Bulletin Board, Newsletter

Silencer !?! – When is the best time to buy a new silencer?

The short answer for your first silencer…a year ago.

The long answer is that a silencer takes about a year to clear ATF paperwork and if you wanted it before that time, it takes a very understanding gun dealer to work with you. The process is pretty straight forward these days with the indivual purchasing the silencer from the dealer, then the dealer prepares the ATF Form 4 paperwork for the purchaser, who will in turn, will also have to do some steps to the forms before submitting them to the ATF NFA branch for processing.

You see, gun silencer purchases are regulated by the NFA branch of the ATF. The National Firearms Act branch regulates many specialty firearms such as machine-guns and sawed off shotguns. This list even includes the silencer as well even though it is treated as a firearm yet is in no way able to act as a firearm at all… But I digress…

The Liberty Sovereign makes a great hunting silencer.

A silencer that is purchased by an individual will need to be taxed before the individual can legally posses it. You see, it is really about the money and not about regulating the silencer. As long as the tax is paid, the ATF really doesnt care about the suppressor, only that it is possessed by the person who paid the tax on it. That is all… It is kinda strange when you submit your paperwork in that you would think that it shouldn’t take very long to do a back ground check and then put your name in the registry by your serial number and be done with it, but it isnt that simple. It seems that the office where the paperwork is done is staffed with between 10 and 20 people usually and the number of forms submitted is well north of 1/2 million annually. This means that each person is processing thousands of applications each year and each one of the applications has several steps that must be done internally.

On top of all that , there is the 200$ tax associated with the transfer and this tax is due on every silencer that is submitted. Additionally, the tax is due every time the silencer changes ownership too, so if you sell it to your neighbor, that same suppressor you paid 200$ to register in your name, will now be taxed at 200$ again to be registered in the neighbor’s name. Every time it changes ownership, it is taxed. Now dealers have special rules associated with them doing business, but if it is on a Form 4 and it goes to a dealer, it is a taxed transfer to goto the dealer! The only action that is not taxed, is the destruction of the item, they do not tax this action for some reason. So if you get tired of owning a silencer and want rid of it but nobody will buy it or even take it, even for the tax owed on the transfer, then you can legally destroy the silencer and let the ATF know that is has been destroyed and they will make it destroyed in the NFRTR and you are good to go…as long as you actually destroyed it.

When you should get your silencer for your hobby?

Now with all this out of the way, there are times of the year when it is good to get your silencer depending on what you plan to do with it. Summertime is good if you want to get it in time for the spring competition season, the silencer should clear ATF by then and you are good to go. If you want it by hunting season, then no later than December or January would be my target window so you will have it by opening day. If you want some time to work up handholds to use with your new silencer before hunting season starts then you will probably want to submit forms in July, this should get it out of transfer in the May or June time frame, giving you time to develop your load before you need it in hunting season.

Basically the best time to get your silencer is one year ago, but if that isnt possible, then right now is the next best time followed by the suggestions above for when you plan to use it, pretty much plan for a year to get everything cleared and in your possession. Sometimes this isnt even enough time, but that seems to be the exception and not the rule lately. If the e-Forms system ever gets going like it should, these time will be dramatically reduced, we can only hope…

Until next time, keep your powder dry.

Bulletin Board, Newsletter

Multi Caliber Suppressor Perfection

OK, we all know about the Mystic X multi caliber suppressor and how it has the prestige of being the from the first true multi caliber suppressor, the Mystic. We have never stopped improving on this concept either. The next logical evolution in this genre is the Cosmic which turns out, is a really good multi caliber suppressor too. The Cosmic silencer was designed so that it maximized the pistol calibers for suppression and minimized weight by excluding the heavy rifle calibers from the caliber list. This is not a problem for most people though as it will still cover many rifle calibers on normal barrel lengths (read that as longer barrels) so the pressures wont damage the core in the Cosmic silencer. Seems that there was still a “hole” in the multi purpose suppressor lineup though so we started looking at customer feedback and came to realize that what people wanted was the Infiniti X silencer.

multi caliber suppressor

The Infiniti X is literally a Mystic X made of solid titanium…sans tube retaining ring… which brought the weight down to a feather like 7.7 ounces! It is so light that you literally dont know it is on the barrel. The magic here is that since it is titanium the heat is mitigated really well too, it cools down really fast and has a great tone as well. This is something that is often overlooked when people are shopping for suppressors…tone. The tone of the silencer will make the who system sound either sharp or dull, or if the tone is deep, it can measure higher on the sound meter, but will be perceived as quieter as low tones are felt by humans as quieter.

