The second background check is unnecessary but some dealers do it for CYA.  A lot of dealers do things that aren't required (or even logical). If you had the fear of AFT agents dangling over you all the time you may get paranoid also.  Luckily my IOI is pretty laid back.

Great so far. Purchase to Form 4 submission received by ATF was right around 48 hours.

Most difficult step for my big bear hands was trying to e-sign on my phone with my fingertip.

Homemade last minute stylus FTW!

They must have a hard time living here because its a pretty pro gun state.

I am giving Capital a try now and so far it has been easy.  They are good about answering the phone and very friendly.

2/15/2023 Paid for enticer L Ti
2/17/2023 Mailed fingerprints
3/1/2023 docusign
3/3/2023 certified eform 4

Still waiting on shipment.

Current timeline so far for me:
ATF approved 2/8
4473 Signed 2/8
CLEO notification sent 2/15
Notice to Proceed Went Away: 2/27
Shipping Label Created 2/28
Shipping ?

They sent my CLEO notification today.

Wow, so you are looking at like over a month after F4 approval, at least.

What is "Notice to Proceed Went Away"?

That's after the Cleo wait period ended.

2nd time using Capitol Armory.
First time was when they still used hard copy Form 4473's. I did a thread on here comparing them to Silencer Central's mail to home service.
I stated that if Capitol Armory was a get approval and switch to electronic 4473's they'd be hard to beat.
This second go was with the electronic 4473. True to my assumptions, they kept the process just as seamless and efficient as the rest of their process.
I hate that they must mail a hard copy of the Form 4 to the CLEO and wait a certain amount of days, further delaying getting hands on your purchase. They do not control that.
However, CA is a great option if:
a) You do not live near a class III dealer
b) Rather save money over waiting a couple more days. CA has some competitive pricing on a wide variety of well known and "craft" manufacturers. They even offer options on certain
models to not purchase with QD mounts or muzzle devices which saves additional $ if you don't plan on using those pieces.
c) CA also does transfers. If you are having a one off custom suppressor made or just found a really great deal on a new or used suppressor, CA will still accept it and do the paperwork.
   The fee is similar to other dealers though so check with them on transfer fee current pricing before having one shipped to them. The transfer fee may eat up the savings you think you were getting.

Overall, CA maintains their competitive advantage over others with price, suppressor variety, and efficiency of process. I'd recommend you try them out with a purchase. I'd bet that you'll turn into a repeat customer
as I did.
Shout out to employees I've dealt with that have been great and make the choice of coming back easier: Torrie, Jorge and Ashley.

Well, looks like I need to buy a few cans. They money I save on transfers fees for the three cans I want is almost the cost of another can. Plus Cedar Park is under an hour from me.

Current timeline so far for me:
ATF approved 2/8
4473 Signed 2/8
CLEO notification sent 2/15
Notice to Proceed Went Away: 2/27
Shipping Label Created 2/28
Shipping 3/3
Delivered 3/4

Ok, so final timeline for anyone interested.  Sadly didn't get the can in time for tonight's night shoot.  

I received my Sierra 5 yesterday after approval on 2/17 and providing 4473 on to Capitol on the 20th. All of my many dealings with Capitol armory have been super smooth and easy.

I'm curious as to how this timeline compares with the SilencerShop process.

The purchase process is about the same.

Certification is way faster and easier with CA. This is the real bottleneck with SS. First they have to Form 3 it to your local dealer. Then the dealer has to get it added to their inventory, and then find time to do the certification with you. I've done them where they take 5-10 minutes, but I've also sat there with the guy from the shop for 45 minutes trying to certify a can, only for it to fail. Then we try again and it fails, before we decide just to come back another day. I realize that sometimes it is the ATF portal causing the problem, rather than SilencerShop. But sometimes it isn't.

The direct ship to your door is nice. Especially if you don't have a conveniently-located dealer nearby where you can pick your stuff up. This isn't really the case for me, but it is still a nice option to have.

The downside of CA is that I can't do a conjugal visit with my can while I wait. This isn't that big of a deal to me, now that I have a million cans already in my possession, but for someone who doesn't, a suppressed range day may not be an option. Also, I still like to do an initial conjugal visit early on to run the can a little bit and, in the event that there is a manufacturing defect, I can uncover that early and get the ball rolling on warranty work. For example: the one I've got coming to me is I assume one of the earliest-produced Sierra 5s (I am pretty sure I bought it the day CA got them in stock, and before SS had any). I know they had some problems with some. I don't know how many were actually affected, but it would have been nice to run the can a little bit to check it out.

All-in-all, it seems like the CA process is a little more streamlined and predictable, and you get the ball rolling on the ATF approval much faster. The SilencerShop process has its problems, but it is still a pretty reliable way to make a purchase.

