livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
ATF Decides Dead Air Wipes Are Silencer Parts
In a decision that could have broad implications throughout the silencer industry as well as with shooters/consumers, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (BATFE or ATF) has notified silencer manufacturer Dead Air Armament that the wipes used in their Ghost M silencer is a silencer part. News came to me from fellow blogger Nathan at ModernRifleman.net, who reported on an informational post on Dead Air’s Facebook page stating the company will discontinue sales of the rubber insert immediately.
Historically, the ATF has viewed wipes made of rubber or other disposable materials not to be silencer parts, making them replaceable by the end user. Replacing actual silencer parts, no matter how small, can only be accomplished by an FFL/SOT.*
* Thanks to the HansohnBrothers.com team for the clarification any FFL can replace wipes, which is fairly significant. Instead of sending your Silencer to an SOT, your local FFL can legally do the replacement.
At this point, it is unclear why the ATF has decided to reverse their opinion on a nearly 20 year old issue. Once used in a variety of now dated silencer designs, the wipe has seen a limited resurgence as of late in modular suppressors and small silencers that require the use of an ablative media (“wet”) for increased noise reduction.
BREAKING: ATF Decides Dead Air Wipes Are Silencer Parts - The Firearm Blog
In a decision that could have broad implications throughout the silencer industry as well as with shooters/consumers, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (BATFE or ATF) has notified silencer manufacturer Dead Air Armament that the wipes used in their Ghost M silencer is a silencer part. News came to me from fellow blogger Nathan at ModernRifleman.net, who reported on an informational post on Dead Air’s Facebook page stating the company will discontinue sales of the rubber insert immediately.
Historically, the ATF has viewed wipes made of rubber or other disposable materials not to be silencer parts, making them replaceable by the end user. Replacing actual silencer parts, no matter how small, can only be accomplished by an FFL/SOT.*
* Thanks to the HansohnBrothers.com team for the clarification any FFL can replace wipes, which is fairly significant. Instead of sending your Silencer to an SOT, your local FFL can legally do the replacement.
At this point, it is unclear why the ATF has decided to reverse their opinion on a nearly 20 year old issue. Once used in a variety of now dated silencer designs, the wipe has seen a limited resurgence as of late in modular suppressors and small silencers that require the use of an ablative media (“wet”) for increased noise reduction.
BREAKING: ATF Decides Dead Air Wipes Are Silencer Parts - The Firearm Blog
