← Live Wild with Remi Warren
Live Wild with Remi Warren
Ep. 176 | Hunting Suppressed with Brandon Maddox of Silencer Central
00:45:49
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- [00:00]
Remy Warren
Foreign.
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Brandon Maddox
I'm Remy Warren and I've lived my life in the wild as a professional guide and hunter. I've spent thousands of days perfecting my craft. I want to give that knowledge to you. In this podcast we relive some of my past adventures as I give you practical hunting tips to make you more successful. Whether you're just getting started or a lifelong hunter, this podcast will bring you along on the hunt and teach you how to live wild. This podcast is brought to you by Mountain Tough and Yeti. A lot of the tactics I talk about here require you to be in top physical shape. So I partnered with Mountain Tough to help get you ready for the mountain with their science based hunter specific training app. You'll get in shape and mentally tough able to tackle any hunt. Because we really believe this will help you be more successful. As a listener to this podcast, we're giving you six free weeks to get you started. Just use code livewild welcome back to Live Wild podcast, everyone. This week we're going to talk about all things suppressors. Now, over the years I've been hunting and shooting suppressed firearms and honestly, it's an incredible experience. Not only does it protect your hearing, but it reduces recoil and the muzzle jump. And for many shooters it improves their accuracy and just forms better shooting habits. Now, some of the drawbacks in the past have been that there's kind of this seemingly difficult process of legal requirements to purchase and own a suppressor. So this week I'm joined by Brandon Maddox, founder of Silencer Central, and we're going to take a deep dive into suppressors suppressed hunting and the relatively easy process to obtain one. Well, Brandon, man, thank you so much for jumping on being able to join me on this podcast. I know a lot of people, you know, they see that I've been hunting with suppressor for quite a while and they always have questions about like the buying process and other things. But I think it's always fun to kind of, you know, jump in and talk about as far as it goes, hunting and hunting stories. That's the one thing that connects us all as hunters. For me personally, I started shooting a suppressor not in the US but when I was first went over to New Zealand doing a bunch of hunts over there. And it's like a completely different experience because you could pretty much stop at any gas station and buy one, right? Like they nearly give them away with a gun and then and having been able to hunt with them and then come back home to the states and go, man, I absolutely need One of these to hunt here. And my first process was like, I don't even know how. This was probably many years ago, but it was like I had to get an attorney and, like, the cost and the time. And I think I waited probably close to two years to receive my first suppressor. And. And like, the. You know, and then how things have. Have changed now. When did you, like, kind of. I don't know, at least, like, how did you get into suppressors or suppressed hunting? I mean, like, what is there any kind of hunt? Whereas, like, you went out on and you're like, man, this is pretty awesome. Or were you always interested in having them for shooting purposes? Like, kind of. How did you get into it?
- [03:23]
Remy Warren
Yeah. So 2005, I moved to South Dakot. So my wife is from South Dakota. I grew up in the Southeast. So it was a big change for me to move to the prairie. So I just started asking around, what does everyone do as a hobby? And they said, shoot coyotes or prairie dogs. So I went to the local gun store and said, what do I need? They said, a 2 2, 2, 2, 3. I bought a Tika T3 and Peyton got it threaded and went and shot prairie dogs with it. And I found out very quickly that prairie dogs are smarter than I had hoped they would be. As soon as they hear a shot, they go down in the hole. It didn't seem too cool to drive four and a half hours to shoot something that as soon as you shoot, they go down the hole. So after probably, you know, a little while shooting these, I. I thought of, gosh, if I could just find a way to make the rifle quieter. And then that's when I ended up getting a suppressor. And the next time I went out and shot with a suppressor, I literally ran out of ammunition. Which, you know, of course, when you're packing a long trip, the goal is to never run out of ammunition. So I had a whole, you know, trunk load of it in my car. And to run out of ammunition, I was like, okay, this is definitely the real deal, especially with prairie dogs. Shooting prairie dogs. But no, you know, I had a. What I would call like a bad purchase experience from a local dealer. And they just always say they try to make me feel like less than an inch tall. And every question I had, you know, they made me feel like I was an idiot of idiot for asking. I could tell very quickly they had never had anyone in the early 2000s that at least they could give me an example of that I'd hunted with a suppressor so the first one I bought there process was horrible. Second time the process was horrible. The third time I told my wife I'm gonna get my own license and buy my own just so I have to deal with them. So that's the honest truth of how I got into it and honestly just kind of got addicted to it. I was just loving shooting prairie dogs with it and just made it so much more fun. And you know, not that there's a ton of recoil on the 22250 on a bench, but to even reduce that. So you could kind of if you're shooting them pretty far away, you know you see if you hit them and I always say that's kind of the reason why I drove four and a half hours is so when I hit them I can see what happens when they explode. So you know, use the nostalgistic tips of V maxes. I wanted to see what was going on. So if you get any sight recoil and you're farther away you couldn't see them. So to get reduce that recoil was presser was great. But you know that's kind of how I got into it was just barman hunting out here in South Dakota just trying to fit in. A southern boy coming to the plains trying to fit in with everyone else is honestly how it started.
