Buying Silencers (or anything NFA) is Easy
It really is. How do you buy a Silencer?
Live in one of the many states that allow it (Texas, does, of course)
Be able to buy a firearm. If you can buy a pistol you can buy a suppressor
Be a US resident
Pass an ATF background check (the same as any other gun)
Be 21 years old
Trust versus Individual
We get this question a lot. Before what is known as “41F”, the ATF ruling that made some trust changes, one of the biggest positives of a trust was that you didn’t need a local Chief Law Enforcement (CLEO) signature on your ATF form. Two of the biggest 41F changes were that now, you just notify them (send them a letter – we do this for you) and now all “responsible parties” on the trust have to send in fingerprints and photos. In the age of individuals now not requiring local CLEO signatures, why would you still want a trust? Our advice is to do it anyway. Especially when we do it so cheaply for you.
Trust Benefits
It’s not just you. You can add or remove people at any time that may be in possession of the item. Have kids, wives, siblings, friends, or others you may want to allow use of your silencer? Put them on the trust.
If something happens to you, it’s way, way easier to deal with the item. Your heirs or would have been trustees don’t have to learn the NFA nuances.
Individual Benefits
No trust costs (ours are cheap, though)
The paperwork is a little simpler (but remember we do it for you)
We still doesn’t recommend filing as an individual unless you have no one ever that you plan on using your silencer. Go with a trust. With no more money than we make, it’s not a profit incentive on our end. We just want to make your life easier.
Silencer FAQ
Do I need a Class 3 License?
There’s no such thing. You don’t need any special license. You fill out the form (we do it for you), you pay a tax, and you wait. You receive a tax stamp back on your form and that is all the proof one needs. You do this for each individual silencer.
Are silencers legal?
Yep. If you can own a pistol, you can own a silencer
I heard one silencer can work for many guns?
Yep to this too. For the most part, you can run any smaller bullet through a larger caliber silencer. For example a 45 caliber suppressor can be used for 9mm, or a 30 caliber silencer can be used for a .270. Generally speaking, a good collection for most people would be a .45 silencer, a .30 caliber rifle silencer, and a .22 can. While you could conceivably run .22 through either, .22 tends to run nasty and the cans can be disassembled, plus the .22 specific silencers are small and light instead of having a giant pistol or rifle can on a small firearm. You will want a separate pistol and rifle suppressor in most cases, though, because most pistol silencers won’t handle rifle pressures.
Is my gun gonna go pew like in the James Bond movies?
No. Guns are loud. Just like when you muffle a car, it doesn’t make the car silent; it makes it far less annoying. Guns are the same way. In most cases you can shoot a silenced firearm without hearing protection (which we don’t recommend for safety’s sake). Imagine, though, being in the woods and taking a shot at a deer and the report from the rifle is just in the “loud” range instead of the “painful, holy crap my ears are ringing for two days” range. Of course, there are some ammunition and caliber choices that are far quieter than others. The bolt noise on a .22 with subsonic ammunition is louder than the actual shot, but a 300 win mag will never be quiet, no matter what, even though a silencer still helps a lot.
I heard the ATF can show up any time to inspect me…
Nonsense. Silencer buyers give up no rights whatsoever.
What’s the difference between a silencer and a suppressor?
Some people like to sound cool and correct people using one term or the other. You’ll never get that from us. We use those terms and “can” interchangeably. They mean the same thing.
How do I get the silencer on my gun?
Rifles – Basically, there are two types of connections. Direct thread – where the can attaches directly to the barrel – or brake attachment – where one uses a muzzle device such as a brake or flash hider, and the silencer attaches to that. The latter is the most common because a person can use one silencer on multiple guns in a “quick detach” fashion.
Pistols – Pistols have many different thread patterns. Most pistol silencers have “boosters” or “pistons”, properly called a Nielsen device that allows the silencer to deal with the movement of the barrel. The piston has the correct thread pattern inside and has a spring around it. These are interchangeable in most pistol suppressors for a reasonable cost. They thread directly onto the barrel. If your gun isn’t threaded, most handguns have aftermarket barrels. Most rifles will require machining, usually at a pretty reasonable cost, to add a can to an unthreaded gun. Otherwise rifles and pistols can be purchased with threaded barrels intentionally to begin with.
Doesn’t it take forever to get a silencer?
I know this is hard to believe, but sometimes the US government can be inefficient. Wait times vary wildly. It does take a while. Contact us to find out what they are running at the moment.