#Silencers

Tubeless suppressor designs are a relatively new addition to the commercial market. If you aren’t familiar with the process, professional manufacturers use programmable, radial welding machines that turn the suppressor and lay down perfect welds at a steady rate. The result is a precise weld that looks like it was made by a sewing machine. For example, check out this Dead Air Nomad:

You just bought a Glock, and let’s face it, those plastic factory Glock sights are flat out embarrassing. Plastic sights on a metal slide just don’t make a whole lot of sense, and they are definitely nothing to write home about. When it comes time to upgrade those sights there are two things you may want to consider: Suppressors and Red Dot Sights (RDS).

Hamond is a small Ukrainian company designing and manufacturing suppressors from cal .22 to 30 mm. Engineer Evgeniy Moskalenko, the CEO and chief designer of Hamond, brought to IDEX a selection of cutaway models showing an array of different internal geometries.

It was probably halfway through the second magazine that the new gun butterflies started to wear off.  The jarring over gassed recoil, combined with the massive concussion that comes with having a short 12.5in barrel, was enough to make me want to put the gun back in the bag and go home.  For the past three years I’d been shooting almost all of my rifles suppressed. Combine this with a cramped indoor range and shooting this rifle was borderline intolerable. I’d also gone a step further on my AR pattern rifles and added adjustable gas carriers.  All of that customization lead to easy to shoot suppressed rifles. Something I was desperately missing.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation ( NSSF) is a tremendous steward and champion of the shooting sports. Their work occurs through innumerable events throughout the US in educating people about firearms, but they also do smaller works as well. Some of those are simple infographics that can catch fire on social media and sometimes be even more valuable to the promotion and betterment of our cause. One simple yet highly effective one recently was about suppressors or silencers.

In the early 1900s Hiram Percy Maxim, son of the inventor of the Maxim gun, began developing early suppressors which he christened ‘silencers’. It wasn’t long before the US Army took interest in these new silencers and began testing them.

For those of you who dabble in NFA items, you will know the hate/love relationship with having awesome things and the pain of getting the tax stamp. @Silencers_1909 posted his NFA stamp collection on a Facebook NFA group. You may remember his Old Glory image consisting of some of his NFA collection. According to Jorge, there are 66 stamps with 17 still pending. That is a lot of stamps.

Walking through the rooms of IWA, I was surprised by the number of European suppressors on display. Many of them seem to target the hunter more so than the tactical or recreational shooter. There are some really wild European suppressor designs and some that look similar to what we have here in the US.

Good morning everyone. Thanks for visiting TFB’s Silencer Saturday. Today we unfortunately have to start out with some unpleasant news: There is a bill in the very beginning  stages of the U.S. House of Representatives that takes square aim at manufacturers, dealers and owners of National Firearms Act (NFA) controlled firearms. A group, by the way, that is already heavily regulated, burdened and law abiding under the existing system. The proposed legislation, H.R. 5103 increases firearms taxes and fees across the board and even includes a section that will continue to adjust them for inflation.

Both out on the range and on the 2018 SHOT Show floor, I was lucky enough to get some time to catch up with my friends at Gemtech Suppressors. After a dynamic 2017 – being bought by Springfield, Massachusetts based Smith & Wesson and losing their former CEO, the team seems to be on solid ground and virtually free of acquisition growing pains.

AMTAC Suppressors is releasing their new Mantis line of silencers, three of which feature their signature over-barrel design, with a new monocore system that focuses on overall signature reduction and capable of handling magnum rifle calibers. Available in four different models that are designed for different calibers, barrel profiles and overall lengths, pricing starts at $799 and are now available for purchase.

If you follow my posts, you already understand my love for the guns and suppressors from Swiss firearms manufacturer B&T and B&T USA. So it should be no surprise that my first stop was their booth to catch a glimpse of what we can expect here in the U.S. in terms of pistol, carbine, rifle and silencer availability. And for patient buyers, I have good news.

In the past, OSS Suppressors has taken their fair share of heat and pressure (see that) for their unique designs, multi-generation models, price points and mounting systems. And honestly I have contributed to the criticism. Until recently, previous models featured two module sections and over-barrel mounts that required specific rifle setups. However, I spent a good amount of time with the OSS crew today talking about their new HELIX-QD mounting system and OSS’s path going forward, and I think they have a new fan.

We will setup a dedicated email address for news and information intake related to the suppressor world, but for now, if there is something you’d like to see highlighted, drop me a line at Pete@thefirearmblog.com. Submissions are welcome from everyone – consumers, dealers, distributors and manufacturers. Space and content requirements may not allow for every submission to be included.

Even though today is officially the tenth day of TFB Christmas, I wanted to make sure to recognize the last night of Hanukkah for our Jewish readers and shooters around the world. If I had thought of it, I would have made today the “illumination” part of the series – bringing much needed light to the dark winter days of the northern hemisphere. Instead, today is arbitrarily all about Rifle Silencers.