- [05:56]
Brandon Maddox
That's awesome. Yeah, I know for me like I do a lot of hunting by myself or solo and like having the reduced recoil and being able to see that impact makes such a big difference. Whether it's elk hunting, deer hunting, doesn't matter. And before I started shooting with a suppressor I would use a muzzle brake. But the trouble with that is you've got ear pro in if you forget it, you're like can severely damn. I mean my I've had times where guiding somebody next to me shot a a rifle with a muzzle break on it and like it concusses you like your vision nearly goes black for sure. There's hearing loss in my left ear and like that that experience of being able to see the impact like proceed whether it's a follow up shot or no. Oh yeah, I hit that ammo I didn't have whatever it's it's incredibly effective. Especially like even if you're by yourself or if you're not by yourself just as the shooter being able to get on target again, being able to see what happened, being able to know what's going on and and also being able to communicate if you're hunting with someone else. Yeah, I was hunting with my dad. And I can't remember what happened. He just didn't have. I don't know. He was using his. He had his older rifle and had a muzzle break this year, and I hadn't used ear, like, plugs in a while. And, like, he's like, where did it go? And I'm, like, trying pulling his earplug. Hey, it's to the right man. You know, it's like the time lag of being like earplugs. In communicating with somebody, if something goes wrong, a miss or whatever makes such a. Like, makes such a difference in. In most hunts, like, pretty much all.
- [07:32]
Remy Warren
Hunts, I love hearing the impact because typically, if it's such a loud shot, you can't hear the impact. And if you can hear the impact, usually you can tell if it's a solid hit and whether you're going to need to follow up with another shot. You know, it's funny because, like, I'll talk to people about this. Maybe they' deer hunter. And they'll say, brandon, I love what you're doing, but I only take two shots a year. One to sight my rifle in and one to shoot my deer. I don't need a suppressor. And I'm like, dude, ask your friends. Once you use one, even if you're only taking two shots a year, you'll totally be convinced it's worth it. And I do find anyone that ever hunts with a suppressor, even these naysayers, they'll be like, yeah, you're right. I should have done this 10 or 15 years ago. This is really the way to go.
- [08:10]
Brandon Maddox
Yeah. I mean, for me, it's a thing. Like, you just can't go back from it. And I have so many friends that, like, I'll take out. They'll. They'll. They'll shoot and be like, okay, I got to get one of these. As soon as they get one, it's the same thing. Like, it's. It's really hard to enjoy. Like, for me, I just enjoy the shooting process even more, whether it's hunting or even at the bench, because, okay, the reduced recoil, but just that reduced, like, noise and everything, it just. I. I shoot. I personally shoot better that way. Um, I know a lot of people do. Like, it. It. It gives. Creates better habits.
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Remy Warren
Yeah, I just. You know, you. You probably read my profile. I'm a pharmacist. So my wife, when I first started this business, she's like, why would a pharmacist go to a gun show on the weekend in hopes of selling a few Silencers when you could, if you look at a part time job, you could go cow pills at Walmart and make a ton of money. And I was just like, man, it's just, it was such a challenge to convince people that it was going to be a benefit to get a silencer. And the people that were brave enough to believe me would come back after, you know, they'd gotten to use it and they were just sold. I mean, usually they bring their buddies with them. Hey, this guy's got it figured out, you know, you got to sit down with him and do the paperwork. So, yeah, I just, I just love the kind of before and after, you know, I would see guys at shows who were kind of so against it. I'd finally convince them and then the next show I would see them after they bought it. They're like, everything has completely changed now. They've got them for the grandkids, you know, they bought them for their wife. I mean, it's just funny how it impacts people's lives so greatly. I always say that if you can find me a shooter and I can talk to them for about 5 to 10 minutes, almost 100 of the time, I can convince them they need a suppressor and wants to use it. They thank me for getting it.
