An answer to why silencers are illegal
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Topic: An answer to why silencers are illegal
Posted By: nauzerlvr
Subject: An answer to why silencers are illegal
Date Posted: 09 March 2006 at 3:51pm
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Paintball Silencers
December 27, 2004 Quoted from specialopspaintball.com Not long after the invention of the direct-feed paintball gun, players began to tinker with the idea of making their paintguns quieter. Paintball silencers have been around almost as long as hoppers. In the mid-1980s, Sheridan released a paintball long gun that just begged to be turned into a "sniper" rifle. Almost every Sheridan rifle you saw carried a homemade silencer on the end of its barrel. All paintguns, in those days, were pumps. Pumps, unlike semi-auto paintball guns, don't have as much machine noise with each shot and this makes a silenced paintball gun especially quiet. As we were fond of saying in those days, paintball silencers sounded "like a gopher farting." Commercial paintball silencers flooded the market, though they weren't a whole lot better than the homemade ones. They began appearing in magazine photos and on store shelves. Basically, a paintball silencer was a large tubular chamber that slid over the end of the paintball gun's barrel. The inside of the chamber was usually a porous material that allowed the paintball gun's gas to dissipate into the chamber before "popping" into the environment. Inside the silencer's chamber, manufacturers usually packed loose material such as insulation or brillo pads to further help deaden the sound. Most of the "pop" that a paintball gun makes is the result of the paintball leaving the barrel with a burst of gas with sound behind it. The paintball silencer creates an intermediate airspace that traps much of the gas and sound while leaving the paintball to exit the barrel untouched. But the glory days of paintball silencers were numbered. Firearm silencers are a controlled device under federal law. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) regulates the ownership and manufacture of a number of firearm devices including machine guns and sound suppressors (otherwise known as "silencers.") In the early 1990s, the ATF ran tests and decided that paintball silencers could be used to quiet a true firearm and they notified all manufacturers of paintball silencers that they were in violation of federal law. The reach of big brother was fast and final. All paintball silencers disappeared from the market. Currently, the best option for a paintball sniper is to buy the quietest barrel possible and marry it to the quietest paintgun possible. The carbon-fiber barrels manufactured by Stiffi are just about the quietest thing out there. Attached to a DM4, they make a combo that's no louder than the silenced pumps of the old days before the ATF came a knocking. To own a paintball gun silencer legally, you must live in one of the states that allow private ownership of sound suppressors. If so, you can purchase a silencer (paintball or firearm,) from a licensed firearms dealer (if such a thing were actually manufactured.) Then, you would have to get the signature of your local law enforcement officer on a form that requires a two-hundred dollar tax stamp. After waiting between two and six months, if you're not a felon, the transfer of your paintball silencer would come through and you could go back to your dealer and pick it up. Since the whole system is really hard, really expensive and takes a really long time, legal paintball silencers are almost never seen. As a side note, Special Ops Paintball is a Class II Firearms manufacturer and dealer so, if you want a paintball silencer bad enough, we can make you one and have it transferred to you. Again, it'll cost you an extra $200 on top of the cost of the suppressor and you'll have to wait a few months for the transfer, but it's possible. Otherwise, you're left using one of the many "fake" paintball silencers (which don't work to deaden sound), or you can make your own and be illegal. If you buy a "fake" paintball silencer and it DOES actually dampen the sound of your paintball gun, it's probably illegal, both for the manufacturer and for you. Every year, a few paintball tinkerers come out with illegal paintball silencers and the ATF shuts them down. Even if the manufacturer claims their paintball silencer is "legal" that doesn't mean it's true. Ask to see their letter from the ATF approving their design. Often, they'll just blow the question off. To our knowledge, the ATF hasn't approved of any paintball silencer designs as of this writing. If you possess an illegal silencer, and you're caught with it by your local law enforcement, it probably won't matter that the manufacturer led you to believe it was legal. You'll still be in a lot of trouble. And, the same goes for homemade paintball silencers. If you possess a silencer or even silencer parts, you are probably committing a federal felony. This is a very, very big punishment for something that shouldn't be a crime at all. We have never heard of someone being prosecuted for owning an illegal paintball silencer, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Many take the chance, but it's probably not worth it (unless you're a Class II manufacturer and the you can own all the paintball silencers you want. Sweeeet!) The bummer is that paintball silencers work great and they make the game much more fun. With a good paintball silencer, a sniper can take close shots and still not give away his position. Silencers are long and a little awkward, but they give great advantage to that long-ball, one-shot sniper. Hopefully, someday soon, someone will figure it out with the ATF so that paintball fields will once again resonate with the brrrp! of gophers <breaking wind>. ------------- 
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Replies:
Posted By: hungrymonkey
Date Posted: 09 March 2006 at 4:00pm
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silencers are not illegal. They are controlled. It is illegal to own one without the proper liscenses and taxes.
------------- A5 Flatline E trigger Palmers stabilizer 68ci 4500 psi hpa tank |
Posted By: Snake6
Date Posted: 09 March 2006 at 4:01pm
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Oh god it said sniper....
