Silencer Issues

[Turbinator]

I find the "moderated" airguns an interesting grey area. They rely on "receiver extensions" that shroud the barrel with additional volume and space between the muzzle of the barrel and the end of the reciever. (Airforce Talon SS)
Plastic silencer than can't be readily swapped onto a firearm (Gamo whisper).
There are dozens more.

Topgun, what's your take on these airgun suppressors that are so popular nowadays?

Turby

[CSACANNONEER]

Topgun, what's your take on these airgun suppressors that are so popular nowadays?

Turby

Airguns are NOT FIREARMS. Therefore, airgun surpressors are not restricted under these laws. Now, if you have a removable airgun surpressor that could be attached to a firearm, you might be in trouble. At least this is the my understanding of the legality of airgun surpressors. Topgun7, how did I do?

[NeoWeird]

The regs in regards to suppressors can seem VERY vauge and broad, which they are, but they are quite specific and more common sense than anything when you get find out WHY the certain rules and rulings are the way that they are.

It's important to note that intent is probably the MOST important factor in regards to suppressors; not the only factor, but the most important. Case in point, two people could buy a pallet of cut tubing, one with the intent to make bicycles and the other to make suppressors, and one could get hit with a felony and one not. In this regard nothing was actually done that is illegal, but the intent was there and that alone is enough in NFA territory.

It should also be noted that ANY part to a suppressor is a suppressor itself. Even people that file Form 1s and make their own suppressors have to give EXACT dimensions on the suppressor and are NOT allowed to have extra parts lying around. In fact, if you file a Form 1, get your tax stamp, make your suppressor, and by some odd calculation you get a baffle strike and damage your suppressor housing - you have to file ANOTHER Form 1 and pay another $200 tax and wait just to fix it.

As noted there is also MANY house hold items that can be used to make suppressors. A guy on another forum legally built a VERY nice suppressor using an old muffler and a handful of freeze expansion plugs from his shop. EVERY mechanic has these parts yet they are not breaking the law - beause intent to break the law is not present.

As for not needing to silence, this goes back to a case (if I remember right) where a guy was selling 'fake suppressor kits'. The 'kit' included a threaded end cap, a threaded tube slightly larger than the bullet, an outer tube (no threading), and an end cap that threaded onto the smaller tube. The kit could not be assembled without the inner tube, so the only way it would work is if the inner tube was present, which made it a fake suppressor. Problem is about 5 minutes with a handle drill and add in some disipation material and an ablative media (that's steel wool and water in non-suppressor talk) and you had a suppressor that had something like 25db reduction. If I remember right, the guy himself was not hit but several people who purchased the kits were hit. They had been found to have modified the kits enough that they could suppress the report of a firearm.

There is also the case of the 3.5" and 4.5" moderators as found on earlier CAR rifles. The moderators themselves did VERY little to reduce the noise of the weapon - they were primarily designed to create proper backpressure to cycle the shorter gas systems as well as change, or moderate, the sounds enough to make it more plesant to the troops who needed to use it. The ATF found that these were suppressors, though very ineffective, based by the technical definition of the law. I've also heard that they worked quite well on .22 conversions and this may be why they were not regulated at first and later regulated (perhaps, once the ATF got wind of this).

There is also the case of several 'celebration' devices. One was a special whistle that screwed into the choke of a shotgun. It's like those old whistles you had as a kid that would change tone the harder you blew. The idea being that you shot of a shotgun, using one of those flare type rounds was the original intent, and it would make a nice squeel to make it more festive. ATF found that while it didn't reduce the sounds of the weapon (it actually made it louder) it modified the weapon's noise which could be used to mask the weapon. These were found to be suppressors and were discontinued.

So, again, it all goes back to intent. The suppressor world is almost always very cut and dry outside intent, once you throw intent in though, and a whole mess of things comes to play. Same thing as a shoelace on your shoe and a shoelace on your semi-auto rifle. Intent is a MAJOR factor in the NFA world.

As for airgun and paintball suppressors, the ATF's stance, last I heard and I can't imagine it changing, is IF it can be readily attached to a firearm and function as a suppressor, then it's a suppressor. Most of these will function to some extent with a firearm, which is why they are usually permanently attached to the gun. The ATF also takes the stance, from what I've heard, that even if the airgun suppressor is destroyed on the first round fired, but it still functions as a suppressor, it's still a suppressor. There was one case where they sprayed something on the outside of the suppressor, I forget if it was laquer paint or weathering sealant, but it was adequate enough that the suppressor survived several uses where as the unmodified unit would not.

Intent is key, but just because you don't have it, doens't mean everything is free game either.

[yellowfin]

All this complication is exactly why we need to have suppressors deregulated. It's a muffler just like on my car, for Pete's sake. It's noise pollution control. Anyone wanting that obstructed or prohibited seriously needs to have their head examined.