I may change my mind, depending on how the shipping/delivery process with this goes, but it seems like there is some upside and downside to both. I think if you don't live close to a PoweredBy dealer, CA to-your-door delivery is a no-brainer. If you do live nearby, you have to decide what you value most in the process. If you really hate the idea of potentially having to spend a long time on the phone with your guy at the local shop trying to certify, CA might be the best option. If you really have to have conjugal visits, you probably want to go with SilencerShop.

At this point in my suppressor-buying career, I will most likely just go with whoever has shit in stock, or whoever has the best price. But it is nice to have an alternative to SilencerShop, since they don't always have the best price, and they don't always have everything in stock. I think there are a few brands/cans that SS doesn't routinely carry as well, so CA expands your purchase options.

I agree with CAs certification being easier. With the local SS dealer, there is only one guy that knows how to do it, so you have to coordinate with his schedule and with the eForms outages. If you work a normal 9-5 that means leaving work to go try to certify and you may not be successful. With CA on central time, I can come home from work and call CA to certify. As you mentioned though, there are no conjugal visits with CA, and you are adding a month to the back end of the process, so you have to decide your priorities.

Good info. Thanks!
So it looks like we should expect about a month after F4 approval.

Yes. There is a block on the 4473 for "background check previously complied with"
One dealer here will do the background check on the 4473 anyway so they can charge for it, and the state gets their $10 also.
The dealer I've used checks the "previous complied with" box and off you go. My last 4473 for a Form 4 took about 2 minutes from submitting to approved. The counter guy said it's always that way for them.

Will definitely look into Capital Armory now that I've seen this thread. Wanting a 30 cal cal to go on my 300blk and 308 AR

About a week ago I got the “we sent notification to your CLEO” email. I haven’t gotten any other notifications since then, but a shipment from CA popped up on my UPS app yesterday. It doesn’t look like it’s actually shipped yet, but the label has been created. Not sure what this means, if anything, as it relates to when the can will actually get shipped out.

Capitol charges me tax now. 😩

I’m all for not needing to head down to the FFL, but the cost savings of a transferred can are back in play for me since I’ll also be saving sales tax.

So does Capitol Armory.
When you buy your silencer from CA, they Form 3 to a dealer in your state that CA has recruited and named as an RP on the Capitol Armory FFL they obtained for that state. (Exactly what Silencer Central does as well)
Silencer Shop Form 3's to the dealer you choose from their network of Powered By dealers.
So that bottleneck is no different.





No, when you buy through Silencer Shop the item is in the dealers dashboard inventory the minute you complete your putchase. He doesn't have to do a thing.

On a silencer purchased from another source (like GunBroker, another dealer or distributor), the dealer does have to add that silencer to his inventory at Silencer Shop.




Pretty sure that's the same with any buyer/dealer certification.



Silencer Shop doesn't set the price, each Powered By dealer does.
When you go to SS, you can choose what dealer you want to receive your silencer. If one dealer is too high, choose another dealer. Some Powered By dealers never change their pricing from the manufacturers MSRP, others (like me) set it as low as the manufacturers MAP allows. If that price is still to high for you, you can always contact that dealer directly. Fully 90% of the silencers I sell are not purchased direct from Silencer Shop by the buyer, but directly from me. Their checkout is only for the tax stamp and trust. Form 4 processing, fingerprinting, photo are the same whether they bought that silencer from silencershop.com or from me.

Cool.

What is “notice to proceed went away”? Do you get an email about that?

My timeline looks like this:

2/28 - Form 4 approval
2/28 - 4473 signed
3/3 - CLEO notification sent
3/9 - shipping label created

Still waiting for everything else.

No it was me just me checking my status page daily.

Where are you guys finding the status information on the CA website?

When I login, on my Dashboard I see my suppressors with a "eForm4 Certified/Submitted View Order" next to them.

Does this info change when the eF4 is approved?

yes.  you also get an email from the ATF saying it's been approved.

Ok gotcha. I just checked with my status page and it still says “pending 4473”, which I have already done.

I’m guessing they just haven’t updated it, but I’ll probably shoot them an email to make sure they’ve got everything they need from me.

OK cool. My only previous experience was with SS which is out of the loop once the F4 is submitted.

Good to know the CA Dashboard will continue to provide updates.

That was true with paper Form 4's.
The certification using their Full Auto software does update all the way through approval.



What good Silencer Shop, CA or SC updating the customer on their websites is beyond me.

ATF will update both transferor and transferee by emailing you a copy of your approved eForm.
Doesn't get more official than that.

Not sure what you mean by that. All of my eF4s through SS still show as pending approval on the dashboard, even though I've had them all approved over the last few months and picked up all the suppressors I purchased through them (at two different dealers). The timelines all still say "Current Stage: Form 4: Submitted Electronically".


Mainly the stuff that happens after the eF4 is approved. I get the email from the ATF so that's a no brainer, but CA still has a process to get the suppressor in my hands. Apparently, there are a few bus stops along that route.

In my dealer dashboard it shows where customers eForms are approved, I assumed it showed that in the customer page as well.


There are.

I do love ATF for emailing buyer and dealer when they approve a form. Thats worked 99% of the time so far.