So now your asking yourself, “Which multi caliber suppressor is right for me?” The answer is not really simple either, you have to figure out what features are the most important for you and these include things like:

a. Sound
b. Weight
c. Cost
d. Tone
e. Versatility
f. Heat Dissipation
g. Size
h. Support

Let’s dive into these a little more…

a. Sound – This is obvious but it is the reason you are buying a silencer to start with. If you are not picking it for sound, then why get one at all? It should sound good on the calibers you plan to use it on with a pleasing tone.

b. Weight – This is sometimes a factor that is given up when choosing a multi caliber suppressor as it needs to withstand the punishment of the larger calibers, so this is another reason we feel the Mystic X is a great choice as it comes in at a great weight while still handling 95% of the calibers you will come in contact with.

c. Cost – This is one that gets most people. Silencers can get expensive, being made with costly materials and carrying tons of engineering costs to develop high sound suppression in a efficient package, combined with a small market makes them seem really costly. This is where we have to explain that the reason they cost som much in the USA is the NFA, if the feds were not involved, there would be disposable silencers that would be REALLY cheap all over the place. The fact that they are regulated so heavily has forced makers to spend significant resources on developing silencers that will last a lifetime in the harshest environment known to mankind, thereby making them practical to own.

mystic multi caliber suppressor

d. Tone – This is one of those areas where a lot of people dont put much thought when choosing a silencer. The tone of the suppressor will determine whether it seems loud or not to the end user. A nice deep tone is the goal with all silencer makers and some designs work better than others. For instance, the Mystic X has a deeper tone than the Infiniti X due to the use of the stainless steel in the core material. This metal is less prone to ringing than the titanium used in the Infiniti X. So it sounds better even though they meter almost identical.

e. Versatility – When choosing a multi caliber suppressor, one must consider the options of mounting solutions. We here at Liberty have seen just about everything and have adapters to fit almost all of those options in stock. We stock so many choices for our multi caliber suppressors that sometimes it overwhelms the end user from all the choices. What we try to do it build out the user with a kit of mounts that is minimal in nature but still covers all the guns the end user wants to suppress. Sometimes we end up making custom mounts to fill in the holes, but that is what we are here for…

f. Heat Dissipation – This really only becomes a factor for a limited segment of the shooting community. The long range shooters and the hunters where there is significant round counts being fired. The silencer gets very hot during use and this heat has to go somewhere. It normally bleeds off into the atmosphere and then once cool, the shooter can see the sights once again to get an accurate shot. The heat that comes off the barrel will produce mirage and this mirage makes follow up shots more difficult and less accurate ,this is why we have thermal covers for our silencers, to prevent this problem for most shooters.

g. Size – The size comes in for many people but what makes a difference to most people is two pronged. Aesthetics and practicality. The aesthetic portion is for people that want the system to look a certain way, this is fine and we like this kind of thing ourselves, like our MP5 has a Centurion because it is cool. The other gourd is the hunter group where they want it to be compact or lightweight for a field carry. You know the saying… ounces equal pounds…

centurion 9mm silencer

h. Support – This is where we feel the game ends. If you cant pick up the phone and talk to a human on the other end who can get you the answer you need, then what good is the product? Email is great too, because it is simple to use, but you need quality customer support that is here to help you if you have a problem and need assistance in solving it. We have always felt this is a priority with us and will continue to provide this to our users as long as we can. It isnt much good to have a can and no way to get information about it that isnt on the website in a pinch… We are here for you.

This is what we consider when choosing a multi caliber suppressor, what do you place priority on when choosing your silencers? We are curious to know…

Keep your powder dry.

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