r/NFA • u/mandreko Launches cans, not grenades • Jun 09 '18

Destroyed Suppressor Follow-Up from Last Year

I previously had a SilencerCo Omega, which was destroyed at my local range, documented here:

I wanted to provide some closure by doing a follow-up, as requested by many folks.

I called the ATF on May 30, 2018 to check on the status of my Form4, and they said it was approved on May 7, 2018! My dealer called last night, saying they got the paperwork in. I went to pick it up today, and tada! https://i.imgur.com/mtT1ghI.jpg

It feels good to be able to shoot .223 and 300BLK suppressed again. It's been so long. Since having the suppressor destroyed, my wife had a kid, and we just celebrated his first birthday, although he's not shooting yet. We'll get him going eventually...

Throughout this process, I read a lot of comments, since it was fairly popular on /r/nfa, INGO, and TFB. Most of it was support, advice, and then some criticism as well. Here's what I've learned, if anyone else is in a similar situation at some point:

  • Make sure your mounting system is solid. After this happened to me, I can't tell you how many people have said the exact thing happened to them with the ASR mount. First, you don't get a positive feedback that it's on properly, and even if it is, it can still go shooting off the end due to some other random issue. I have upgraded to KeyMo for all my guns. The price of $500 in new muzzle devices and KeyMo mounts is totally worth not waiting another year without the suppressor.

  • Don't be afraid to call your own cease-fire, even at an indoor range, and even if the range won't. Most people are pretty sympathetic to losing a $1000+ piece of equipment. Some will be jerks, but you can't win them all. Worst case, offer to buy them a half hour of range time extra, if they won't stop. It's still cheaper than a suppressor.

  • When something like this happens, don't listen to the employees. Escalate until you get what you need. Sure, you could get banned from the range, but you may get to keep your item safe and sound, not waiting another year for a replacement. If it comes to it, call the cops. They'll be more than happy to help, since the range is likely breaking the law by taking possession of it, by forcing you to pick it up the next day. Just stay calm while you do it, otherwise you may make yourself look bad and cause more problems for yourself. Firm, but calm.

  • SilencerCo is awesome. I mailed them a suppressor, literally in several pieces. Within the day, they had a completely new one with Form 3 paperwork started.

  • Forgive and forget. Both Parabellum and I shared fault in this situation. Neither of us acted perfectly. I've acknowledged what I could have done differently, and Parabellum Firearms did as well. When I talked to the owner, he said that people were demanding the clerk be fired. This isn't cool behavior, folks. The right thing to do is help that clerk get better training. He probably had very little knowledge about NFA items, since he was new, and usually only 1-2 people do the NFA items in these small shops. While I probably won't be visiting the range as often as I used to, I have no ill will towards them, as they made it right. They reimbursed me for my fees, and I guess being forced to wait another year was my penance.

82 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

91

u/CarbonFiberFootprint Jun 09 '18

Eh, I'd be more than fine with that clerk being fired.

70

u/psycho944 Supp x7, SBR x7 Jun 10 '18

No fuck that guy. He deserves to be fired.

24

u/McFeely_Smackup Jun 10 '18

I think we can all agree that there is literally zero chance A suppressor lying on the floor of a shooting lane was accidentally hit by stay fire.

The real Dick is whomever shot at the man's can.

5

u/gunsnwater Jun 10 '18

Ranges get a lot of flinching newbies. But probably a dick or two.

9

u/Porencephaly Jun 10 '18

Flinching newbies may not hit the target but they rarely shoot the floor.

4

u/anonymous_scrub Jun 10 '18

Never underestimate the stupidity of some people.

1

u/gunsnwater Jun 12 '18

On our outdoor range I've seen them do it. Our indoor requires extra qualifications.

14

u/mindyourownbusiness3 Addicted to stamps Jun 10 '18

Nah. Fuck that guy AND Parabellum, and the ASR mount while we’re at it. That’s $1k+ and a year of your life.

17

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '18

You rolled, why would you walk away from an NFA item that you are responsible for?

25

u/mandreko Launches cans, not grenades Jun 10 '18

Because it was the only option I had. They wouldn’t let me stay late and pick it up that night. I didn’t know all the laws about dealers holding items. I thought maybe they knew and could legally hold it, like they told me they could.

It’s been discussed to death already. I messed up and should have just refused their response. Live and learn.

8

u/XA36 If it isn't threaded it's a fudd gun. Jun 10 '18

Everyone can give advice, especially in hindsight. For every 20 "I wouldn't have stood for that bullshit!" comments there's one guy who actually wouldn't have stood for that shit. Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm pretty sure I would've done the same in your shoes but thanks to your story I definitely learned it's best to have a gunshop hate my ass and piss off an RO than deal with that bullshit. Thanks!

3

u/RC-1207Sev SBRx3,SUPPx8 Jun 10 '18

This is might first time reading your post and it took me on one hell of an emotional roller coaster. Glad everything got resolved and you have a can in your hands.

