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Thinking of another Form 1 suppressor

John A.

John A.

Unconstitutional laws are not laws.
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Haven't 100% decided yet, but after completing an 80% lower a while back, it has made me want to make another Form 1 suppressor. There's just something that I really enjoy when I have a caliper in my hand and making something beneficial to me. Plus I guess it helps that my buddy said I could use his Dads' old mini lathe anytime I wanted.

I've already designed and built 2 previously which I enjoy using, but I want to go much more lightweight this time around and will likely start using the first one only on rifle cal's since it's so heavy, and use the new one strictly for various pistol calibers. And perhaps 300 Whisper subsonic for HD use.

I want the blast baffle to be made of stainless steel to help with heat/erosion mitigation if I use it in auto and also so I can service it and put it in the tumbler and clean it if I use lead bullets instead of plated bullets.

Using a stainless baffle would add to the overall weight of things, but the benefits are pretty obvious. I can shave weight in other ways. I may not be able to make up the entire difference in the heavier weight while using a SS blast baffle, but my goal is to keep it at or under 16 ounces so I can enjoy using it better than the heavy can, and would use it more often primarily.

I've looked at various commercial 9mm pistol specific suppressors which are usually around 7 ounces or so, but the larger subgun suppressors usually run around a pound and the plan for mine is using a large diameter 1.625" tube, 8 inches long because I like the low tone of fat cans. Plus on carbines, don't look out of place and are not unwieldy so if I can stay at or under a pound, would be great.

I could make it smaller and shorter and use all aluminum or titanium and do other things to cut weight, but I'm not willing to sacrifice sound reduction for weight reduction and serviceability and service life. Plus, titanium has its' own issues that I'm not going to get into now.

I'm also planning to keep this on the lower end of the budget. We all know that there is going to be a $200 tax. That's inevitable unfortunately and while it would be easy for me to complain, it wont' change anything even if I do cry about it. But with materials, tooling, engraving, tax, etc I'm wanting to keep the final price under the cost of a used pistol. I'm thinking I can do this for $400 or less and that's including the registration tax. I'm going to keep my receipts and such and will share the total cost once it is complete.

Anyway, it will take months to get the paperwork, approved, and done, so this topic will take quite some time to see an end, but hopefully it'll go well.
 
So you can do this, and if you're not a felon or a lunatic they OK you and you just pay for a license?

Do you have to claim some need or justification to have one?
 
The law is pretty simple. And not any different than owning a handgun or long gun. If you can own any firearm legally, you can own an NFA weapon. At least by Federal law. State law (like California) are all over the place. Where I live, I am allowed to own and use them. Like many others, I have owned numerous NFA registered items, and although the media and the powers try to demonize the particular weapons, they are simply not a problem.

Also, it isn't a license. It is a making tax. And if it is ever transferred to someone else (short of an heir when I die), there will be a $200 transfer tax. (heirs transfer tax free and is considered an involuntary transfer). In other words, every time it's transferred, there is a tax due and the process starts all over again for the new owner.

The short answer is If you're not a felon or have mental problems or domestic issues, you can make/own one. Though does require fingerprints and passport style photo submitted to the FBI, though there is nothing that a standard NICS check couldn't perform as well or better. When the NFA was written in 1934, fingerprints were "state of the art and futuristic" and a unique identifier, now we have supercomputers that can perform the same background check in milliseconds as what takes them months because the process is severely antiquated and nothing has changed since the law was written almost 100 years ago.

There is a place on the form that asks "why you intend to make it", though I have always written "to exersize my rights", and/or "for all lawful purposes".
 
No worries.

But in all fairness, I've dealt with firearms laws extensively.

Not only did I have my FFL's for 9 years, I've owned NFA items for more than a decade too, so being at least somewhat knowlegable or having the books to research them, goes with the territory.

Federal Firearm Laws
https://www.atf.gov/file/11241/download

State Firearm Laws and Published Ordinances
https://www.atf.gov/file/58536/download
 
Tagged for updates!

