Looking to purchase a suppressor. I need to get schooled up.  Looking for resources or advice.  

Thanks

Roger

If you are in the "Vancouver area" or are willing to drive, Sporting Systems is who I would recommend.  

Sporting Systems Suppressor Page

Sporting Systems Home Page

Did you have any specific questions that would relate to purchasing a can in WA? The NFA subforum is good for a lot of other information.

I always like referring to this document.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://silencerco.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/suppressed-customer.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjet8vWyejuAhUFNH0KHXviC_8QFjADegQIFBAC&usg=AOvVaw16xjm3__4CMJwCMypfm-Dn

Thank you for the quick replies.  Exactly where I need to start.  

Hoping to find one that I can use for both .556 and 7.62.  Friend tells me there are many to choose from that will fill that request.  

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated

Thanks

Roger

Where are you located?

What hosts do you have?

Waits last year got long then sped up to maybe 4-5 months but like everything else are getting long again so best thing is to find what you want in stock/in state to make it as fast as possible.

So, you have a couple options. The first is to find a local shop with silencers in stock and buy through them. The second option is to order a silencer online and get it shipped to a local FFL to do the final transfer.

You no longer need to go the trust route if you don't want to, that is a personal preference. When filing the form 4, you will need to provide passport style pictures as well as fingerprint cards. If filing as an individual, it will just be one set of everything for you. If filing as a trust, it would be a set for everyone that is considered a responsible party on the trust.

Current wait time is around 4-5 months-ish but can vary. There have still been outliers that have been 6-8 months.

The majority of the time, if you go for a silencer that is sized for a larger caliber, you can use it with a smaller caliber without issue. I would recommend looking at a 308/7.62 silencer to use between that and 5.56

I've seen variation from 7 to 9 months for wait time, but heard from other FFLs they had some come in way sooner. It might vary based on the inspector or your draw of the luck.

If you plan to buy one now and the other later, for functionality, the larger can is a decent idea. This way you can use it on both firearms, though the 7.62 will be larger than the 5.56 can.

Personally I went the other route and got myself a 5.56 first and then a 7.62 because I don't shoot my 7.62 very often.

Well enjoy getting your can. I find all I want to do is shoot suppressed.
BTW I would recommend sending in a check for payment.. this way you can see if it was cashed. I suppose you could use credit card, but I don't like leaving my credit card # on a piece of paper floating though the ATF system.. I heard (hearsay) one guy was double charged so now he has to deal with the ATF to get his money back.

My last one came back in 4 months. The majority that we've seen have been in the 4-5 month range right now. NFA tracker is showing the same, but that is still only a small sample set and I have heard of people waiting longer.

There are certain advantages and disadvantages to each payment method.
Personal checks are good and it allows you to see when it was cashed, but you just have to make sure you always have enough funds to cover.
Credit/debit cards are fine and you can see when the card was charged, but some people don't like putting their CC number on things. The other issue we've run into is if the CC is breached before the ATF charges the card, if the owner of the card gets a new card issued before the ATF can charge, or if there aren't enough funds available.
Certified funds are still a popular method since you don't have to worry about the funds, but it requires more effort to determine when the check was cashed.

I still go back and forth between personal checks and credit cards. A lot of it depends on if I remember to bring a check with me or not.

YMMV

Best piece of advice I have for someone just starting to look at options:

I have never met someone who bought a rifle can and later wished they had purchased the less expensive, heavier version.

Get a rim fire can too while you’re at it.

I recommend using a silencer shop kiosk that several LGS have. I’ve used Rehv arms but Rainier Arms and several others in the area have them too. Made it easy for prints and pics and all the paperwork in one shot. Plus the silencershop.com updates come to your email directly when funds cashed etc. The process is really easy except for the wait time.

They end up refunding it when you're approved, if you're willing to wait until your inspector gets it in front of them

Wait time has certainly improved.  Picked up my latest can back in January.  "Only" took seven and a half months.

Thanks to all !!

silencershop.com link sent me to my LGS on Canyon Road in Puyallup.  Plan to stop by there later today to get things going.  Based on reviews and opinions of others I am looking at Sandman S for use on 556/762.  Thoughts?

Roger

Sandman is well designed and constructed with durability in mind which makes it very heavy.

Will any of your hosts provide a more severe duty cycle like SBR or auto?

Do you have any hosts where weight and balance would be negatively impacted by a heavy can like a lightweight hunting rifle?

Keeping with Dead Air you might want to consider a Nomad-30.

The best day to purchase a suppressor was yesterday, the second best is today.

