200 dollar stamp and your sheriff has to sign off I believe.

+1 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I have a friend who used to own and run a gun shop. He began making suppessors for sale to the US Gov't and others. Many years ago, he made a Ruger 10/22 bull barrel that was silent, except for the sound of the action moving, even with high velocity rounds. His system somehow made the rounds shoot subsonic. He also does the ruger pistols. A mutual friend told me today that he has developed a suppressor for the 17 HMR. I am going to look into it. While I have a safe place to shoot, noise is an issue. Even a suppressed .223 sounds about like an unmuffled 17 HMR. But I am told his suppressed 17 HMR sounds like a 22 standard velocity, which is not very loud.

I've seen some real quiet 223 cans even with full house ammo.

If you decide to go for a "suppressor" Vic, try and get one that you can dismantle to clean. I have some expensive ones which cannot be stripped down ( ASE Ultra's ) and cleaning them basically involves banging them on a piece of wood with a towel over it to shake out the unburnt powder deposits....which is not very satisfactory. My latest "can" is a design which is a screw together option whereby you can add or remove layers of baffles making for a longer or shorter suppressor and is easy to clean and at full baffle level very quiet...this one is made by A-Tec which is a Norweigan company.

If they won't sign off on it, there's a way around it. You form a corporation (or maybe it was a trust - don't remember), & the corp owns the guns, not you. Legally you're a trustee, and entitled to use & carry the guns. That way you can own them if the LEOs won't sign. Here's some info here: http://www.silencertalk.com/

Here is a pic of a Mini 14 fitted with the an A-TEC suppressor....



you can see the baffle sections which unscrew...this sort of option would be pretty quiet and more able to buck the wind. I have mine threaded to fit a Sauer 202 Take Down rifle which I have in 6.5 x 55 and this is slightly louder than my suppressed 6PPC but the case takes a fair bit more powder than the PPC case and in fairness both rifles are "very quiet".

Well the CZ is certainly shooting minute of squirrel at this point though it seems like it has been a pain in the butt for you Vic.

I don't own any suppressors but I've heard the "best bang for the buck" (so to speak <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> )is to thread your muzzles so you can use the suppressor on multiple firearms without paying the $200 tax for each and every suppressed firearm.

The tax stamp follows the suppressor, not the firearm (unless the suppressor is fixed to the barrel) is my understanding.

The point by Kraz is a good one but bear in mind that many suppressors fit back over the barrel of the rifle they are on and have a Duralon/Plastic spiggot which get's reamed out for the diameter of barrel they are to fit over....so if you want a multiple rifle/moderator you need to think which ones you want to use it on first and take them to the gunsmith with the moderator to look at them as a package....he may say certain barrels are within a tolerance level and do-able but others are not. In this respect I think a Varmint barrel rifle and a slimmer hunting profile rifle are not likely to be combined...the support needed for the "can" going back over the barrel incase the "can" is knocked...is not going to be there on the slimmer stalking barrel profile.

Since both of my 17 HMRs have bull barrels, I think one suppressor could work on either one. Maybe the suppressed .223s I have heard at the range are not typical, but they were as loud as my unsuppressed 17 HMR. Still, much quieter than .223s are usually, but still a bit noisy. I would not bother putting a can on any of my Mini-14s. They are just not that accurate, even the Heavy Barrel one. My AR-15s will out shoot them big time.

Well I would go with the AR15 and put a suppressor on that. On a tactical rifle like that a suppressor would be quite a useful addition IMHO. Plus it is a useful platform for other calibres.

IF you are interested in the option I mentioned of perhaps selling the two .17 HRM's you have and getting one that does have both a good trigger and a good barrel I did a bit of research among the makes I have had and can vouch for...if you check out www.sako.fi and look at the Sako Quad with the heavy barrel you will see that you can get one rifle which can take interchangeable barrels and magazines for all Rimfire cartridges and that the trigger is the same one you get on Sako centrefire rifles which is much better than those on most Rimfire rifles PLUS...you can order one with their two stage set trigger which you can "set" for a benchrest level of light crisp let off....

This system is exactly what I have on my Sauer 202 Take Down...a two stage set trigger option...and I have two barrels and bolts and mags...one in 6.5 x 55 which is fitted to take a suppressor...and the other calibre is .375 H&H for Africa and "other" long range use as it can shoot the same VLD bullets that the Cheytac uses by Sierra and the advantage is that it strips down to fit in an attache case which can fit in a rucksack without making it obvious you are carrying a rifle. The "set" trigger option is by far a worth while "option" if you like light benchrest type triggers which I do like as I use them in competition use all the time.

Having a Sako Quad in .22LR and in .17HMR in the heavy barrel versions so I only need the expense of "one" telescopic sight ( which are a high end expense )would be the way I would go....rather than have say "3" rifles each with it's own telescopic sight...( 2 x .17HMR's and I assume at least one .22LR ?) and this option ought to be "cheaper" in the long run.

Rifles with interchangeable barrels were said to be a "less" accurate route than a fixed barrel option but my experience of centrefire take down rifles in my Sauer is that if you can re-load them out to the "lands" they are every bit as accurate as any other stalking rifle and better than most if used with the "set" hair trigger. I shoot mine using 3 shot groups to evaluate the "stalking" profile barrel and both can deliver single hole groups.

My Sako 75 .243 could shoot benchrest 5 shot "screamer" groups...I sold that rifle with the load development and RCB match dies and the moderator and scope as a package and made a fair bit of money on it. Infact that is what I do to subsidise my shooting...I put together rifles and accurise them...then offer them for sale with some "coaching" so the shooter can match the groups the rifle can deliver...and I have never had a Sako or a Tikka which has not proven to be able to do this...and I have had six of them so far. Sako and Tikka share the same barrels.

I have not had a Quad though...and using rimfire factory ammo which you cannot re-load and "accurise" might make a difference...but in their heavy barrelled version I would put money on being able to get a factory load able to group well below sub minute of angle. As a plus I think you can also order the barrels pre- screw threaded for a moderator...so all told that rifle looks a good option to me. Infact I may get one myself.

I have never owned a Sako and likely never will. I am just a poor retired guy in SE Georgia. But I did visit their website and that quad is nice. As for putting a can on the AR-15, the .223 is a bit of overkill for my purposes. My "long" shots are usually under 100m. All I really needed was a good rifle in 17 Mach 2, but most makers have stopped making rifles in that caliber. CZ still has them, but I am finished with that brand because of their sloppy standards. Too bad, because the 17M2 ammo is much less expensive than 17 HMR. I have a nice Ruger All-Weather in 22LR. If I can find a good barrel in 17M2, I may just convert it. My friend's TC semi-auto in 17M2 shoots as well at 100m as my Marlin in 17 HMR. We were shooting at the range on the same day and I was impressed by the accuracy of his rifle and how quiet it was compared to my 17 HMR. All I need is a rifle to kill squirrels and armadillos at 100m in my yard that isn't too loud. The AR-15s, Mini-14s, and AK47 are for SHTF time, when my targets are larger than squirrels and shoot back. I won't be concerned with the noise in that scenario.