Frustration with Silencer Shop...

[alamo5000]

I am posting this up pretty much out of frustration. I am just saying for the record unless something changes or I get a real legitimate reason for their bullshit I will not buy another product from Silencer Shop, not because of the products, but because of them and the way they are trying to force people to do things now. For some reason they are changing their business model. Maybe someone can shed some light on the subject for me before I lose confidence in them.

I personally have been considering buying a couple of other suppressors (I don't even have the one yet) but I've already been setting money aside for the other purchases. Some of that is because I already have the guns for them and others are because I am getting closer to making a decision on a new build. Long story short if I plan it out and mind my finances (barring that I get a pay raise) I could buy new stuff every 3 or 4 months. Realistically I have at least 3 more suppressors that are on the short list with a potential 4th candidate. I can't go crazy but it's doable over the next year or less.

That said I am pretty displeased with their new system they have in place (going forward on new purchases). Any silencer sold now will be form 3'd to your local guy first... and then they will do the form 4 afterwards. You have no choice in the matter anymore. I bought from them the first time precisely because they skipped the Form 3. I have heard the bullshit stories that 'form 3 only takes 2 weeks' stuff before. I don't like it at all, especially since I am more than willing to drive to Austin to get my silencer if need be.

Long story short, the whole plan pretty much sucks as far as I'm concerned and I really don't care what the reason is for doing it. I've sent them at least a dozen people that have already made purchases over the last few months, but no more. Those other folks saw me doing it, started asking questions, they've always wanted a suppressor, so basically I passed along information that I've learned (largely) from WEVO about how owning a silencer isn't impossible and next thing you know....

If I want to drive to Austin to get my silencer (a 2 hour trip) to avoid an additional 2 or 3 month wait, I will take the drive every time.

I don't know everything there is to know about silencers but if this crap keeps up I will find alternative buying methods from people willing to do business directly with me. If need be I will find people that have stuff that meets my needs in stock and buy them there.

My whole thing is if they have a vault full of silencers sitting in Austin and I am willing to pay and drive over there in person to get it, what's the problem? I want to know what in $%# is wrong with me being able to do that? But now for anything new, it's no longer an option. Every single purchase is now forced to have a form 3 attached to it when in my view this is completely unnecessary.

We have one of the biggest companies/dealers in the US right up the street and now they are taking to messing with people. It's very much not cool.

Sorry about the rant, but this has been bugging the crap out of me lately.

[Dstrbdmedic167]

Long and short... They've decided to become a distributor for other sellers. I've been seeing them talk about it for some time. I also think it also came about after some pressure from the ATF due to the sheer volume they were moving.

You are not the only one that is upset with the move and while a Pain for you, business wise for them I think it made the most sense. Not that I agree just stating things from the outside looking in. I'd be just as mad as you are.

Best way to avoid a form 3 is to find a dealer closer that is and will stock what you want. Having said that how long did you wait before your can was back in stock? I believe it was about the same amount of time or longer than a form 3 takes. They're not at bad as they seem....

[Silencer Shop]

Long and short... They've decided to become a distributor for other sellers. I've been seeing them talk about it for some time. I also think it also came about after some pressure from the ATF due to the sheer volume they were moving.

True we did become a distributor but it wasn't from any outside pressure I can assure you of that. Here was out thought process:
1. Make it easier for people nation wide to buy silencers
2. Create competition in the market place by allowing FFL's that previously had no online presence to compete for business
3. Create a system that would do away with transfer fees

So the new program allows people to purchase the silencer through us and have it shipped to an FFL near them with Silencer Shop still handling the paperwork. So a buyer selects the FFL on the silencer page (and pays the price that the FFL is asking) and purchases a tax stamp. Silencer Shop then handles the form 3 and the form 4. The customer just picks up the silencer at the FFL. We file the form 4 about two weeks after the form 3 so it only adds about two weeks wither you are in Texas or not.

[UWone77]

No suppressor is worth a 2-3 hour drive each way. Unless you have no other option, I'd just find a local stocking dealer and do business with them.

[alamo5000]

No suppressor is worth a 2-3 hour drive each way. Unless you have no other option, I'd just find a local stocking dealer and do business with them.

In Texas that is pretty common to drive really far for pretty much everything. I drive about 80 miles each way to go watch a baseball game or to go get Korean food or get some decent Chinese food. There isn't much of anything that is close in Texas.

Honestly if I drive to Austin I make it a fun trip regardless of what I am going for because there honestly is a lot of stuff to do over there and I have friends there. Go spend the weekend, get my stuff, go have fun and do other stuff I would be doing anyway.

It's not so much going to Austin for me, but the extra layer of bullshit and wait time is certainly a turn off. If I am going to be waiting at least it should be convenient. Wait for my form 3 (skip the tax) and drive 20 min after work to have visit for my stuff in jail. Hell, the people even have a shooting range on site just in case I want to go shoot my own suppressor while it's in jail.

If I would have form 3'ed the one that I got from out of state it would have been about $60-$70 cheaper to be honest. That said I didn't want to get caught on some bullshit form 3 technicality so I waited.

The whole thing is frustrating to me, not about this one, but about the stuff I am planning to get.

[Former11B]

No suppressor is worth a 2-3 hour drive each way. Unless you have no other option, I'd just find a local stocking dealer and do business with them.

PSA is really the only local NFA dealer for me and their prices are a good $150+ higher on everything. I'm not buying an $800 5.56 Spec War when people are buying them on F3s for $399 and getting them shipped. Also, the closest Class 3 dealer I'll transfer stuff to is about 90 minutes one way, because their transfer fee is fair...$50 (but the guy who sold me my Recce 5 took that amount off the the total) because PSA charges a $200 NFA fee if you Form 3 something to them.

