Has anyone paid the NFA tax and built their own suppressor?

[Magoo541]

I've seen a few websites where this has been done, http://www.cncguns.com/projects/22silencer.html, so I know it can be done legally.  Just wondering if anyone here has done it and what type they built?

I was thinking of building one out of some stainless using a modified K baffle design, like the one made above out of 6061 Aluminum.

[tombogan03884]

I have the same question about any one using this site and his programs to machine their own guns.
Magoo, you may find that weight , balance, and heat dissipation, issues make Aluminum a better choice.

[Tyler Durden]

I have a friend who has his Class III SOT (or at least that is what I think he has...  ) over in Missouri.  We talked a little bit about suppressors over lunch one time.  He said stainless was the way to go for suppressors since cleaning would be  a cinch by dipping it in a container of 50/50 vinegar and hydrogen peroxide.

I am here:

http://www.onlinemetals.com/calculator.cfm

figuring out metal weights, for an 8.4" long by 1.25" outside diameter SOLID piece of stainless tips the scale at 2.96 pounds.

a piece of aluminum of the same dimensions and again SOLID weighs 1.01" pounds.

So right off the bat, it looks to me that aluminum is about one third the weight of stainless.

Like that guy at the cnc link above, I would probably go with the first blast chamber/baffle out of stainless too.  I had a friend who had made his own compensators for USPSA open division pistols.  He tried to make one out of aluminum, but with the gas forces of 9mm Major it actually would deform the first baffle inside the comp.  So he stuck with stainless steel.  He tried titanium once, but I think machining it is a whole 'nother skill level and tool level above hobbyist/homeowner grade.

I guess if you go to make it out of aluminum just plan ahead or be prepared to have to take the thing apart to be able to clean it or scrub each individual part by hand.

I don't have a lathe...so if I lived in one of those free'er states where I could make one, I think for my first suppressor, I would just try making one out of freeze plugs.

[tombogan03884]

OH Heck Tyler, my last job was machining Stainless tubing .030 wall 1.25 Dia X 10.124 L and the weight was about an ounce or less.
SS however holds heat. Titanium would be better, but as you noted it's a SOB to work in a home shop, also the price has gone through the roof, and it was never particularly cheap to begin with.

[Tyler Durden]

tombogan wrote:

...my last job was machining Stainless tubing .030 wall 1.25 Dia X 10.124 L...

and how big was your lunchbox that you took into work?
 

I wonder how thick the wall has to be to be able to thread it???

I saw this video a week or so ago:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olC9xyHheDU

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

tombogan wrote:
and how big was your lunchbox that you took into work?
 

I wonder how thick the wall has to be to be able to thread it???

I saw this video a week or so ago:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olC9xyHheDU

If he isn't a shop teacher, he should be.
But if you have access to a Bridgeport you can do the job with a tap.
You need to keep everything precisely square, and go slow.
Use machines arbor and a point to keep things true but do the actual tap turning by hand.
You will want to use a bottoming tap with minimal lead.
As for thickness, that depends on the thread you want, but in stainless .050 should be plenty.

[Magoo541]

I think I can machine the wall thicknesses thin enough on the K baffles to remove enough weight to make it work and use Aluminum tube for the outer shell.  I thought about Titanium and I've machined it before with good results, I've also seen some Inconel components which is a B!tch to machine but is a super alloy. 

This is going to be fun...

 

[PegLeg45]

I have it on good authority that an aluminum D-cell maglite housing that has had a threaded adapter placed on the end-cap and tig welded properly by a good machinist works well, and is just the right size for .22lr.
I do not have photos, but the end product was legal via proper procedure, and looked store-bought.

[robheath]

Just lurking in this thread with extreme interest

[Magoo541]

I have it on good authority that an aluminum D-cell maglite housing that has had a threaded adapter placed on the end-cap and tig welded properly by a good machinist works well, and is just the right size for .22lr.
I do not have photos, but the end product was legal via proper procedure, and looked store-bought.

Too big for my tastes, although I do have such a housing sitting in the garage because its missing some parts .

I work with some pretty cool equipment at work (and I have a leetle lathe at home) and have access to plating and anodizing for a good price as well as materials, like Ti  316L & 17-4 stainless steels etc.  With 15 years of machining behind me and most of it working production on manual or 2 axis machines I think I can do whatever I can think up, I have so far   

I've found some good info at SilencerTalk.com and will probably cross post if/when I do a build-up of a 22LR suppressor.  Eventually I'd like to have one for 9mm (don't even own a pistol for that-yet), 45 ACP (XDM 45), .223/5.56 (Nope don't have one of those either), .308/300AAC (I wish) and maybe even a 12 guage (because I have one and it would be cool).  If we get supressors moved from Class II to AOW and the appropriate $5 tax, as opposed to the $200 tax, its a no-brainer for all the above.

All this spurred on by my Father-in-laws 24 acres next to a wealthy doctor that may not appreciate the noise of a shooting range 300 yards down the hill from him.