Looking forward to following this project. Knowing exactly what you want is half the battle and it seems you have that covered...
 
Just a quick update.

Got the paperwork in the mail from the ATF this week, and am waiting to meet up with the Chief Deputy to get his John Hancock. I spoke with him last Thursday and he said he'd be glad to sign, but will be next week sometime before I will be able to swing by there to get the signature and be fingerprinted (again).

One step closer now.

Hurry up.

Wait.
 
Now that MI has legalized them for hunting, I really need to get off my butt and do this as well.
 
While not in the market for a signature (yet), I would have no problem with him signing anything according to the CLEO in the city where my shop is. Out in the county where I live, the outgoing Sheriff was not so willing to sign such documents. Hopefully, his elected replacement will be far more 2A friendly--yet another reason to pay attention to local politics... ;)
 
After July 13, 2016, the CLEO signature requirement is no longer required. You will simply "notify" them in some manner that you intend to make/purchase an NFA item.

Trusts and individual requirements will then be the same. Fingerprints, photographs for each person in the trust, the whole she-bang.

http://www.nfafa.org/atf41p.cfm
 
Met with the Sheriff this morning and got the paperwork signed and fingerprinted. Chief deputy had intended to sign, but glad I had the chance to sit down with the Sheriff for a while nonetheless. He was interested in the process and considering making one for his self, and is currently building a very nice long range 300 Ultra mag starting with a 700 receiver. ;)

Paperwork is processing through the postal service now.

The clock starts today.
 
With any luck, late summer would be nice, but will probably be in early fall.

My last NFA paperwork was in the 7 month ballpark.
 
Yes, I'll be making a suppressor.

I'll send you a PM.
 
I expect that I have at least another 2 to 3 months wait still ahead of me. In speaking with several people, they are slamming the NFA branch right now with trusts since the guidelines for them will be changing soon. I know of at least one other member here who is also submitting some forms themselves too. And numerous others on various other forums.

My forms are, and have always been as an Individual and usually have a longer wait due to the FBI nics associated with NFA stuff, but I just wanted to give a quick update so I don't have to necro a 6 month old thread later.

The only physical update that I have is I bought my buddies Dads' turning lathe from his Stepmother last week. It's not a huge one (7x12 Cummins), but I am proud to have it nonetheless. She told me that I was the only person that had shown any interest in it or had used it in the 3 years since Roy had past away, so she said that she wanted to give me the first opportunity to have it and all the cutters and bits and pieces that went with it. And I'm really humbled that the family gave me the first chance to have it. She could've easily gotten more than twice than she offered it to me by selling it outright and I told her that, but she said she was more interested in seeing it go to someone who would appreciate it and use it and that she wanted me get it.

And of course, I certainly do appreciate it.


cummins mini lathe 001.JPG
 
I got a little surprise in the mailbox today.

An envelope that was addressed from Dept. of Justice.

I thought:"Yay!! My stamp is back".

But when I opened it, was a little letter that said I had a small error on the forms and wanted me to correct and return.

Dang-it!!

So, I made the correction and mailed it back to them today. With it being an extended holiday weekend, they may get the corrected form maybe Tuesday or Wednesday.

From my experience in the past, usually once they get a correction back, it goes back to your assigned examiners desk where they typically finish approving it pretty quickly as that's usually the last step in the process as they proof-read over everything.

So, with any luck, maybe in the next coupe of weeks I'll be able to start making some shavings.

Just wanted to give an update. I got a delay, but was my own fault. At least the wheels are turning though.
 
@John A. If they send it back for a correction past the deadline (i.e. Jul 13th ) does that still qualify as making it on time?
 
Yes it still counts as beating the deadline.

They go by the (first) date they received the application unless it's denied/cancelled altogether for some reason, and in that situation, you would get a $200 tax refund and have to start all over again and the clock would start over when you re-submitted, but a clerical error will just delay the approval until they get the correction, like in my case.

Once they spot an error, they notify you of the error and you have 30 days from when they found it for you to correct the error and return so they can finish processing the paperwork.
 
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