“Apex Tactical Specialties is proud to announce the expansion of its line of patent pending Apex Grade Barrels for the 9mm Smith & Wesson M&P with the immediate availability of Apex Grade Threaded Barrels in Semi Drop-In and Gunsmith Fit configurations,” the company’s presser proclaims over at ammoland.com. In other words, Apex is getting into the threaded barrel biz in a big way.

No surprise there. The Hearing Protection Act (H.R. 3799) is the low-hanging fruit in the Trump-era gun rights push-back. Once it passes, Americans will no longer have to surmount the paperwork hurdles, months-long wait times and financial penalties that characterize silencer sales.

Unfortunately, you’ll still have to undergo an instant FBI background check to buy a silencer — because guns — but it will be a LOT better than the current situation. Although high-end suppressors will continue to command a premium, silencer prices will crater and the market will explode. (So to speak.)

Meanwhile, you might want to consider buying your next gun with a threaded barrel, to save yourself the expense of retrofitting same. FNX-45 Tactical please.

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50 COMMENTS

    • But in a post-NFA world, do you really need quick detach when each of your rifles have their own silencer? 😀

        • Ok, fair enough, I suppose there will always be some reason. There’ll just be fewer, and likely even fewer still as we see more options like integrally suppressed or some sort of other reflex design, possibly one that hasn’t been designed yet.

      • A 25 dollar thread adapter and a 7 dollar auto – truck oil filter and you have an ugly and perfectly serviceable improvised suppressor.

        https://gunthreadadapters.com/

        What is gonna be cool is seeing what good ‘ole American ingenuity manages to come up with.

        With computerized flow modeling optimized for a specific caliber and load, we will be seeing some ultra quiet combinations.

        And get ready to hear perpetual pissing and moaning from the butt-hurt stamp collectors about all the money they spent…

        • I don’t think the “stamp collectors” will be pissing and moaning about the money they spent being meaningless now. Especially since anyone who hopped on the suppressor bandwagon after the HPA was introduced will get all their tax stamp money refunded.

          Maybe my workplace is an anomaly, being in Texas and having a large number of POTG/gun enthusiasts, as I can think of 4 immediate coworkers who have multiple NFA items, mainly SBRs and suppressors, and all of them have indicated that they’re eager to see the HPA pass and won’t cry into their beer about the multiple tax stamps they had to wait for. Unsurprisingly, the main reason is the immediacy that it grants suppressor sales, i.e. same day cash and carry or rolling your own legally. Most of the cans they own are on the high end, SDN 762, Sakers, Osprey, etc, so the extra $200 isn’t a deal breaker, though it’s absence will be warmly welcomed.

          I can tell you, the farmers and residences near hunting areas will be mighty happy about the HPA, as it’ll improve their quality of life immensely during hunting season and when they allow hunters to come out and cull feral hogs.

        • “perpetual pissing and moaning from the butt-hurt stamp collectors about all the money they spent…” That’s not a fair comment. I have invested $1K in my various stamps to comply with the law. I doubt seriously that any of us considered them as “investments”. I know I didn’t. As I said it was complying with the law as is currently written.

        • Here’s something I just thought of. If the Hearing Protection act passes and become law, will we be able to build integrally suppressed rifles?

        • You will be hard-pressed to find any Title II item holders complain about being able to feed their hobby (addiction) cheaper than before.

        • “…butt-hurt stamp collectors about all the money they spent”

          I’ve spent a cart-load on stamps and won’t be moaning if the HPA passes. That just means more, cheaper, better. I’m all for more, cheaper, better.

        • That’s not likely to happen considering you never see used silencers. There’s no point with that $200 transfer tax, it would be half the value and take just as long as a new one. We’d actually see a used market open up if the HPA passes, and people could finally offload their older cans and buy shiny new lightweight caliber optimized ones.

    • No doubt it does sir. As far as I can tell the HPA would make a suppressor like any other non-nfa firearm, therefore you would need the nics check when buying from a dealer. Now much like any other non-nfa firearm depending on your location you can sell them private seller to private seller or make your own with no nics check required. Yeah companies like SDTA would be getting seriously busy. If the “serialized receiver” is considered the tube then I would guess that mono-cores and baffles could be an off-the-shelf item. To order a tube, k baffles, and end caps and have them sent right to my door… Now that would be the most American I’ve felt in a while.

  4. Somebody make a threaded for a Beretta 92 [and have them in stock (it would also be a huge plus to be under $300)]. Plus, XDm, change-out barrels for the FEG in 9 x 18. . .

    • I expect a lot of shops will start making conversion barrels after the act passes.

      That said, I personally have zero desire to be a beta tester for a new barrel co.

    • If Gemtech could keep their 92 barrels in stock I would be thrilled. That said, a local shop will thread existing barrels pretty cheap.

  5. Kimber Custom Shop CDP II and Springfield XDm both in 45ACP please. I’ve asked both manufacturers and they did not deign to reply.

