Quiet, Please

It was a cold, snowy day. I was hunting on a ranch outside of Great Falls, Montana, with an old friend who wanted me to use his rifle, newly equipped with a suppressor. I had never hunted with a suppressor and was interested it seeing how well it worked in the field. Just before sunset, we spotted a good mule deer buck downhill from us in an open area accompanied by a couple of lookout does. We crawled through the ankle-deep snow to within about 150 yards. I set up with the rifle on my knee for a rest. I thought I had a solid rest, but my knee wavered and I pulled the shot. In years past, the report from the rifle would have sent the deer scurrying for cover. Not this time. The buck didn’t even seem to notice, and though the lead doe looked around, it was clear she was not alarmed. I re-set, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger. The buck dropped in his tracks.

That experience taught me the value of hunting with a suppressor. There is another great benefit as well; I can’t tell you the number of big-game guides I’ve hunted with whose hearing has been impaired by years of sitting next to hunters when the shot was taken. Suppressors typically reduce noise levels by about 20 to 30 decibels, roughly the same amount as a pair of high-quality earplugs or earmuffs. There is another benefit as well: suppressed firearms can reduce recoil, sometimes as much as 25 percent.

Interest in suppressors has soared over the past few years, as you’ll learn from Brian McCombie’s report on this fast-growing market segment. Information provided by the American Suppressor Association to McCombie reveals that just under 800,000 suppressors were registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in February 2016. That grew to 2.66 million suppressors by May 2021. At the close of 2023, ATF documented 3.6 million suppressors owned by Americans.

What jump-started these sales? Well, only a few years ago, buying a suppressor in one of the 42 states where they are allowed, was an arduous task filled with cumbersome red tape and prolonged approvals waits. No more. As a result, McCombie says, “retailers that once handled a handful of suppressor customers a month are now making dozens of these sales. Another new suppressor maker (or two!) enters the market every month or two while many established manufacturers are backordered.”

However, as an NFA item, suppressor sales and transfers require additional federal requirements and paperwork beyond the operations of a standard FFL. As with any new addition to a store’s inventory, staff education and the marketing of a new product line will come into play. But based on my experience, if you stock these items, and know how to sell them, customers will come.