- [09:45]
Brandon Maddox
Oh, for sure. Like, I, I notice it especially too, like say with, for like my wife or if I take people out that haven't shot a lot, just being able to like talk them through it. Not the loud bang, no recoil. Like it's hugely beneficial for, for so many people. I think one of the things that I think would be interesting is what we kind of like to do on this podcast is do a little bit of a deep dive on some of the. Especially when it's like tactics or gear on that. If you want, if you can walk us through, like, for those listening, what exactly? How does suppressor work? Like what, what's like the function of it as far as, like, how. How does it reduce recoil, how does it suppress the noise? Like, it sounds like it's a. It's like it does so many things and it does them very efficiently.
- [10:35]
Remy Warren
Yeah, people think it's probably not possible. So, you know, basically what it's doing is the suppressor is creating chambers inside the tube that is wicking the heat out of that blast. But so I should always back up at this point. The hole through the middle of the suppressor is bigger than the bullet, so nothing's touching. So it's not slowing down your bullet. A lot of people, when I Explain this. They think, okay, it must be slowing the bullet down. No. If anything, it speeds it up. You know, if you put a chronograph on it, it'll speed up anywhere, 10, 15ft per second. It's almost like having a longer barrel on there. But essentially, it's wicking heat out of the blast. That's why you typically see the silencer get super hot. Even titanium ones will get hotter, quicker because they're weak, wicking the heat out of the blast even better. So the goal is, when the gas does finally exit the suppressor, if the gas is slowed down and it's also cooler. And if that happens, then the shot is always going to be quieter. So what we found is typically, more baffles does mean quieter. And then also. So evolution of, like, sort of product development has been, now we've started making them a little bit fatter. When I first started, they were all like an inch and a half. Now you'll see them get up to Even, you know, 1.7 inch in diameter, just be a lot shorter. So you're getting that same volume. We are not adding as much length to the end of the barrel. But, you know, I would say from like a recoil perspective, like, a brake is always pushing the gas out the sides, and basically the. The suppressor is slowing that gas down, so you're not getting the same kind of recoil. So again, like, the brakes pushing out the sides, the silencer's pushing out of the front but slowing it all down. So, you know, always, like, one day I was out wolf hunting, and I couldn't use a suppressor because I was in Canada, and I got so much recoil, I didn't even think about, you know, not having a suppressor on it and having so much more recoil than I would normally have. I ended up gashing myself in my head, and I'm shot a wolf. And I'm sitting there looking at my blood, and about that time, another wolf came up and I shot him. And then the guy comes, he goes, why is that your blood or the lips? I was like, unfortunately, it's mine. It's because I'm used to a suppressor, reducing my recall. But in Canada, you guys won't let us have these. But no, it. So what we find is typically recoil reduction with muzzle brake is like, say, 35 to 40%. You'll see the same recoil reduction with a suppressor. So part of its weight, but also part of it is just slowing that gas down to make it go through each of the chambers, so can lick the heat out of the blast.
- [12:57]
Brandon Maddox
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I know like, for me, I mean I like, I've chronographed it and I definitely get like that slightly faster speed with the. Which you know, you're kind of like, well, it stopped twisting, but I guess it's protected from any elements that they go there. Like I do get that, that increased recoil. I think that like. Well, the one I like, the banished backcountry, just because I'm like carrying it in that little bit. That's what I've noticed is like the trend to go a little bit shorter and fatter. I've actually, I've really liked that trend because that's. That is one of the things people always like talk about is, oh, it throws the balance off of the rifle. You know, if you've got a full length like a 20, like if you got a 26 inch barrel and you're threading on, you know, like a very long barrel and you're threading on a suppressor, it's like carrying around a traditional muzzleloader. You know, like, it's like a lot of barrel out there. But I've also noticed recently, well, I mean even like you see some of the new technologies for ammunition, like shorter barreled rifles are, are more popular and they're, they're trending because more people are hunting with suppressors and you can, you can now get well with the. I got to test some of the federal 7 millimeter backcountry. I'm like, all right. Of the 20 inch barrel, I've got a 175 grain 7 millimeter bullet going over 3,000ft per second. A couple of years ago that wasn't even possible. Like, I mean very. Yeah, I, I don't know what you would have got to do that maybe you could have tinkered with things and been on the side of danger. But you know, like, it's incredible that like, you know, a lot of the, I think the use of suppressor has been increasing and it's also kind of driven a market for firearms that kind of fit that profile. And then there's always the classics that you know, perform like you, you can shoot a.308, you can shoot, you know, I mean even like the six, five Creedmoor shoots real well out of a shorter barrel. So it's like there's a lot of options out there as well that suit themselves to having a shorter barrel and you know, being able to shoot suppressed for the guys that are real worried about the the balance. But also I've hunted with 24 inch barrels, 22 inch barrels with suppressors on them. And I don't know, like, it's not. I would rather have that than the long barrel in the muzzle brake.
