[Paul in Oregon]

I`m moving to the country but I will have some neighbors fairly close to my home . I would like to target practice with my .22s but I don`t want to bother anyone. I`m thinking of making a [muffler] out of a heavy cardboard tube maybe 8 to 10 in. in diameter and lining the inside with fiberglass insulation.Has anybody tried something similar, was it effective, or does anyone have any ideas that might work ? Thanks in advance , Paul.

 

[Colohunter]

I would imagine that any device designed to muffle the report of a firearm would be considered a supressor according to the ATF. I would be very cautious about making anything like that on your own, especially asking about it in pubilc like this.

 

[unclepaddy]

You're obviously not talking about attaching this thing to your weapon, so it's not a suppressor. You can tone down a rimfire with some rather crude baffling. If you can shoot from inside a room, or a garage and keep the muzzle a couple of feet inside the door or window it gives the sound wave enough room to expand and the bulk of it will bounce around inside the room. Of course that puts a bigger strain on your ears so a good set of muffs is in order. I sometimes shoot out of a pair of french doors that swing inwards. If I leave a 12" or so gap between both of them, and keep the muzzle back about 4' it more or less divides the sound wave along both doors and rolls it back into the room. It takes a lot of the crack out of the .22. Your plan will work better with some ringed or angled baffles and as long a tube as you can practically sight through.

 

[Paul in Oregon]

In my first post I didn`t mention that the tube would be about 3 to 4 foot long and mount on a stand in front of my shooting bench. The muzzle would be in the tube maybe 6 in. Would that be considered a silencer, it certainly isn`t very portable.

 

[MZ5]

Not attached, not a suppressor. In any event, you can legally make a suppressor yourself for your own use and attach it to your own firearm. You may (or may not; I'm not positive) have to register it with ATF and pay the tax on it if you choose to do that. What you're talking about is something completely different and you needn't worry about that.

 

[mattsbox99]

If it isn't attached it will have very little affect, plus unless you shoot subsonic ammunition, you will still have the shockwave to make plenty of noise. MT and TN now have laws on the books saying that registration is not required as long as the items don't cross state lines.

 

[MZ5]

So, what would you do, mattsbox99? Send in the tax but refuse to serialize or register it?

 

[mattsbox99]

None of the above.

 

[unclepaddy]

I saw this today and it reminded me of your question. About 1 minute into the clip they are shooting through sound attenuated tubes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nf1OgV449g

 

[bldsmith]

We have 55 gallon drums we shoot through at our range that have insulation on the inside. It dramatically reduces the noise from the firing of the weapon. A .22 shot through one of these sounds like someone clapping their hands.

 

[boonedockssaint]

rifle muffler huh?

there are book out there you can read on this idea. sounds much like a silencer? Didn't you see the movie Shooter he used a pop bottle? Plastic of course. LOL.

heres a cool sight. http://www.gun-shots.net/firearm-gun-silencers-suppressors.shtml

 

[Old Grump]

How close are your neighbors, it may be a non issue. Depending on what kind of gun you are using you might be able to use 22 shorts, good for short range shooting and just as accurate.

Little late in the year but a 6' fence between you and your neighbors house is a good attenuator. Planting a triple or quadruple row of fast growing evergreens will give you a visual and sound barrier in the years to come after they grow for a bit and your birds will love the shelter.

Failing that a 4' piece of 18" PVC pipe lined with insulation, most anything will do even spray on foam insulation giving you a 12" hole to shoot through but its a lot of work if you don't need to do it. Will your neighbors shoot with you? Less complaints if they have access to the range and target stand.

 

[Ko Improbable]

I`m moving to the country but I will have some neighbors fairly close to my home . I would like to target practice with my .22s but I don`t want to bother anyone. I`m thinking of making a [muffler] out of a heavy cardboard tube maybe 8 to 10 in. in diameter and lining the inside with fiberglass insulation.Has anybody tried something similar, was it effective, or does anyone have any ideas that might work ? Thanks in advance , Paul.

Look for CCI's CB Shorts. I've never shot them without hearing protection on, but I'm told that without, they sound the same as with: the sound of the firing pin hitting an empty chamber will make about as much noise.

 

[mattsbox99]

Remington makes a CBee22 load that is quite similar, approximately 735 FPS and won't cycle a semi auto.

 

[pisgah]

A friend built one out of a discarded length of 18" pipe. Put in a few plywood baffles and stuffed the sides with foam and fiberglass. His nearest neighbor lived 200 yards away, and she never complained about the noise before he built the muffler, but he knew that the sound startled her. A few weeks after he started using his contraption, she asked him one day if he had quit shooting! I wouldn't begin to know how to quantify the amount of sound suppression, but it was clearly effective for its intended purpose.

 

[MZ5]

None of the above.

Interesting. The non-serialization and non-registration I can see maybe working (since no interstate movement/commerce). The fed's authority to levy taxes has not been questioned that I can think of, though. Wonder whether, since ATF is now Justice, the tax dodging trouble would be any different now than it was for Capone?

I don't recall the wording of the NFA, and it's too late for me to want to look it up. Might the taxation apply only to 'manufacturers,' thus leaving home-made out of the picture so long as there's no transfer involved? Montana manufacturers would still have to pay the tax if it was written that way, of course.

 

[forestdavegump]

I saw this today and it reminded me of your question. About 1 minute into the clip they are shooting through sound attenuated tubes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nf1OgV449g

We should adopt some of those ideas...bread on every table...car in every garage....gun or guns in every home!


Those sounds tubes would be great, hard to carry(LOL) but at the range that would be nice!

 

[mattsbox99]

The tax is levied against the end user. Before the MT law was enacted I purchased some suppressors, I was required to submit photographs, fingerprints, written permission from my County Sheriff, and the $200 non refundable fee, for each one. In addition, if I move, I must notify the ATF in writing of my new address. I'm treated like a criminal on parole because I own suppressors and a short barrelled rifle.

In the case of the MT legislation, manufacturers would not be required to pay any federal excise taxes on the items, and would be exempt from any federal reporting and serialization. I have reviewed the TN legislation and it is worded similarly. The critical part is that items could not be transferred or otherwise sold across state lines.

 

[Phat Mike]

what about them powder less .22's for shooting indoors?

 

[slim 60]

what uncle paddy said works..my house an well house are brick an concrete block though..do wear good hearing protection..
i shoot from back in my house or well house,, the noise is projected dn toward the woods an just sounds like a hunter out there somewhere ..
of course i have woods behind me so this is why this works for me..slim