There are only a handful of NFA dealers in SC and they kinda control the price/inventory model so unless you want an overpriced Surefire, SiCo, or AAC can, there's really no option BUT to drive in my area.

Now that SS is going to be shipping cans only, they're going to be overwhelming the ATF with F3s...I bet the wait time on those will triple. I just had a Form 3 go through last month in 3 weeks. Not horrible, especially when the overall wait will still be <5 months.

[alamo5000]

PSA is really the only local NFA dealer for me and their prices are a good $150+ higher on everything. I'm not buying an $800 5.56 Spec War when people are buying them on F3s for $399 and getting them shipped. Also, the closest Class 3 dealer I'll transfer stuff to is about 90 minutes one way, because their transfer fee is fair...$50 (but the guy who sold me my Recce 5 took that amount off the the total) because PSA charges a $200 NFA fee if you Form 3 something to them.

There are only a handful of NFA dealers in SC and they kinda control the price/inventory model so unless you want an overpriced Surefire, SiCo, or AAC can, there's really no option BUT to drive in my area.

Now that SS is going to be shipping cans only, they're going to be overwhelming the ATF with F3s...I bet the wait time on those will triple. I just had a Form 3 go through last month in 3 weeks. Not horrible, especially when the overall wait will still be <5 months.

If it only adds a week then fine, so be it. I want to say for the record that I am HOPING (Really I am) that I am wrong about all this stuff. I don't want to be throwing anyone under the bus but I don't really like what I see from SS.

Like I said earlier though, I have at least 3 NFA dealers within 30 minutes of me. At least two of those maintain stock, of what exactly, I don't know. The one place is notorious for being over priced on absolutely everything though.

All that said (at least around me) there are several options that could be very reasonable. If I want something special though that isn't in stock though I would still be left doing a form 3.

[Silencer Shop]

If it only adds a week then fine, so be it. I want to say for the record that I am HOPING (Really I am) that I am wrong about all this stuff. I don't want to be throwing anyone under the bus but I don't really like what I see from SS.

Like I said earlier though, I have at least 3 NFA dealers within 30 minutes of me. At least two of those maintain stock, of what exactly, I don't know. The one place is notorious for being over priced on absolutely everything though.

All that said (at least around me) there are several options that could be very reasonable. If I want something special though that isn't in stock though I would still be left doing a form 3.

Based on when this was posted we might have more FFL's in your area now, since we are adding new ones every day. Something to keep in mind is that we handle all the paperwork and you just pick up from the FFL that you select. Also we file the form 4 about 2 weeks after the form 3 so it doesn't add a ton of time to your transfer.

[Silencer Shop]

Now that SS is going to be shipping cans only, they're going to be overwhelming the ATF with F3s...I bet the wait time on those will triple. I just had a Form 3 go through last month in 3 weeks. Not horrible, especially when the overall wait will still be <5 months.

Actually the only change is that now we form 3 to Texas so overall it doesn't really make that big of a difference since a small part of our business is Texas compared to the rest of the nation.

[Former11B]

Actually the only change is that now we form 3 to Texas so overall it doesn't really make that big of a difference since a small part of our business is Texas compared to the rest of the nation.

I really meant that as a jab to the ATF; it seems like the slightest thing upends their system

[alamo5000]

It was about a 3 month wait if I recall.

And to be honest if there is some regulatory reason for it then that's one thing. But overall, hell no.

The thing is for Texas residents it's actually a bit more expensive to deal with Silencer Shop... Texas sales tax etc etc... so if you buy it online and ship it in you avoid sales tax but have to have a form 3 and an FFL fee. Based on a local FFL that can do NFA transfers vs silencer shop's prices etc etc... I will be roughly 10% better off buying online and having it shipped in. If I am going to wait on a form 3 I am certainly not going to pay extra to do it. And then on top of that I can go to those guys and be at their office in about 20-25 minutes after I get off work vs 2+ hours each way to drive to Austin.

I will pay a premium to skip the bullshit and that's pretty much what I did the first time around. But in the past month or so or however long it's been they changed their stuff so all those future purchases are now no longer going to be done the same way.

I think you nailed it. I guess I will just go see what they have on the shelves and buy that stuff. I have 3 separate shelf stocked NFA dealers within 30 minutes of my house (that I know of) and there might be more.

I don't know for sure, but the whole thing casts doubt on what I wanted to do. At this point I really don't know. Hopefully I can find what I want on the shelf somewhere within a 200 mile radius of me. I am sure that won't be that big of a problem (I hope).

[DutyUse]

Wow thanks for posting Alamo. I'd been planning on using Silencer Shop when i had some $ saved

[alamo5000]

Wow thanks for posting Alamo. I'd been planning on using Silencer Shop when i had some $ saved

If you are not in Texas it won't make any difference to you one way or another. It will be the same as it's always been.

[Silencer Shop]

If you are not in Texas it won't make any difference to you one way or another. It will be the same as it's always been.

Except now there is no transfer fee. Also we file the form 4 while we are waiting on the form 3 approval.

[gatordev]

So first up, I have no bone to pick with you guys. I've purchased several items through you guys and it's been a painless process going through my local FFL for the F4. But this confuses me:

3. Create a system that would do away with transfer fees

Except now there is no transfer fee. Also we file the form 4 while we are waiting on the form 3 approval.

I visited a local FFL (not my normal FFL I usually use) that is listed as a "Powered By" FFL on your site when I click a specific can to purchase. I asked him how this "new" system worked and he stated that there was a transfer fee (which was significantly more than my normal, non-"Powered by" guy). So if a FFL has signed up with you as a "Powered By" dealer, should they not be charging me the transfer fee? Or is it, in the end, still up to them?