- [15:20]
Remy Warren
Yeah. It's only especially like you said in the backcountry because it's only five and a half inches long. So by the time you threw it on there, well, you know, probably close to an inch screwed on there. You got, you know, four and a half inches on the end, which is.
- [15:30]
Brandon Maddox
Not a lot, right? No, especially, especially if you've got a rifle with a 20 inch barrel or 22 inch barrel. You know, it's, it's like the balance of it. I don't think it, it throws it off at all.
- [15:43]
Remy Warren
You know, it's funny, you're talking about that new federal round. So, you know, they called us and they like 20 suppressors. And I'm pretty good friends with CEO, so I was like, sure. And ask him later. I was like, what are you guys using them for? He said, well, we're testing the rounds. You're gonna get a lot of free advertising. We launch it. And then I looked at every ad and really every ad had the back country on the end of the. So he. We loved it. Of course, it's good publicity for us. We, you know, we first heard the pressures. We're like, oh, wow. They go, don't worry, we've already tested your silencers. They were perfect. On that pressure. I was like, good to know.
- [16:10]
Brandon Maddox
That's. That was actually something that I asked when I was like, so, I mean, I know. Is it. How, how does it work? They're like, yep, perfect. Fine. We've already shot thousands of rounds. Yeah. I'm like, okay, good, call this.
- [16:23]
Remy Warren
And told us the load. We're like, oh, wow, we better test that. Like, no, we've already tested it for you. We're like, perfect.
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Brandon Maddox
Yeah, I know. Because that they had a lot of things that, for that, you know, that they had to check the box on make sure, you know, hey, we're trying something new, you know, how's it going to perform with all this other stuff? And, and you know, I was like, okay. Like they, they run so many tests on it that when it finally came out, I think people didn't realize how, how well they kind of tried to cover all the, the things of that. I, I don't know. I've been super happy with that caliber. I've been shooting it quite a bit. And I mean, I've Had. It's been awesome. So I'm pretty excited that they. That they did that.
- [17:00]
Remy Warren
That's good.
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Brandon Maddox
But, you know, I think one of the things that. Well, primarily for hunting is like, you know, guys looking at it, there's a couple of considerations. Right. There are states that it's not legal to have a suppressor. I guess, like, California is the only one that I can think of. I don't know. And then probably somewhat on the eastern seaboard, I guess, like, there's eight states.
- [17:23]
Remy Warren
Where they're illegal, and the only state where they're legal that you can't hunt with one in is Connecticut. And always make the joke, why would you want to hunt there anyway? No one's ever arguing me, so. But yeah, no, so that the ones that are illegals, like Delaware, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, California, at Illinois and Hawaii. So it's what I call the dark blue states.
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Brandon Maddox
Right. Yeah. I mean, but, like, that's what. Because I was trying to think. I'm like, pretty much the only place that I have hunted that it's not legal would be California.
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Remy Warren
Yeah.
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Brandon Maddox
But outside of that. Oh, I guess in Hawaii. But outside of that, you know, I like, I use it on nearly all my hunts. And I think that, like, there's a couple of benefits to having it on the hunt. One that we already talked about not having to have that ear protection in, like, it. I. I'm. I mean, if, like, people look back on all my, like, hunt videos, you can see I'm pretty fanatical about having ear protection when I don't have that on there. Because, like, I. I really value my hearing when it comes to hunting, you know, but also that, like, communication between two people, that, that lag of, like, having your protection on or having to put it on, you don't always. You aren't 100% with putting it on. Right. And to be honest, like, when I'm at the range, I still, even with the suppressor, shoot with my ear protection on. Yeah, yeah.
- [18:42]
Remy Warren
Gonna show up in the range while you're there. And they may not have suppressors. That's what I always say.
- [18:46]
Brandon Maddox
Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's mostly for the guy down at the bottom, like, at the far end that's shooting his.50 cal from, like, morning till dark. There's always that one guy. It's just like the concussion just rips down the range. But yeah, you know, I think the other thing, like, we talked about, like, in the hunting scenario of, like, if somebody's like, well, hunt with one, I Mean I think that there's that the fact of being able to communicate with another hunter, the not the need for ear protection, also the sound. I think a lot of people, I've noticed a lot of people develop bad shooting habits by being over gunned like a gun that the recoil is too much to manage and then they develop really bad habits. But also that like noise stimulation is a lot and it causes your body to react. So I know when I, when I've got that on my rifle, I don't have earplugs in, I can hear and then I can shoot and I make really good shots like both at the range and in the field which is like extremely important.
