Welding Silencers to an AF Barrel?
I posted this idea on the Shroud forum but here’s a little idea for the machinists out there. (and a new thread)
Why not buy stock barrels from AF and weld a permanent silencer to it and sell the modified barrel to AG owners. Alternatively receive a barrel or AF gun in the mail and do the same.
That would be 100% legal since the barrel is clearly for AG use and the silencer is welded to it.
Thoughts? Pitfalls? Costs?
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as you can see I get a perverse satisfaction in going the extra legal route…
I suppose some eight ball will have to accuse me of skirting the intent of the law 😆 😆 😆
there’s the right way
then there is half way
I think the cheapest option is to issue 50c earplugs to your neighbors and forget about it 😉
Why is this so hard :17
be more cost effective to say to hell with the AF factory and produce a after market frame with a high tolerance internal bore, 1913 picatinny rail on top configured for a side cocker bolt.
Frame would be machined 32″ steel pipe/tubing with a detachable alloy lower that would accept AF/WOK bits or alternatively a completely different trigger group using the AR grip & safety with modified AF bits
The frame tube is dead simple to fab up, its the Grip frame that would require the talents of a proven artisan like WOK
We should petition AF to make a longer frame as a companion model to the TSS… Something with six inches of frame in addition to the Talon 18″ barrel.
All they have to do is retool and stock frames that might not sell for months 😉
yep…thats the issue if they are so inclined to push it
ideally you would want to start with an extra heavy blank turning the moderator section from live steel before counter boring it and turning the rear to size.
As I noted elsewhere this was the design Barnes had cleared, literally machined from the live steel of his barrel with a permanent sleeve over the moderator portion.
real PITA
And so could a hacksaw; which is more common than a blow torch and punch. I think a connection that cannot be undone with common tools is enough to prove intent for airgun use only.
RS is right however that to do things 100% legal is a pain in the butt.
BUT you can show your supplier invoices (raw materials), your order invoices (materials shipped), and your inventory as proof that no materials have gone missing. i.e. ALL parts have been used for AG purposes only and nothing has “gone out the back door”. I suppose you’d have to keep scrap and waste in case of an audit.
That said, there are a lot of AG silencers being made without any consideration of the above…. Even Crosman is doing less than the aforementioned for their guns.
I think Paintball is a good market to look at and see what they’re up to. They’ve been through this already and solved these problems.
Blind pinning involves drilling your barrel extension & barrel, threading the hole, inserting a screw then grinding the head off flush with the extension. Some even tack weld then regrind to prevent use of an easy out but thats overkill.
that in conjunction with the high temp silver braze has been enough to previously satisfy FTB that the extension is permanent in nature
Well if you have a drill press and a bit bigger then the pin to drill it out it does not seem permanent at all.
It just goes to show if they want to get you they will no matter how much pinning and solder you use.
some what WOK
Blind pinning involves drilling your barrel extension & barrel, threading the hole, inserting a screw then grinding the head off flush with the extension. Some even tack weld then regrind to prevent use of an easy out but thats overkill.
that in conjunction with the high temp silver braze has been enough to previously satisfy FTB that the extension is permanent in nature
Torch on core then a dry ice in alcohol bath on the barrel while keeping heat on the core
if you are a real crazy bastard and have access, liquid Nitrogen works even better
its good to remember as well that FTB has a huge lab with a number of full time machinists/gunsmiths that know more tricks than I do to make it happen. That was the issue with the AR bbls. FTB made up a mandrel & die then just pressed the FS off
A torch and a punch will also easily remove your solder and pins no problem.
Gimmick:
the problem is the individual bits as individual baffles would be held as regulated items until they are permenently fixed to the barrel. A C2 licensee could produce the unit then permently install on the barrel but no one else
If you went the route of using a solid core blank mounted on the barrel first then machined with a baffle/expansion chamber from solid you would not need to be a licensee
its these subtle nuances that gets folks hemmed up
Calvary Arms got raided over having their synthetic AR lower halves electron beam welded together offsite by a sub-contractor
Except the barrel can be made already… since its an AG barrel (not SAAMI pressure) it is not regulated as a firearm.
Permanently afixing a shroud to the AG barrel is not manufacturing a silencer. Add the baffles, weld the end cap on and you’re done. Its manufactured to have the sole purpose of firing airgun pellets and nothing else.
The customer installs the barrel and bushings.
I don’t know about tolerances with the AF frame for the new assembly and whether there’s any tension forces acting on the barrel since it has potentially three points of contact (two bush and the new silencer).
yeah but basically you damn near have to do a ground up build to eliminate the aftermarket aspect the Feds are currently uncomfortable with.
Further I will just about guarantee that they would want production to adhere to this type of staging
1…barrel prep
2…core blank permanently fixed to blank
3…core blank machined to finished specifications AFTER mounting to barrel
to do it any other way you will have to be a class II
this of course is dotting all your Is and crossing all your Ts
I feel a new industry being born… I don’t have the machinist skills but I have money to spend 🙂
same way you pull press fit AK or HK barrels when you dont have a press WOK
Torch on core then a dry ice in alcohol bath on the barrel while keeping heat on the core
if you are a real crazy bastard and have access, liquid Nitrogen works even better
its good to remember as well that FTB has a huge lab with a number of full time machinists/gunsmiths that know more tricks than I do to make it happen. That was the issue with the AR bbls. FTB made up a mandrel & die then just pressed the FS off
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NOw that opens up a can of worms or endless possiblities depending on if your making them or buying one. The frame appears to be the week spot of a condor so that would solve alot of problems!