        • Are you referring to Kimber and Springfield, or EFK, that didn’t respond.

          The latter list threaded barrels for 1911 Govt and Commander, and 4 different XD variants, right on their website.

          • The manufacturers. Don’t know about EFK. Got a link? The one you high lighted is dead. leads to a paintball gun site.

        • Mike:

          Not sure what the issue with that link is, it worked for me when I checked just now … took me to their threaded barrels page.

          Googling “efk fire dragon threaded barrels” calls up the same page as the first link. Modulo google personalization, hopefully it would at least be in the top-10 for you.

    • You will still have the crack from the supersonic bullet. It will help the shooter since the noise is mostly down range rather than right at the muzzle, but it still won’t be as quiet as an air gun.

      If suppressors become easy to obtain, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them required at ranges.

    • Start playing with titegroup, trail boss, or another similar pistol type powder and heavy projectiles. I like titegroup myself, but that’s just because finding trial boss can be too hard sometimes. I haven’t done any sub rounds in 30-06, but I have in .308 and you will want a faster twist rate than most standard barrels. My Ruger Predator 308 has a twist of 1:10 and that seems to stabilize 208gr subs nicely. The 300AAC BO guys are running something like 1:8, but otherwise it’s still just the right powder and the heaviest pill you can get to not tumble out of the barrel and you have a sub-sonic round that will be very quiet with the right suppressor.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRECyyDLaho

    • Deny.

      State preemption only covers state laws which impose their own tax… or which require that your suppressor be marked or registered by the state.

      State laws which outright ban suppressors remain untouched.

        • I’d love that. A nice little “the second amendment protects these things and the states must comply” preemption amendment to shut down Cali’s cavalcade of gun laws in one swoop.

        • Imagine a last minute voice vote, deemed to have passed, using the same language as the Hughes Amendment, overturned by a court.
          I’ll take the results of that.

  9. “Although high-end suppressors will continue to command a premium, silencer prices will crater and the market will explode. (So to speak.)”

    It will look like the prices crater, but the reality is that it’s the rest of the market filling in. With the NFA hurdles there’s simple no low end silencer market at the moment.

    Also, I fully expect that in the short term silencers are going to look like 22lr over the last 8 years. Every single one that is available will sell out instantly, and anything that reaches a dealer shelf will be snatched up even at surge pricing levels.

    • I’d expect Ruger would surge BIG on their SR suppressor line, with a ~$100-200 MSRP line of MIM rimfire cans that are more or less disposable, and some $200+ MSRP cans in centerfire calibers.

      There’s one company near El Paso that’s already selling $199 + tax stamp cans that are heavy, and not as quiet as the high end stuff as well, so there *is* an emergent entry level suppressor market, and I intend to help it grow once HPA is enacted. 😀

    • I think your analysis is likely spot-on, but as someone mentioned above the simple answer is ‘Roll your own’.
      I have two commercial cans and one I made (awaiting stamp for a second) and they are very comparable. You can make a decent silencer for $200 or less. Remove the ridiculous stamp cost? They’ll be consumables like magazines. Hooray!!

      • Yeah, roll your own, 2nd hand, etc… hopefully the suppressor shortage will be much shorter lived than the 22lr ammo shortage.

  10. The real biggie I hope to see after HPA passes: more integrally suppressed OEM designed guns, i.e. more guns like the Maxim-9, designed to be quiet from the get go.

  11. Here’s something I just thought of. If the Hearing Protection act passes and become law, will we be able to build integrally suppressed rifles and shotguns?

    • AFIK, you should.

      That route is going to take some skilled metalwork to pull off, however.

      Folks like Dyspeptic are gonna get slammed threading existing barrels.

      He’s probably now stocking up on the necessary consumables…

  12. I’m certainly hopeful that purchasing a suppressor will become cheaper and easier, but no way am I going to exhibit a count-your-chickens-before-they-hatch attitude that seems quite prevalent around TTAG. You folks seem to think a government behemoth is going to give up some of their power and money just because a new guy got elected?? They will fight him via the court system or non-compliance for his entire 4 – 8 year term. Behemoth’s don’t move in a direction they don’t want to go very easily.

  14. If the dims decide to filibuster the HPA, it will be tough to get 60 votes in favor. If they don’t filibuster, HPA will pass easily.

    • That, right there.

      I can’t imagine them letting this slide by without much hand-wringing, ‘everyone will be an assassin’ comments, blood in the streets, etc.

    • Honestly, the GOP should just go nuclear option from the get go and bypass all this crap. This pretending they’ve been friends all along and that professional courtesy and respect existed in 2008-2009 crap is sickening. They are gonna get nothing done if they don’t stop Chuckie and Nancy from blocking, and they are gonna get creamed in 2018 for failing once again after getting every single branch handed to them.

  15. Would be nice to lessen the federal BS but of course states will race to outlaw them if they haven’t already (NY, NJ, etc) with no preemption.

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