Episode Details

In this episode of Gun Owners of America's State of the Second, hosts Kaylee and John sit down with Mike from Sylvan Arms, a South Carolina manufacturer of firearm parts and accessories. Sylvan is best known for its folding stock adapter, now in its fourth generation, but Mike walks through a much wider catalog: a tool-free QD Picatinny-to-M-LOK rail adapter, a full suppressor line, and new Glock slides. He shares the suppressor lineup in detail, including a direct-thread 22, a direct-thread 9mm for handguns or long guns, two QD rifle cans in 5.56 and 30 caliber, and a 45 caliber direct thread on the way. The 5.56 QD suppressor carries an MSRP right around 550 and ships with the muzzle device, which the hosts frame as an on-ramp for people getting into suppressors for the first time.

Much of the conversation centers on policy. Kaylee makes the case for getting suppressors out of the NFA through the SHUSH Act and the Shall Not Be Infringed Act, and points to GOA's work through Second Amendment Hunters to allow suppressors for hunting, which is not legal in all 50 states. Mike, a Marine Corps veteran who suffers hearing loss and tinnitus and wears VA-issued hearing aids, grounds the argument in his own experience: suppressed weapons would have let troops communicate on the battlefield. The group walks through the long wait times for tax stamps, the 1930s origins of the NFA, the pistol brace ban and its hit to a billion-dollar part of the industry, the 80 percent lower and frame-and-receiver rule change, and the Texas suppressor freedom bill that gave the state AG standing to sue on behalf of suppressor owners.

The episode also covers the business side. Mike explains Sylvan's customer-driven design philosophy and its goal of keeping products affordable for the average buyer, the current industry-wide summer slump, and how accessory sales tend to track firearm sales. He clears up two common suppressor myths: they cut roughly 30 decibels to a hearing-safe level rather than going silent like in the movies, and they are not illegal, they are sold through a dealer who handles the tax stamp. Mike closes by teasing new products ahead of SHOT Show, including a motorcycle saddlebag mount and a possible aluminum Glock lower that could become Sylvan's first full firearm. GOA membership is 25 dollars a year.

Links

• sylvanarms.com

Questions this episode answers

What is Sylvan Arms, and what products does it make beyond the folding stock adapter?

Sylvan Arms is a South Carolina manufacturer of firearm parts and accessories, best known for its folding stock adapter, now in its fourth generation. Its catalog also includes a tool-free QD Picatinny-to-M-LOK rail adapter, a full suppressor line, and new Glock slides.

What is in Sylvan's suppressor lineup, and what does the 5.56 QD suppressor cost?

The lineup includes a direct-thread 22, a direct-thread 9mm for handguns or long guns, two QD rifle cans in 5.56 and 30 caliber, and a 45 caliber direct thread on the way. The 5.56 QD suppressor has an MSRP right around 550 and ships with the muzzle device.

What are the SHUSH Act and the Shall Not Be Infringed Act, and what would they do for suppressors?

On the show, Kaylee points to both bills as ways to get suppressors out of the National Firearms Act (NFA). Removing suppressors from the NFA would end the long tax-stamp wait owners currently face when buying one.

Why does Mike personally care about getting suppressors out of the NFA?

Mike is a Marine Corps veteran who suffers hearing loss and tinnitus from his service and wears VA-issued hearing aids. He argues that suppressed weapons would have let troops communicate on the battlefield.

How much sound does a suppressor actually reduce, and is it really silent like in the movies?

A suppres