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fritz · Silver Status Member

Well guys, since I know the legality of silencers can be a thin line between fun and the feds busting your door down, lets not discuss locations?

If I welded some washers together and threaded them on the inside to accept the barrel and then welded a tube onto those washers, I could pack that with baffles and things and then weld it shut or maybe thread it to seal it all off.

Would that work?

My test guns would likely be an old crosman 1377 and a diana 34 .177.

Since both are .177 I can use 1/4" hole washers which are readily available and drill press everthing else and thread it to accept on the barrel correctly?

broommaster2000 · Moderator

I wouldn't do it. Neutral

Alstone · Moderator & Site Supporter

Hi fritz
For the Crosman 1377 a tube 6" long about 1" dia with no baffles will do the job, For airguns silencer volume is more important than baffles under 850fps.

For the Diana 34 a tube 8" long but 1 1/4 dia with one baffle 5" from the gun muzzel, should do the job for you, the exit hole can be 1/4".

Don't forget these will cut down the muzzel crack but you will still be left with the action noise, if you want to see or should I say hear how loud the action of your gun is, then get a long tube about 10 foot, wrap a cloth around the end of the gun so that it is a tight fit in the tube, put the other end of the tube into a pile of rags and fire.

Have fun

Al

BBGun Bob · Veteran Member

Fritz,
Is it worth 5-7 years in prison to you for possessing a air gun silencer??? If it is yes this would work.These things are a taxable item controlled by the ATF and Internal Revenue Service.They must be registered with a serial number to the ATF and a $200.00 tax payed each year you own it with a special Class 3 FFL license in your name.This is the same license required to own a machine gun.
If you are caught with one you made whether it be on a air gun or in a dresser drawer ,You will be sentenced to jail >no if and's or buts about it.(even a first offense)
I have had the same thoughts but after reading the law concerning silencers.moderators or anything else that makes a gun quiet I abandoned all thoughts of ever making or owning such a thing.(I already hate paying taxes)
You can add a muzzle break for leverage for cocking a springer like your D34 but it better not have any kind of baffles inside.As for the 1377 most pneumatics and CO2 guns they are a little loud,company's like Crosman make fake flash arrestors and muzzle breaks for these type of air guns they do seem to hush them up a little due to porting holes.
You can see them at the Crosman Custom Shop web site.
If you purchase one of these and use on your air gun as it comes you will get in no trouble by the law.They have been approved for sale and use by the ATF.

Check out the laws concerning Silencers in USA.
I think this will change your mind

BBGun Bob

broommaster2000 · Moderator

Thanks Bob! Thumb Up! v2

Alstone · Moderator & Site Supporter

He could allways pay the dollars and get a permit CW didn't have any problem.

It's no diffrent than in the UK if you are caught with a firearm without a permit you go to jail, so you get a permit, it's not as if there were no permits available, the same applies in the US. Now Canada in a diffrent kettle of fish.

Thats the way I look at it anyway.

Al

BBGun Bob · Veteran Member

broommaster2000 · Moderator

Interesting. Over here we have a problem with the Police who don't know anything about the law. Shocked

fritz · Silver Status Member

So as long as it doens't have any BAFFLES in it, it's legal? And since it's a springer I can call it a muzzle break?

yourdaddyjoe · Supporting Member

cw · Banned

Just pay the $200. Without the required permit, it would
just not be worth it.

walter · Veteran Member

you could do this? its totally hollow without baffles but it looks way cooler than without! Smile

rsterne · Moderator

Baffles have nothing to do with it.... If it makes the gun quieter (not just redirecting the sound up,down or sideways).... even a little bit quieter.... it's a Silencer, no matter what you choose to call it.... Call it a Muzzle Brake, a Compensator, a Lead Dust Collector, whatever.... if it's quieter, it's a Silencer.... Rolling Eyes

Bob

walter · Veteran Member

its not quieter actually might be louder from the sound revervberating inside aluminum! crazy! Shocked

i guess heading in the wrong direction. Crying or Very sad

jlwilliams · Veteran Member

I have some experience with legal firearm suppressors here in the USA. Maybe this will help.

