Form 1- Build your own suppressor

It seems you can save a little $$ going with JK Armament and drilling the holes yourself. For me, it doesn't make a great deal of sense to go through this much work for $300 or $400 savings. I will wait for completely assembled suppressor. These things are ugly….IMO.
 
Greatly depends on how you build it vs on the suppressor you'd potentially buy. You can build a **** good one for $250. Buying something equivalent is typically an additional $800, plus an additional wait time of 10-12 months. I guess if you only wanted to buy one then sure, but what if you want 6 or 10? The math is quite different from both a time and money perspective. No question though, you can spend $600-800 building one if you want, however you'll have it in 1-2 months instead of a year.
 
Greatly depends on how you build it vs on the suppressor you'd potentially buy. You can build a **** good one for $250. Buying something equivalent is typically an additional $800, plus an additional wait time of 10-12 months. I guess if you only wanted to buy one then sure, but what if you want 6 or 10? The math is quite different from both a time and money perspective. No question though, you can spend $600-800 building one if you want, however you'll have it in 1-2 months instead of a year.
Yeah, I agree - and I know this will not end at one...
 
If you do a multiple filing for form ones you can have them done and then build at your leisure. If you put in 5 apps for a grand and then build 5 cans at about 250 that's roughly 2250.00 versus 6 grand for 5 commercial cans. I'm fortunate in that I have a machine shop so that saves me a good bit.

Can you share your suppressor prints? I have a machine shop as well, it shouldn't be hard to crank one out.

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The JK Armament MST kit was a good tradeoff for me. Kit and drill jig for about $600, received it in two weeks, and drilled 8 holes once the Form 1 received. Drill jig screws on each section and is rock solid and dead on for each hole, even for someone like me whose metalworking skills top out at inserting a bit into a drill. Not sure what is ugly about it but I can live with it saving me $500 bucks and several months.
 
Everything needed can be found at these two...
 
Just putting this out there since the topic of suppressors has come up quite a bit recently. People get intimidated by the process. DON'T BE. It's easy. You have 2 options to get one, a Form 4 (buy one from a Class 3 FFL) or Form 1 (build one). You need either a trust or can file as an individual. For anyone who wants a suppressor but doesn't really want to wait a year, you're in luck. Form 1 wait times to roll your own are currently 3-5 WEEKS. That's right, 3-5 weeks. I submitted 3 of them on Nov 7 and received 2 back on Dec 1 and just received the 3rd one back today. The application is very straightforward and ONLINE via the ATF eForms website. There's a couple good tutorials on YouTube for the entire process. Go watch them and get that process started!

Can you really build something that is as good as what you can buy? Yes. Absolutely. Form 1 stuff has come a long ways in the past 5 years and I would put my Form 1 builds up against anything, for both suppression and accuracy. There's a lot of knowledge out there. Suppressors are actually pretty basic things and it doesn't take a rocket doctor to put one together. One excellent resource in particular is a guy on YouTube and Patreon called Silencer student. He tests a ton of stuff with dB meters and so what you take from it is backed by real data. Check him out. You will be glad you did.

Cost- it can be substantially more affordable to build your own, or costs can be similar to the Form 4 route…it can be a rabbit hole for some people. Regardless the Form 1 route will cut your wait time by 11-13 MONTHS. Depending on design, my cans cost me $230-300/each + $200 stamp to build. All titanium except the baffles which are stainless. Equivalent Form 4s are $1100-1700.

Aesthetics- You can very easily make something that looks as finished and professional as you want it to.

If you've ever wanted one, now seems like as good of a time as ever but one thing is certain. The clock never starts until you submit the paperwork.

fun fact, mine last F1 was approved almost 5 years ago and finally I have found the combo that I want and have on order. price wise though, could have went with a Rex Silentium can ,but at the time either they werent around or wasn't well known.

However, finding a 1.75 OD can setup without dropping a pretty penny was a tough one as even now there is only a few F4 cans that are over 1.5"OD. This is the kit I went with. It's gonna be a 45 cal, but main use on my 358win or eventually a 375/458 socom or 450BM.


but after seeing a lot more options ( like 15 companies offering various parts, designs, etc) being available now than then I might drop a few more come next year.
 
I've done a Quietbore rimfire suppressor and it's worked out great. It was cheaper than a Form 4 equivalent but the 30 day approval on the Form 1 was the main selling point in my mind. Fabrication with a drill jig was simple enough although it pays to have good bits and proper speeds if you're going through titanium.

I would definitely do it again and probably put one together for centerfire rifle next. The full kits over at White Trash Tactical seem like they could be a good way to go for that one.
 
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