Silencer Central began as Dakota Silencer in 2005. In 2019 they changed names as the business grew and they were able to sell and ship suppressors to all 42 of the states that allow them. Silencer Central has its own line of suppressors sold under the Banish name and they sell a number of other manufacturers’ offerings. The nucleus of Silencer Central is that they take care of all the complicated ATF paperwork, set up a trust for the buyer and, once approved, ship the suppressor to your door.
SEE MORE: Where to Buy a Suppressor
Silencer Central Shipped to Your Door?
Yep, an NFA item straight to your door delivered by the US Postal Service. Pretty nifty. How do they do it? Black magic and voodoo dolls of ATF officials. I kid of course. The “trick” is having an FFL in every state and a bit of extra paperwork to accomplish this.
Step by Step
One way or another, you are going to have to do some work obtaining a suppressor. Silencer Central takes most of this off of the buyer. It is a pretty simple and straightforward process. Pick out a suppressor and buy it, and they offer multiple payment plans. (FYI, the silencer will cost an additional $200 for the Tax Stamp that gets paid to Uncle Sam.) Silencer Central will get some information from you to build the trust papers that will be the owner of the NFA item. You will need to supply them with a photo and a set of fingerprints as well.
Once the Trust is written, they will send it to you for review and signature. If you are putting other people on the trust, the others will also have to submit a photo and fingerprints.
I did all of these steps in late 2021 and into early 2022. My hold-up was the fingerprints. I had made an appointment to get them done at my local county jail. They wouldn’t let me in when I showed up because of a Covid outbreak in the jail. I knew the Silencer Central crew was going to be at a gun show near me in a couple of weeks. They were able to scan my prints there.
While I am writing this I received an email from Silencer Central that they are offering the whole process done in person at the NRA show. I can’t speak for experience on how this is working, but I see how they could pull it off. The trust forms are pretty simple to plug in the individual’s information. I know they can do digital fingerprints as well. Assuming there are no kinks to work out, this sounds like a brilliant idea.
Form 4 Submission
Once everything is together it’s time to submit a Form 4 to the ATF. In late 2021, the ATF started taking them electronically. Prior to submitting Form 4, I had to create an account with the ATF. It was a simple process that took about 5 min. When the time came to submit my paperwork, I scheduled a call with Silencer Central for a time I could be in front of a computer. I was talked through the process and had the form submitted in less than ten minutes. The customer service rep that helped with the submission was professional, courteous, and knew exactly how do to this. I can’t stress how simple and easy this part of the process was.
The Wait
The next part is simple enough, you have to wait for the ATF to approve the Form 4 and the FBI to come back with a proceed. And keep waiting. Then, wait for it… wait a little longer. I filed my Form 4 on April 14th. It was approved on December 23rd of the same year. Merry Christmas! That was nice, but I missed a lot of other holidays, and my birthday, in between.
I did get an email from Silencer Central about once a month during my wait time. It was mostly just a check-in and say they are playing the waiting game too.
My Form 4 approval took 254 calendar days, or 174 working days excluding weekends and holidays. The ATF has said they want to get the wait times on Electronic Form 4’s down to 90 days on average. Seems like they still have a bit to go on this.
With my emailed copy of my tax stamp in hand, if I had bought the suppressor from a local shop, I could have theoretically picked it up that day. But Silencer Central ships it to your door!
The Postman Always Rings Twice
This adds a bit more time to your wait. In my case, the Christmas and New Year holidays probably didn’t help much. According to the customer service person I spoke to, they have to wait for the physical copy of the tax stamp to be mailed to them from the ATF. I also have to sign and fill out a similar Form 4437 in a similar manner when buying any firearm.
Silencer Central sends a letter to your local chief law enforcement officer notifying him or her that you are about to receive an NFA item. The LE doesn’t have to reply for you to get your item, but Silencer Central waits a week for them to respond if they are going to. I spoke to my County Sheriff, who they sent the letter, and learned he shreds the letters after looking at them and doing a quick search for any warrants or arrests in the past year. The idea behind sending the letter is to make sure the person hasn’t committed a crime that would exclude them from owning an NFA item in the time between the FBI proceed and the shipping of the item.
In the end, I received my Banish 30 on February the 2nd. It would have been here a day or two before but was delayed by a winter storm. Go figure.
So How Is The Silencer Central Banish 30?
Look for a full review of the Banish 30 by me soon here at GunsAmerica. I am going to put together a range day with some friends and really give it a workout. The Banish 30 is rated from .17 up to the big 30 caliber magnums. I intend to see how it does with as many rifles and pistols as I can gather up in between.
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Silencer Central’s evolution from Dakota Silencer showcases their commitment to serving the growing demand for suppressors. Their streamlined process, including trust setup and Form 4 submission assistance, is a boon for buyers navigating NFA regulations. While my experience included a fingerprint delay, Silencer Central’s adaptability, like offering in-person options at events, shows they’re dedicated to customer convenience. The Form 4 submission was impressively smooth, thanks to their professional guidance. Although the waiting period can test patience, their periodic updates offer some reassurance. Overall, Silencer Central appears to be making the suppressor acquisition journey more manageable and accessible.
ATF is such a clusterF@#K ! This whole process should be done at the local gun store on a 4473 with a NICS
check ! All this fingerprinting, photo taking and waiting is total BullSHIT ! The NFA dealer can collect and forward the 200 stamp fee to ATF, who can send the stamp in the mail ! It amazes me that you can buy and walk out of the store with the FIREARM using a NICS check, but you have to wait the better part of a year for ATF “paperwork” , and the FBI to do the same NICS that a local store does, to acquire an inanimate object that minimizes noise !
All they have to do is have a fingerprint scanner at the local NFA shop to upload to NICS so they can search your records and give a the shop a NFA PROCEED number. Do a $200 point of purchase sale for the STAMP through ATF with a credit card using the NFA PROCEED number. Fill out a 4473 and get a temporary copy of the proceed sheet until ATF mails your real stamp ! That is how it would work if it was under my control !
I purchased 3 suppressors from Silencer Central simultaneously in 2021. The paperwork went to BATF&E smooth as silk. Then the Feds got involved. 2 of the units were at my door within 8 months the third took a year and 8 mos. The people at Silencer Central were vigilant, kept me informed and worked diligently to eliminate the issue and complete the transfer. I heard from everybody at S.C. executive to dishwasher and they were all honest and forthright in their assessment of the situation. What a Grrreat company! If you call them ask for Drew. They will get the job done. And their equipment is superb. My Banish 30 with wrapper is quieter than other brands that my shooting partners use. I will buy from S.C. again.
My first experience with getting a suppressor was very memorable, my brother took me to Full Auto Firearms in El Campo, TX and says here it is, sign the paperwork, Happy Birthday, that was that, and I’ve been happy as a pig in a poke ever since!
That was in January, and after going through all the fingerprinting and background check bullshit, I didn’t see that suppressor until mid-November of the same year! Fortunately, it was just in time for deer season, so I got to pop my first deer of the season with it that year!
The suppressor is a titanium one from Yankee Hill by the way, which I now use on three different AR’s, currently it is on my carry gun, sometimes known as an SBR! 👏🏽 👍🏼☺️
A good NFA shop can do the same in one trip. Finger prints, photos, and law enforcement notification. Why spend more time waiting on things from silencer central to be mailed. I don’t understand why people are so determined to do away with the local store. Online sales are putting shop out everywhere. Silence central refused to transfer their suppressor to a local store. Their suppressors they make is not better than any top of the line company. Find a good local store and support them.