Sooner you start, the sooner you will take possession.

Just had a customer pick up 3 today.  Sent in 9/14/20, check cashed 10/4/20, approved 2/4/21, forms in hand 2/16/21.  Not quite the heyday of 2007 (3 weeks door to door), but getting better.

Thanks for all the help.

I am giving the Sandman S a strong look but not sure I need to spend the extra funds for adapters for each host.  I am pretty frugal (cheap) when it comes to needs vs wants.  Still pondering and will continue to research for a while.

Also I have heard mixed messages about getting a stamp ordered while I ponder.  Some have said yes I can apply without actually selecting a particular suppressor and others have said I need to make up my mind and select one before applying.

The Form 4 (paperwork for the tax stamp to transfer it into your possession) requires the make, model and serial number of the specific item.

Thanks!!

It's a "lifetime" purchase, meaning the secondary/used market for suppressors is pretty much zero.  Better to stretch your budget, save a little while longer, make other choices somewhere else, etc. to get the right setup the first time.  If you go with a cheaper thread-on suppressor, you will save money, but the trade off will be a huge hassle if you want to switch it to other rifle hosts.  Unscrew flash hider, screw on suppressor, unscrew suppressor, screw on flash hider, rinse/repeat.  You'll hate it after a few times and wonder "why didn't I get the QD version again?"

Same goes for heavy suppressors.  "it's a bench-toy, the weight will be fine!"  6 months later, after a carbine class when you couldn't lift the rifle up at the end due to "arm pump" and you'll be asking "why didn't I get the lighter suppressor?"

Both of those are not "hypothetical" scenarios, but actual, after-the-purchase feedback from customers, coming back to buy the suppressor they should have bought the first time but got "penny-wise and pound foolish."



As mentioned already, it doesn't work that way.  Your application is for a specific make/model/serial number at time it is sent in.  

Thanks for the advice.

So I will shop a bit more and plan to make a "cry once" purchase rather than try to save a buck.

But if you wanted to go with a Trust, can you create that prior to having any details of items intended to put into the trust?

Forgive me for not doing my own research, but is it true that with a trust that has me (WA resident) and my daughter (ID resident) as trustees, the NFA item can cross state lines, and upon my death, can be possessed by my daughter without hassle?  

Is it also true that personal ownership (no trust) requires notification (permission?) to cross state lines?

Possibly your getting confused on what you heard.  I suspect your hearing about FFL's sending out forms before they received the NFA item because the Manufacture assigned them a serial #.  This is usually frowned upon because they don't have possession of the item and risk denial due to they don't have that specific serial # under their FFL.
Mainly I think they are trying to save mailing time. Ie an approved form 4 to me took a month of mailing to the individual who was selling it to me.. I suppose another transfer could be started since ATF already approved the transfer.



You still need to tell the ATF if transport SBR across state lines. Suppressors you don't.
Taking possession is easy upon your death, but it should be easy even if it under an individual assuming there isn't any messy internal fighting of claiming property but that is something else. I believe it is a Form 5 for the transfer, but I can't remember right now.

To the first point, this had become way more common when the wait time was exceeding 8 months. A lot of distributors and dealers would be willing to provide a pre-approved copy of the form 3 so that the dealer could get started on the form 4. This would cut back the wait time a little since the form 3 and form 4 time would overlap. Prior to 2011, there was a risk of the form 4 being denied as the form 3 wasn't processed yet, but that hasn't really been the case anymore. Nowadays, with form 3 wait times being super short, it doesn't really make sense to start the form 4 until the silencer arrives. You won't be saving that much time.

To the second point, just some clarification. You must receive prior approval to transport SBRs, SBSs, DDs, and MGs across state lines. Silencers and AOWs do not require prior approval to take them out of state, but if you are permanently moving them, you should update the NFRTR. As for possession after death, under a trust the next trustee in line would take possession of the item. If there is no additioanl trustee to take possession, then it would get distributed to the beneficiary (if designated) or be distributed through your estate. This will be dictated by your trust. If you own the NFA item as an individual, it would be distributed through the estate on a form 5 or a form 4 depending on the scenario.

Well I went to my LGS and used the Silencer Shop Kiosk to order a CMMG Defcan 3 TI direct thread.   It will live on my .556 for long range entertainment and varmints with no plans to suppress my  M1A right now.  The process was pretty simply other than my lack of patience with the electronic finger printing screen.  I finally got through it and now its just the waiting game.  

Anyone have opinions on the CMMG Defcan 3 TI suppressors??

And Thanks everyone for the help!!   I do appreciate it!!