Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Silly notion on suppressors

Reading an article on the Hearing Protection Act one manufacturer says they won't become cheaper. I find that a rather silly notion given what they really are.

The only really patented item a suppressor is the "K" baffle. Yet a patent is only good for 20 years. It's a pretty simple thing to get around a patent on such a simple item.

So Right now all that overhead such as R+D, machinery and wages is spread out over relatively few units. When that cost is spread out over 100+ times that many suppressors the cost for unit drops radically. So then a company who does not seriously ramp up production and seriously drop prices is simply not going to be able to compete and will eventually go out of business.

Then if Suppressors are handled as firearms then we can expect a great deal of imports. These companies have well developed facilities for their manufacture. And they are cheaper. For example, in New Zealand a suppressor for a rimfire goes for about $15 U.S.

That the price won't drop if the Hearing Protection Act passes I think is a silly notion. It is made in absence of consideration of what market forces will be.

I don't think it's silly at all.

If you think Ruger and Sig are going to start selling cans for $15 you're smoking bat schit.

They will never get the chance to be reasonably priced if they can't be made legal. CNC machine technology allows relatively cheap mass production. Material cost is the largest drawback. 22 suppressors made from Aluminum could become dirt cheap. Competition will become pretty stiff and I believe prices will come down dramatically. Perhaps not for some offerings that have broad appeal. If you really look at it there hasn't been any earthshaking developments in suppressors since the Maxim was introduced excepting exotic materials.

The problem is government will likely never relinquish any part of control. They want the tax money and control allows the ATF to regulate and exercise more power over the people. The easiest way to get around bad law is never allow it on the books in the first place. Any NFA item is a high stakes game for the manufacturer and that is reflected in the price. Remember the cheap 'solvent traps"? After a few producers were jailed that part of competition dried up.

Want to get the bill through both houses and signed? It's easy just vote out any jackass that is in opposition and replace them with people that are willing to follow the oath they all take.

I didn't say they would. But to think they would still go for $300 to $500 for a rimfire suppressor is crazy.

They will become $200 cheaper right off the bat...

This is New Zealand where they are unregulated.:
https://www.trademe.co.nz/sports/hunting-shooting/firearm-parts/silencers-suppressors

Note that 1 New Zealand Dollar equals $0.68 U.S. dollars.

I think that is reasonable right off the bat, or soon after. I think most will hold off and wait for the price to come down. But enough will jump at the beginning to make the price initially go up simply by supply and demand.

Then you have to consider how many large firearms companies will jump in either directly or by subsidiary. That and new start up companies. I'm thinking after 18 months to 2 years the supply demand ratio will flip.

Now what I want probably won't be cheap. I want an over the barrel suppressor for my Ruger AR-556.

I was in Lane Suppressors in Rapid City 18 months ago and said to the fellow there "I guess the Hearing Protection Act would be great for you guys." I was surprised by the answer he gave. He said it would probably be the end of the small producers since they would not be able to compete on price with the big producers and the new well mechanized large scale companies. Prices would most definitely come down dramatically.

If they can sell them for $15 in NZ they can be that cheap here, providing the gooberment dosn't tax them exorbitantly.

$20 but yeah, that's the point.

Even if the market demand for suppressors only grows 5X after deregulation, prices will drop. Not willingly. Maybe not quickly. But the prices will drop. As noted above, there is probably a fair amount of good baffle technology that is now past end of patent life. If someone can get 75% to 80% of the sound reduction out of a suppressor that only costs 30% to 50% of a "state of the art" can, there's a market for that. Just look at the RAR's...Off top of my head, I can not think of a single market where increased production and increased competition did not lead to lower prices...

Demand would grow at least 100x, maybe even more.

You wouldn't be able to get anything done at a gunsmith for 5 years because they would all be threading barrels 24x7.

Nobody has mentioned the fact that if made legal/easily accessible, they won't need to be made to last a lifetime. Cheaper materials and processes used to make a disposable type product with a shorter useful life. I can't imagine we wouldn't see $50 cans at a minimum. Probably closer to $30.

Of course, like a cure for cancer, it's not gonna happen so the whole conversation is mental masturbation.

Ruger and Sig will be giving cans away as promotional items like extra mags or nite sites.

Using Ruger and Sig as examples, they have their CNC machines set up. They have people trained. They are using the appropriate materials.

Why aren't they selling cans for $50?

And let's ballpark a demand increase of about 200% when the stamp/bullschit thing hypothetically disappears.

How many years before supply meets demand? Five? Ten? During that time prices will spike like crazy. Think 22LR shortage +p. You think after a decade of seeing people happily spend $500 or $600 on a $300 product that manufacturers are gonna drop it down to $50? And if they do, how many years before that happens?

And make no mistake, the tax ain't what keeps people from buying a can. It's the process.

AR's are available for $399.00 right now and were $1000.00 and up 5 years ago. There won't be a supply issue if demand spikes because it's a simple item to make and manufacturing will ramp up quick. Stamped parts as opposed to machined, cheap steel as opposed to titanium etc.... No different than a $50 take off plastic stock and a $600 McMillan or a $20 knife and a custom Ingram.

If they sell that cheap in the UK, NZ and Austin, it'll be no different here. If nothing else, all those cheap suppressors that are being marketed overseas will find their way to our shores quickly.

Your numbers are a bit extreme. I'd say with the big companies jumping in and start ups and imports, 2-3 years before the ratio flips. You can bet the big companies in the U.S. already have plans of the board. Europe has a dozen or so companies. Taurus in Brazil can be expected to jump in. All these companies already have marketing chains and import chains established.

Plus the fact that these are rather simple. The over barrel is a bit more complicated but not really complicated. I bet if you had 5 suitable CNC machines you could crank the out by the hundreds.

Suppressor are legal in South Africa and I saw them priced under $200 US when I was there hunting in 2014

If this tax stamp crap ever goes away you will see manufacturing from every direction building and selling suppressors

Prices will come down