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Posted By: stick_boy_2002
Date Posted: 09 March 2006 at 4:14pm
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Snake6 wrote:Posted By: dodan44
Date Posted: 09 March 2006 at 5:22pm
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i never knew that paintball silencers were illegal. i about made one. ------------- i pawn noobs |
Posted By: TRAVELER
Date Posted: 09 March 2006 at 6:25pm
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In some states they are illegal, regardless of whether or not you have the tax stamp. In case anyone wants to know why silencers were made illegal in the first place, it has nothing to do with mobsters or assasins. Firearms silencers were made illegal because poachers used them on their guns to hunt out of season, which made it almost impossible for game wardens to catch them. Strangely enough, there are places in Europe (yes, people in Europe still hunt) where hunters are required to use silencers so the noise of their gunshots doesn't disturb the surrounding wildlife and nearby neighborhoods. ------------- For I will wander to and fro, I'll go where I no one do know, |
Posted By: Baewolf
Date Posted: 09 March 2006 at 6:28pm
The one I made is made from mostly PVC pipe, if you shot a real gun through that it would more then likely blow up in your face. |
Posted By: merc
Date Posted: 09 March 2006 at 9:13pm
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just buy an AA (or any ported barrel) and wrap egg crate around it... ------------- saving the world, one warship at a time. |
Posted By: RavenGuard
Date Posted: 09 March 2006 at 9:38pm
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I'm porting my stock a-5 barrel with tonnes of holes to see if it will make it quieter... I hope it still fires afterwards lol, but if not, i'm sawing off everything but 3 inches and using it as a tiny barrel :) Too bad, i was going to try and make a silencer if i wasn't so sure of this legal stuff for Canada, so better safe than sorry. ------------- Tippmann A-5 Polished Internals E-Grip Ape Board JCS Blade Trigger QEV 8" Bigshot + Apex Ricochet R-5 / Tac Cap Palmers Stabilizer 68/4500 Crossfire |
Posted By: Baewolf
Date Posted: 09 March 2006 at 9:47pm
First off that is not what silences your gun, drilling holes all the way through it will make it louder, not to mention ruin the barrel and cause paintball breaks. And yes silencers are legal in Canada for paintball guns. Look man the plans are out there is not PM me and I will hook you up, but for god sakes don't ruin your barrel for no good reason thats not how it works |
Posted By: Bruce A. Frank
Date Posted: 09 March 2006 at 11:39pm
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Actually, correct porting, essentially micro porting of the barrel beyond about 8 to 10 inches from the breech, works. A series of holes 1/16" and smaller properly spaced with progressive density will dissipate the barrel pressure report by reducing the large wave front out the end of the barrel. The longer the section of micro-ported barrel, the lower the report when the ball exits the end. The volume of the noise is essentially choked through the small holes. But, it is not likely that an individual can drill micro ports in their barrel without causing burrs, sharp edges and projections into the interior of the barrel. |
Posted By: Wubadoo
Date Posted: 10 March 2006 at 12:24am
exactly ------------- Wubadoo |
Posted By: Baewolf
Date Posted: 10 March 2006 at 7:38am
You may be right, but I am guessing there you are more likely to ruin your barrel doing this. All I really meant by it was that he lives in Canada and there is an easier non drill holes in your barrel method |
Posted By: rednekk98
Date Posted: 10 March 2006 at 2:42pm
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It'd be interesting if somebody could make a truely ATF approved paintball silencer that could not be used on an actual firearm. What's the deal with airsoft silencers? You could more than likely fire a .22 through one and have it be quieted. I'm surprized the ATF isn't all over that. Also, the ATF considers a pillow or even a soda bottle and tape to be a silencer if used as one. Soda bottles work great for a few shots on small caliber guns. As for hunting with silencers in europe and microporting, lately US waterfowl hunters have been using microported barrel extensions about four feet long and subsonic ammo to quite their shotguns and not disturb people while duck and goose hunting. I guess it's pretty common along urbanized waterways like the Chesapeak Bay region. |
Posted By: Snake6
Date Posted: 12 March 2006 at 3:11pm
Thats interesting. I duck and goose hunt all the time on the chesapeake and have never seen a 4 ft barrel extension. If I did see one I would laugh my butt off. -------------
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Posted By: You Wont See Me
Date Posted: 12 March 2006 at 4:16pm
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Way old. Special ops wasnt the first to write an article about why their illegal. There have been articles up for years on this topic. ------------- A-5 E-Grip JCS Dual Trigger DOP X-CORE 8 stage x-chamber Lapco Bigshot 14" Beadblasted Optional setup: R/T Dead on Blade trigger |
Posted By: maddog312us
Date Posted: 12 March 2006 at 4:34pm
| ^^^^so |
Posted By: You Wont See Me
Date Posted: 12 March 2006 at 5:01pm
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So, there are also much better written ones and anybody with half a brain cell could find it. ------------- A-5 E-Grip JCS Dual Trigger DOP X-CORE 8 stage x-chamber Lapco Bigshot 14" Beadblasted Optional setup: R/T Dead on Blade trigger |
Posted By: Snake6
Date Posted: 12 March 2006 at 5:14pm
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Plus they arent written by propagandists. -------------
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Posted By: 636andy636.
Date Posted: 13 March 2006 at 7:03pm
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silencers or supressors are illegal in canada Prohibited devices include:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pub/cp/rc4227/rc4227-e.html#P337_18985 - http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pub/cp/rc4227/rc4227-e.html#P33 7_18985 ------------- [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/anthonymartinez/402cdjo-1.gif"> |