying some of these when/if they become deregulated….looks like they are not trying to rob, I mean make them to expensive for your average shooter. Can be cleaned rather easily also. Looks pretty nice. Noise reduction seems to be on par with most expensive cans…Go to rebelsilencers.com if you are intrigued. I have no affiliation and do not own one YET but heck for $99 (& I believe $200, and $249) worth giving one a shot. No pun intended lol…..anyway he has a few YouTube videos as well. I watched the “rebel silencers $99 suppressor is back and better! “… good luck friends.

  43. Yes I would purchase a suppressor if Federal deregulation superseded state law. Unlikely to happen in NJ.

  44. 3 in so far, another 6 on order.
    Only one I’d pick up is the Barrett qd suppressor for my .50
    So probably not unless they really came down in price or an integrally suppressed .22 takedown was quite affordable.

  45. Have several.

    Have some in Suppressor Jail (kept purchasing regardless of pending legislation. Win/win either way.)

    Would buy several more.

  46. just because ruger charger takedowns have threaded barrels doesn’t mean that you have to attach anything to them. in illinois.
    that would get a legit can, if ever.

  47. I don’t have any at the moment. If HPA passes before I decide and get the money together to get what I want, then I probably won’t be buying any for a while.

    If HPA passes, I’d like to get an integrally suppressed 300 Blackout upper. If it doesn’t pass, it makes more sense to do an sbr and have a silencer for several guns.

  48. Yep, I would be more likely to buy if silencers come off the NFA.
    I already have 4, the paperwork is on the way to the ATF for the 5th and I waiting on the Form 3 to my dealer so I can start the process on my 6th… At this point, I am starting to repeat calibers (have a Gemtech Multimount, picking up an Omega 9k).

Comments are closed.