You can do it legally, or you can risk everything for a toy.

Two things. First, if you want a silencer just pay the $200 and file the form1 and build it. It's technicaly speaking not a "class 3 license" as commonly refered to; it's a registration with a heavy tax. That's not really important, what's important is that there is a legal way to do it so why not do it that way. It's not that big a deal. Best bet is to get a good silencer for your 22lr, and then thread up an airgun, too. That way for the price you pay you have some versatility. Not cheap to buy, but a high quality silencer bought legally will cost you less than the retainer alone for your lawyer should you get caught doing it illegally. The silencer is a regulated item, but you can thread up as many hosts as you want.

Second thing. Airgun silencers are only considered to be 'firearm silencers' in the eyes of the law if they are removable. Strange but true. We've all seen the Gamo Silent Cat and th Marauders and the Tallon SS. The whole thing goes back to (I think) mid 1990's; at least 'the whole thing' in the context of the current legal precedent which is what we have to deal with. BSA had moderated air rifles at the SHOT show (I for one was excited to see them). They sold a few, then ATF made them stop on the grounds that the moderators could be put on a firearm. They wouldn't have worked well, but they would have worked a little and that's enough for the legal definition of a silencer. BSA just decided it wasn't worth the hassle, but others started working on making a US compatible set up. Now, we have the pinned and glued on plastic jobs from Gamo and the afore mentioned shrouded barrels. They all work well enough, and they are all on there such that you can't take it off and put it on your .22lr. The Gamo is actually made with a core that is tapered and put into an outer sleve, so if you did try to take it off and put a shot through it the core would gome out. (So I'm told, I don't have any Gamo) If you want to copy one of those designs, you may be fine. Make a plastic drain pipe can and pin and glue it permanently onto your airgun. Might be OK, but the "might" is the big kicker. All of these silenced airguns that are currently on the US market were built by companies that submitted their designs to the ATF for classification and received prior concent that their design was not in the legal definition of a regulated silencer. Your copy won't have been reviewed. Your safest, cheapest option is to buy a shrouded barreled air rifle or a Gamo Silent Cat. At least with the Gamo you have a pellet gun you bought off the shelf at Cabella's, which any law enforcement officer is going to recognise as an off the shelf pellet gun. A home built job will be more closely scrutinized and may fall to the discression of the local prosecutor. At the prosecutor's discression is a place you should strive not to be. I mean that.

A last thought. BATFE has a technical branch whose job it is (among other things) to evaluate submitted designs and classify them as whichever sort of legally recognised device they are. You can contact them with questions and they will give you answeres. You can call them, send them drawings of what you want to do. Talk to someone either on the phone or via emails. discuss your design before you build. Helping you is their job, they will do it. They can give you the guidance to stay legit. They arrest people for breaking laws, but they are primarily a regulatory agency who's role is to regulate and advise the industry. To get a legally sound classification though, you need to send them a solid copy. That means in this case an air gun with your proposed pvc drainpipe glued and pinned on. They will evaluate it. Then they will do one of two things. They can aprove it and send it back to you with documentation that will hold up in any court to show your design is NOT a registerable silencer. Or, they can declare it a registerable item in which case they won't send it back. They will cut up the offfending drainpipe and send you your airgun back with a letter explaining why it was no good. It's a time consuming process but if this is a hobby you can put time into it. That's what we do with hobbies, put time into them. They don't charge you to evaluate a design, your tax dollars already pay for it.

I am not a lawyer or a genuine 'expert'. I am just a guy with some experience and some research that I can share. It's my hobby, I'm in to it. If you have any questions I will do my best to respond either here, or in a PM if you don't feel comfortable saying something in a public forum. If you want to talk on the phone, PM me and I'll send you my cell number and we can set up a time to talk.