Building a suppressor

[samuelcmm]

Alright so a friend of mine built a suppressor for a paintball gun that was quite impressive. I play tournaments from time to time and id like to built one myself but I want to make sure that its not illegal first. The basic build of it is you take an old barrel drill holes in patterns down it then set up you baffle system and cover it in pvc. I know paintball guns are not considers firearms and there is no way i could attach this to a real rifle if I do it. So before I build it and get smaked with a fee and jail time is it illegal?

 

[GRAPE-DRANK]

I'm sure it's not illegal, but if it were me and I had the same question as you I would write a letter to the BATFE explaining to them what you want to do. They'll write back to you and give you an answer. You keep a copy in case anyone gives you a hassle. Unfortunately we live in a world where what's right and wrong is too subjective. They just arrested a pretty girl that obviously came from a well-to-do family that liked to blow up toilets on her Daddy's land in Georgia and post it on youtube. A permit from the BATFE could have kept her from the legal hassle she's involved in and the possibility that she will be a felon.

 

[samuelcmm]

Well I contacted the ATF and they told me to read sections
18 U.S.C. 921(a)(3): DEFINITIONS (FIREARM)
18 U.S.C. 921(a)(24): DEFINITIONS (FIREARM MUFFLER AND FIREARM
SILENCER)
26 U.S.C. 5845(a)(7): DEFINITIONS (FIREARM)
26 U.S.C. 5845(i): DEFINITIONS (MAKE)
heres the link
http://www.atf.gov/regulations-rulings/rulings/atf-rulings/atf-ruling-2005-4.pdf
And it seems if i weld the barrel to the gun then i dont have anything to worry about
but if someone doesn't mind I'd really appreciate a second person to read it to make sure i got it.

 

[Saakee]

A silencer without the stamp is illegal. Even if it is for your paintball gun because if they find out, they will test it with a real gun. if it lowers by only one decibel, you're in the deep end. even if it's destroyed after that one shot. American players have to pay for the stamp or use mock suppressor designs.

http://www.corin.com/bill/paintball/silencer.html

 

[jmorris]

These have been out so long the BATFE would have stopped them by now, if it were illegal. Personally I would still have a letter from the NFA branch saying it was OK.

 

[Charger442]

what does a permanentally attached integral suppressor on an air rifle have to do with a removable paint ball gun suppressor? it follows the same principals that the BATF said he should do which is permanately attach the tube to the paintball gun so that it cant ever be used to shoot a centerfire or rimfire cartridge through.

 

[jmorris]

what does a permanentally attached integral suppressor on an air rifle have to do with a removable paint ball gun suppressor?

The basic build of it is you take an old barrel drill holes in patterns down it then set up you baffle system and cover it in pvc.

What does removable have to do with a modified paint ball gun barrel? If I understand the OP correctly the "tube" is the barrel itself. Both air rifles and paint ball guns use compressed gases to propel projectiles (neither are firearms).

 

[crazy-mp]

http://www.atf.gov/regulations-rulings/rulings/atf-rulings/atf-ruling-2005-4.pdf

If its permanently attached you are ok, if you make it so it can be put on and taken off you are wrong

 

[TurtlePhish]

IIRC, the ATF posted on their website that a permanent silencer on a paintball gun is not a firearm silencer unless it is removed from the paintball gun.

 

[mje]

The lesson here is don't build it and then attach it to he paintball gun. Start with a pain all gun with a long barrel, and build it on that.

 

[paintballdude902]

the issue i see is that most paint ball gun barrels are removable. i dont see why it should be illegal but i also find the atf to be similar to staring at a ant hill; always different and you just look stupid for trying to figure out what theyre doing...

 

[Zane]

I am not a lawyer.

Grossly, what you have described would likely be considered a suppressor for BATFE purposes, assuming it is removable, and would likely need to be registered.

When you say " there is no way i could attach this to a real rifle if I do it," you are not taking into account the resources of the BATFE trying to make a case.