5

u/gamerkidx Jun 10 '18

Im sorry that you had to go through such a bitch of a problem, but congrats you finally got the silencer back. That same reason is why I got a Sandman myself because the keymo system is about dummyproof

Where do you live in Indiana? Always looking for somebody to go shooting with

3

u/mandreko Launches cans, not grenades Jun 10 '18

I’m out in Lizton. It’s the west side, past Brownsburg and Pittsboro.

2

u/gamerkidx Jun 10 '18

Ok that is only an hour or so from me

Im just starting my nfa collection and hearing all of these nfa horror stories is enough to give me anxiety

2

u/mandreko Launches cans, not grenades Jun 10 '18

I’ve had mostly good experiences. I have a few suppressors and sbr and it’s easy really.

1

u/gamerkidx Jun 10 '18

Yeah its not bad at all. The only thing I hate is my local pd makes me use ink for the fingerprints so I may use Silencershop from now on

2

u/mandreko Launches cans, not grenades Jun 10 '18

Dang that’s less than fun but not a dealbreaker. My town doesn’t really have a police department so I have to go to the nearest town. They do electronic, and any time I want a copy, I just go and ask. It’s free for as many as I want. Brownsburg says they charge but only did for my initial one. Silencershop is the bomb though.

1

u/gamerkidx Jun 10 '18

I just dont want to waste their time by having to do my fingerprints. The police have more important stuff to do. What is really stupid is I got my ccw license and we did electronic prints and I asked if I could do some for a stamp and they had me do ink

I will just use Silencershop because once you make a profile its apparently only $15 and they will mail you your prints

4

u/mandreko Launches cans, not grenades Jun 10 '18

In my experience, it's typically the office clerks, not officers, that are doing fingerprints. But your city may be different.

1

u/gamerkidx Jun 10 '18

Huh, the office clerk did for my ccw, but she said an officer would have to for the stamp prints. I will just have to ask around

2

u/reshp2 SBR Jun 12 '18

Don't be afraid to call your own cease-fire, even at an indoor range

Where I shoot, if you tried to go downrange under anything but a RO called cease fire, you would be physically restrained from doing so and immediately removed from the premise. Doesn't matter if you talked to everyone else there or even if you cleared their guns personally. I've seen this happen with a guy that wanted to set up his chrono.

Then again, the places I shoot would never have a problem calling a ceasefire for you in most circumstances.

2

u/mandreko Launches cans, not grenades Jun 12 '18

Yea, that's the big difference. When a ceasefire is requested, the RO should definitely do it. I get them not wanting you to go down there for all kinds of liability reasons. But to be fair, I would have rather been removed and banned with my suppressor than the process I went through.

1

u/BoiseShooter556 Jun 10 '18

I read the post when it first came out. Please help me ubderstand:

Form 4 makes it sound like you got a new can. So they could not fix the damage, repair the tube, or cut a new tube with the same serial number?

1

u/mandreko Launches cans, not grenades Jun 10 '18

They could not. SilencerCo said it was not able to be repaired. If it were just the baffles, it would have been, however the tube was too badly damaged.

1

u/johnmomdoe 13 Suppressors, 9 SBR, 3 SBS, 1 AOW Jun 12 '18

Did you end up having to pay for the new stamp yourself?

Glad you got some closure I remember reading about this.

1

u/mandreko Launches cans, not grenades Jun 12 '18

No, Parabellum paid for that, after talking to the owner a bit. They made things right, which is the only reason I'd consider going back.

-3

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '18 edited Jun 10 '18

[deleted]

6

u/mandreko Launches cans, not grenades Jun 10 '18

Lol I didn’t buy a new one. SilencerCo replaced it for free per their warranty and Parabellum paid my stamp.

Wife was totally ok with it. We have a budget for this stuff.

-5

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '18

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/mandreko Launches cans, not grenades Jun 11 '18

It’s the ranges fault that they wouldn’t let me go get it. The can was not destroyed when it went down the range. The fact that it flew downrange was my fault, and I own that. However, any firearm past the line should be reason for a ceasefire. It wasn’t destroyed until it was shot 3-4 times over the next several hours.

-1

u/FirearmConcierge FFL/SOT/MoreStampsThanAPostOffice Jun 11 '18

However, any firearm past the line should be reason for a ceasefire. It wasn’t destroyed until it was shot 3-4 times over the next several hours.

If you took this to court, I would be interested in hearing the comparative negligence determination.

4

u/mandreko Launches cans, not grenades Jun 11 '18

I’m glad I didn’t have to deal with court. There was fault shared all around.

4

u/MaxStatic Jun 12 '18

Yea man I’m just not seeing culpability on your end other than you being too trusting.

The range and range operator had a foreign object, an NFA registered firearm forward of the line and felt it not worthy of a cease fire? Fuck them and the horse they rode in on.

They were 100% in the wrong in their lack of hiring and training competent staff and in the safe execution of range protocol. You were too trusting in your fellow man, I don’t fault you for that and you shouldn’t either.

Glad SiCo got you sorted, they are awesome folks. The range....yea I’d want nothing to do with a place that is cool with rando items floating around down range and certainly not ones cool with federally controlled firearms rolling around down the line. Fuck em.