Posted on 06/17/2010 9:54:53 AM PDT by OneWingedShark
Yesterday I came across a really intriguing firearm.
The De Lisle Silent Carbine which has an integrated silencer…; while some might quibble over my usage of the term ‘silencer’ instead of ‘suppressor’ I should think that the De Lisle qualifies as the former.
Now, I’ve been thinking about firearm design a bit and I think I may try to enter the gun manufacture business should my state pass a Firearm Freedom Act, which brings me back to the point I was contemplating: silencers/suppressors. After a little research on wikipedia about the design of them I was reminded about a valveless “one way” tube (termed Valvular Conduit) developed by Nikola Tesla that I found on a page about jet engines. Depicted below:
So, since I’m no expert on fluid dynamics, my question is could the Valvular Conduit be used as a suppressor? I realize that, as presented, the overlaps in the conduit wouldn’t allow a bullet passage, but consider if that part of the passage were placed inside the grooves of the rifling and offset enough to allow passage of the bullet and oriented such that it opposed gasses escaping from the weapon. Would/could it work? Would it be effective?
I wish I did.
Form 4s are for transfers between individuals. Form 1s are for manufacturing.
>This wouldn’t mean that you could fabricate a whole bunch of suppressor bodies and internal components to experiment with,
How about one body with a bunch of internal components to experiment with?
You can already own and make silencers in NM.
Buy one and have it tranferred to you on a Form 4, or submit a Form 1 and make your own once you get it back approved. You will need a separate form (and $200 tax) for each silencer you make or buy.
If you plan on making silencers for resale, you'll need an FFL/SOT.
That'ss kind of a gray area.
"Silencer" is defined in statute as any part intended for use in a suppressor, so even the act of making baffles alone is making a "suppressor."
Trying to read ATF's mind is always dangerous, but if you assemble your "suppressor," and then make new baffles/parts, disassemble the can, and rebuild it using the new parts, I would bet my house that ATF would consider that to be making a new suppressor, requiring an additional registration/tax.
What you do, and what ATF knows about, are of course, two different things.
I believe you may be able to replace damaged parts, excluding the serial numbered portion (usually the tube/body), provided the old parts are destroyed first.
ATF has recently amended/clarified its rules on suppressor repair/replacement, so diligent research would be advisable.
Danger.
Whatever the ATF regards as 'suppressor components' is a bad thing without an approved Form 1 if you're making your own suppressor. *With* an approved Form 1, they'll also call that constructive possession if you have more *useable* components than necessary to construct your one-off homebuilt can. You'd better be de-milling/destroying excess materials as you wind your way through your little project.
ATF Tech Branch recently produced an opinion letter which claimed that just having multiple 'quick detach' mounts for suppressors per Form 1 was a violation. This is the subject of very intense debate recently because it conflicts with countless other ATF Tech Branch opinion letters and I'd rather not discuss this further.
Even if ATF sent another opinion letter out retracting their previous opinion, that wouldn't satisfy me.
LOL! Been there, done that. I think we all have.
The states that have passed one so far are Alaska, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona (Yay!), and Tennessee. Wyoming's even specifies criminal penalties for feds or their agents who try to enforce the inapplicable laws! So does the New Hampshire version, which has not passed.
You know, sometimes I wish I lived in a free country; one where people could do what they wanted with their own property and where there wasn't such restriction on the right of the people to Keep and Bear Arms (and their attendant accessories) weren't infringed... You know, one that valued Truth and Justice. *sigh*
Well now... I haven’t delved into cloacing technologies... yet. ;)
Grrr, bad me! Bad grammar!
(That’s what I get for not proofreading.)
For the most part, you already do. There is some regulation on this, of course.
I personally don't want my next door neighbor making homemade grenades or storing two tons of powdered aluminum oxide in a backyard container for his cottage industry garage-based fireworks business.
Inalienable rights are one thing, but zoning laws and reasonable public safety regulation are also a reality. We can do that in a Republic and not break the legs of our Constitution.
Certainly the ATF goes too far, has little oversight, and has documented cases of abuse but that doesn't make me a Nihilist.
Are you referring to flash or sound suppressors?
You’re contradicting yourself; either I live in a society where I’m free to do things like build guns (machine guns even) or I do not.
The BATFE is just a prime example of how I am *NOT* free; I mean they declared that a [insert explicative] shoelace was a machine gun!
Then there are the other ways in which you are restricted. Like city “codes” enforcement. There is something fundamentally wrong when a society that both claims to be free sees no problem with making it illegal to cut down a tree that is on your own property w/o the proper ‘authorization’ from the city/county/state or whomever else is required.
Take automobiles as an instance; are you able to throw together an engine, drive-train, and steering apparatus together and have a “street worthy” car? Or does it have to have seat belts & pass the emissions testing & so forth?
It should be the case that if you are persecuted for exercising your rights everyone in the community would stand by you. Fact is we have Freepers and Tea Party activists willing to abandon the 2nd amendment because they personally don't own guns.
For a long time ATF has considered to be contraband items like modified washers designed to be inserted within a suitable silencer body when both the washers and body are present, but now they're even talking about extra suppressor mounts with different thread pitches designed to fit various barrels to be a regulated item as well.
In the community of NFA collectors, there's some people who can show earlier and current ATF opinions that this position is invalid, some day that it doesn't fit their own legal definition of a regulated sound reduction device others insist that it's been retracted, and others say that it's still in effect even though the ATF hasn't swooped any manufacturers up yet. Also, some claim it doesn't matter what the ATF's opinion is because they can't just invent an imaginary law. Others who are in jail for running afoul of the ATF say "Oh, ho ho yes the hell they can!".
What nobody wants to do is go to ATF and ask for clarification: With those people, you get a different answer every time someone new picks up the phone. It always makes things worse because they immediately default to 'No, that is illegal and we will imprison you forever' mode, and that's not just some 'when in doubt, the answer is NO' doctrine they've adopted. Even when they know they're wrong they still say 'No'.
It's like asking the most nervous panicky liberal-assed mother in the neighborhood if you and your friend can build a treehouse in her backyard.
>Too many people don’t realize the value of the Constitution and they’ve allowed and encouraged politicians to erode it.
Indeed.
I’ve written about the Constitution [& society] a bit:
https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ATyjMtQJe7iWZHY2OTh0bV8yNWM3YjM1Y2M5&hl=en
http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dv698tm_22dr6x3nfb
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dv698tm_28c83cqsch
I even posted a Constitutional solution to our immigration problem here on FR which was taken down, either because it was “too politically incorrect” or because of the meta-humor of the title (which is more a comment on how people would react to that solution):
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ATyjMtQJe7iWZHY2OTh0bV8yN2htZnBzOWQy&hl=en
Fixed.
Yes, and then they retracted that.
ATF really only started acting the way they do within the last 20 years or so. Only a few Presidents ago. They actually used to be fairly helpful little outfit that was a simple revenue agency. They'd come across someone with an unregistered machine gun and they'd kindly give them a Form 1 to register it with and a pre-paid envelope to mail it in with, even.
Your freedom as an American should be to demand that this desperado government bureau you speak of be reined in, scrutinized, regulated, or ultimately disbanded.
That's what an American would do, rather than flipping their wig and emigrating to Somalia to live their lives in peace without the weight of the government jackboot on their necks just because they can't put robotic flamethrowing turrets in their front yard or rig their car with an explosive booby trap to prevent auto theft.
Honestly, I'm in favor of machinegun ownership and so on, but I'm not a friggin' unhinged nut about it.
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