It does not apparently. Perhaps SS is pulling that from your ATF eForms account?

Agreed. That's was a bit of a problem for me with the paper forms when my dealer wouldn't let me know my F4 was approved for a month or two later. Now I know right away.

My understanding is that, when the dealer runs their FullAuto software (e.g., to certify another Form 4 for a customer), their system runs a check to see if there are any new approvals from that dealer. At that point, they have the information in their system, and it is forwarded to the customers’ SilencerShop account, and they send out the emails.

For example, let’s say your can was approved a week ago. You pick it up and bring it home, but your account still shows it as “pending ATF approval” on your dashboard. Then today, another person at your same dealer gets their new Sandman or whatever, and they call in to the dealer and certify. While they are going through the process on the FullAuto portal, their system runs a check for approvals that they don’t yet have in their database. It sees yours from last week and updates. You get an e-mail and it is now shown as “approved”, I think with the approval date, on your dashboard.

I believe that’s the general idea. If someone knows better, correct me if I am wrong.

2/28 - Form 4 approval
2/28 - 4473 signed
3/3 - CLEO notification sent
3/10 - shipping label created
3/16 - Sierra 5 in my hand

Took it straight to the range, and I am really impressed with this little can. Running it on an 11.5 SBR and it sounds great. Really outstanding performance for its size. Or any size, really, on this kind of platform.

I’m going to run about 150 rounds through it to see if it blows up, like these were accused of doing early on. Will report back.

So whos the best bet for being in VA? Ive used Hansohn Brothers before, but it was almost 10 years ago on a .22 can.

I have money burning a hole in my pocket, but Im good on tools and guns. So might as well, right?

FYI Ive had bad luck last few years with NFA stuff:

-Had 2 eFiles for SBRs back in like 2018...both came back 2 years later as "prohibited person" even though I was still passing BG checks and purchasing guns
-Did the SiCo BOGO deal (dont remember year) and waited about 6 months before local dealer called, they had an issue on my Trust, and said I had to redo it and the clock started over. I said forget it, and used store credit to get a few pistols.

So can CA or HB help a brother out?

Probably grab another 22 can, would like 5.56 since most ARs are 5.56 plus a RAR bolt action, but do have a 300BO HD.
All my pistols are 9mm, but not really seeing a need, for me, for a 9mm can. Plus Id have to get threaded barrels so Im good there...I think

I’d imagine HB would be a better option since you’re buying directly from their stock, and they’re local. You eliminate the step of CA shipping to their local hub before shipping to you. Plus you’d have the option of picking it up in person.

Purchased a Sierra 5 from Capital Armory (direct to door) and one from Silencer Shop (traditional) on the same day.  I had the one from CA in hand about two weeks before SS. The Form 3 took a fair amount of time from SS and then after approval about a week before it actually shipped to the dealer, and then another week of shipping time. CA people have always been pleasant to work with and are very responsive. When I’ve emailed them I typically received a response in under and hour.  The process was easy and I spent minimal time on my end. CA certainly has some extra steps to take which costs them additional time/money, but they don’t charge the customer for it (although they do have $25 shipping charge). Silencer Shop has always been fine for me too so I’m not bashing them my any means.  The only negative on the CA experience is the final shipping to your door. After waiting many months, there’s some nervousness about the shipment getting lost. Losing it on a Form 3 transfer is no big deal but after 6-8 months I might cry a little. The signature requirement is understandable/necessary but still a pain for people like me who live in a rural area with a livestock gate. For others it no big deal.

I just made my first purchase from CA. Mailed my prints yesterday. So far seems easy enough.

Interesting comparison. Thanks.

I think CA’s service is most beneficial to people who live in rural areas, potentially an inconvenient drive to a local PoweredBy dealer. But as you pointed out, some rural properties present their own challenges.

I’m pretty happy with my own single CA “to-your-door” experience so far. Got 4 more cooking, including one that could be coming up in the next month or so.

Mine was a sierra 5 too. You will love it.

What happens if the CLEO does not sign?

I like the layaway system my local guy and CA uses. So I could see myself using them in the future.

They don’t need to sign.

They don’t need to sign but if they refuse to accept/sign the certified mail notice, it does delay the non-over the counter process a few days.

@Joshua_CapitolArmory

The CLEO on my eForm 4s through CA is Cahill who was just dismissed by our Governor. Will this cause me any issues?

Good info!  Thanks for the advice.

how does one integrate Silencer Shop Unlimited Single Shot trusts in this process?

I’m so confused how they are allowed to complete a transfer by sending it in the mail.  Is this only for suppressors?  Was this recent change in law? At the start of Covid people were trying to get clarification if the gun shop parking lot counted as the business premises for a transfer.

ATF Proc. 2020-1 – Recordkeeping procedure for non-over-the-counter firearm sales by licensees to unlicensed in-state residents that are NICS exempt
"Non over the counter" transactions have been allowed for years.


No.



No.


Not the same situation.