Silencer Saturday #369: ATF Silencer Industry Data

Welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the new YHM R45 Multi-Host Suppressor. Today we are looking at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) recently-released “ National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment (NFCTA): Protecting America from Trafficked Firearms - Volume Four.” This report has all sorts of information about the firearm industry, but it also contains interesting data about the American silencer industry.

Silencer Saturday @ TFB:

• Silencer Saturday #368: Breaking Down Nielsen Devices
• Silencer Saturday #367: What Is Haynes 282 & Why Is Everyone Using It?
• Silencer Saturday #366: SHOT Show Suppressor Roundup
• Silencer Saturday #365: New Angstadt Arms Suppressors at SHOT 2025
• Silencer Saturday #364: New Design From Contra Cans

Unless otherwise stated all images and quotes in this article come from the NFCTA, Volume 4.

NFA Sales Volume

Anyone who has been around the American suppressor scene knows it has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade. But just how much larger is it than it was historically? According to the report:

“Annual silencer manufacturing volume increased 9,504% between 2000 (5,001) and the peak production year of 2021 (480,281) with the bulk of this growth taking place after 2010. In 2000, the 5,001 silencers manufactured constituted 6% of the total 79,862 NFA weapons manufactured and distributed into domestic commerce that year. In 2023, the 408,893 silencers manufactured constituted 83% of the total 495,762 NFA weapons manufactured and distributed into domestic commerce that year.”

9,500% growth over a 20-year period is astounding. Some of the readers may be too young to remember this, but back in the year 2000, the assault weapon ban was still in effect and features like threaded barrels were restricted on semiautomatic firearms. AR-15s were around, but only a handful of manufacturers were in the space and most stores had two or three on the shelf. Silencers were even more uncommon, with only a sparse network of specialized dealers handling NFA sales. That has clearly changed and many big box retailers carry silencers now. Manufacturers have increased production to meet that demand, and silencer production dwarfs all other NFA weapon types as seen in the following charts:

NFA Transfers

Waiting long stretches of time for the ATF to approve your paperwork is a time-honored tradition, but that is starting to change. Silencer Shop lists current wait times (as of February 21, 2025) as 2 to 27 days for an individual Form 4 approval, and 5 to 37 days for a trust Form 4 approval. That is a dramatic change from a few years ago, when paper form submissions were taking 300 days on average for approvals. Improvements to the eForms systems for online submissions, and process improvements at the ATF to move documents faster, have clearly made a difference. In the following chart it is important to remember that the eForm approval times from 2017 to 2021 are reflective of the system not accepting Form 4 submissions, which are far and away the most common NFA paperwork type (Form 4 transfers an item from a dealer or owner to an end user).

While approval timelines have improved, it is not because there are fewer applications in the pipeline. The volume has grown consistently since 017 while approval timeframes have generally dropped. Compare 2022 and 2023 in the above charts, though the volume of application jumped from 800,000 to over 1 million, the average approval timeline dropped. Improving the average approval timeframe despite handling 35% more volume is better performance than many would give the ATF credit for.

The dip in applications from 2016 to 2017 reflects a unique regulatory factor more than a market trend. ATF Rule 41F changed the way NFA trusts functioned in 2016. Prior to that change, a trustee of an NFA trust could purchase NFA items without submitting fingerprints or going through a background check. Those additional restrictions on trustees led to a wave of NFA sales that year, as purchases made before the rule’s effective date still functioned under the old system. As with other boom & bust cycles, this spike in 2016 was immediately followed by a slump in NFA sales. NFA sales recovered over the next few years, and by 2020 the volume was back to the 2016 level. What is interesting is the continued growth in sales figures after 2020.

NFA Exports

On the consumer side we seldom consider the larger global trade in silencers, but increasing numbers of US-made suppressors are ending up overseas. There was a major spike in 2022, with over 80,000 being exported. I can’t find a source to validate this, but that coincides with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and likely represents military aid flowing into Ukraine.

“There were 15 times as many silencers exported from the U.S. in 2020 (6,811) when compared to the number of silencers exported in 2000 (448). Most of this increase occurred after 2013. The number of silencer exports increased by 860% between 2013 (1,556) and 2019 (14,937) and then decreased by 54% in 2020 (6,811). The number of silencers exported from the U.S. increased by 1,665% between 2021 (4,555) and 2022 (80,774). Silencer exports then decreased by 76% between 2022 and 2023 (19,267), an annual number that was still higher than silencer exports in all previous years except 2022.”

Privately-manufactured Silencers

ATF uses the term “Privately Manufactured Firearm” (abbreviated PMF) to describe firearms made by individuals. Most often these are guns made from 80% kits, like Polymer80 pistols, but silencers can also be a PMF. Regular citizens can build a legal silencer by first filing a Form 1, then machining it once the ATF approval comes through. This process used to regularly involve parts kits or “solvent traps” that only required minimal work to create a functional silencer. ATF cracked down on Form 1 silencers from parts kits, and the numbers of PMF silencers recovered by ATF has dropped while the number of machine gun conversion parts and PMF pistols have both increased.

Lastly, have you ever had that awful feeling where you think you lost a silencer? Thankfully, mine have always just been in the wrong pocket of a gun case or attached to a different gun than I thought it was on, but that sinking feeling of a possibly lost silencer is awful. From 2016 to 2020 there were 677 silencers reported missing, and from 2021-2023 the number was 534. As a percentage of the number of silencers in private hands that is miniscule, but each one of those represents an awful day for someone!

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