the excellent $99 suppressor (opportunity)!

Keep it simple, stupid! Pic from Funk & Wagnalls New Practical Standard Dictionary. Britannica World Language Edition. 1946, 1957.

Whilst updating the AFD’s “SILENCER & BARREL ACCESSORY” page this morning I was struck by the fact that none of the 45 manufacturers listed offers any suppressor under $100. Having some experience with European and British silencer manufacturers, I can tell you the average price for a quality sound suppressor across the pond is around 70 Euros ($90 at the current exchange rate) and they’ve been that affordable for the best part of 3 decades. 

So why are they so expensive here in the US? BATFE restrictions and regulations are undoubtedly a large part of that, but those same limitations (along with Hollywood movies romanticizing this favorite of the hitman’s props) also fuels the mystique that’s surrounded them as being complex mechanical devices that diminish a gunshot to a mere whisper. Not only is this total fiction, but it’s implied by price tag that these brilliantly simple devices possess magical and secret properties reserved for dastardly villains, covert government operatives and those of us who will pay large sums of money to own them. Because legally purchasing a silencer is so involved a process here in America, companies who solely manufacture them need to charge premium prices to make it viable whereas companies who make a range of products can afford to charge a little less. Yet still prices are too high for what they are, i.e. a tube with some heat-dissipating baffles as per Maxim’s original 1909 concept for automobiles and firearms.  

We all know by now that the cheapest automotive or household product can adequately suppress firearm report, so a $99 purpose-made silencer is long overdue. With all the talk of the upcoming HPA (God willing it passes) the rumors online suggest prices will get even higher for a time to meet the sudden jump in demand! That’s ridiculous. And so here lies a tremendous business opportunity for some savvy machine shop: start cranking out the parts for a range of calibered suppressors for various weapons and thread-sizes, and when that Hearing Protection Act bill gets passed, sell them at $99 all day long!  Ed.  
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