- [19:42]
Remy Warren
Yeah. The other thing you mentioned too is communication because I think we always, you know, it sounds like you're like me, you don't mind hunting by yourself. But some people hunt groups, they have kids and they want to be able to communicate with them. It just makes it so much harder if you both have hearing protection. On the other thing that people typically don't like to admit is you don't always hit. So if you miss, what I find is you almost 100 get another shot. Yeah, I've been in scenarios where I remember shooting oryx and it tipped right over and the other ones are still there looking at him like, wow, I wonder what happened to him.
- [20:13]
Brandon Maddox
Yeah, that's what I was going to mention is like it does, it disturbs the area a lot less if I'm hunting with somebody. Most often we both have tags and half the time like when I take a shot the hit on the animal is almost louder. Like to that animal I would imagine the hit on the other animal is louder than the actual recoil of the rifle. And there's this kind of like well, confusion or hey, they just move off. Like I've had times where I've shot a like cow elk hunting and like shoot a cow elk they all like look around and then they just go back to feeding and the other person with me can shoot a cow elk or you know, you don't disturb the area as much. It's not like you're just sending them across the country. But also like, like you said, being able to hear that hit back bow hunting, that's like one of the main ways that I know. Okay. That sounded like there was. I had an instance this year where I shot an elk and didn't hear it. Like it must have hit nothing. I'm like there's no way I missed that elk. I can't, I couldn't figure it out what happened because we didn't hear it. We use that auditory response so much in hunting and that, like whispering back and forth and not having to ear protection on and off, but just hearing that shot down range. You're right. You're like, yeah, that was a solid hit. Or that was. Ooh, that, you know, and you can be back on target faster, sooner, quicker. Like, make a more ethical shot and kill. You know, make things happen faster because you can get back on target quick. But you also know what happened. Whether you see it or just hear it, it translates so fast, like, it's kind of instantaneous. Whereas get your earplugs. And you can't hear the hit off of the, you know, the. The rifle going off. So I don't know, there's that, like, factor of just being more efficient with it.
- [21:56]
Remy Warren
Yeah, absolutely.
- [21:58]
Brandon Maddox
When we would use, like, guiding in or whatever in places where we would guide and someone would have it, it. It was a lot better too, because we always used to call, like, everybody called the muzzle brakes the guide killers because it's the guy that's off the rifle that it affects more than the guy on the rifle. You know, it's like. Whereas with the suppressor, it's like every. Yeah, yeah. A guy would show up the first. I remember the first client that I had show up with a suppressor, and it was like night and day difference from what we were used to, because it's always like earplugs in, earplugs out, back and forth. Boom. Okay. You got to be looking. If you missed it, you couldn't tell. And on that we had. It was a spring bear hunt. And, you know, he. It was like one of these things where the bear just, like, came out real fast. And I wasn't even ready. Like, I didn't even get my binos up. And we knew. I. I knew it was a boar, but he shot, and it was like, before I was, you know, I was like naked eye and I could hear it, and then went over the hill real fast, and I could hear it hit the animal. I was like, oh, well, you got it. You know, like, that was awesome. That worked okay. Like, I would have probably. I mean, it didn't really matter because it was dead right there. But, you know, just being able to know, like, what happened instantaneously, that was like. That was huge for me.
- [23:14]
Remy Warren
Yeah, absolutely.
- [23:16]
Brandon Maddox
You know, the. The big thing, though, that. That I think most people run into, and this is the one that, you know, happened to me when I first got A suppressor was just that major stumbling block of the process to obtain one. Because there is some things. It's not just like going to your gun shop and buying one, getting quick background check and walking out the door, but you guys have, I mean, that's the thing. Like, you know, as a, as a customer of your guys's company, I mean, you, you guys have the absolute best customer service I've ever experienced. Like, it's like. I mean, no, I, I mean, like, it's like. It's like the hunting world's version of Disneyland customer service. Like, it's, it's because.
- [24:02]
Remy Warren
Director.
- [24:05]
Brandon Maddox
Yeah, I mean, because like, I, you know, as just like a, A guy that's like purchased them from you guys and you know, gone through the process. It's super easy. And I even have like my friends and my dad, you know, my dad just bought another one and I'm like, he's not text tech to guy. You know, he's like, it just, you know, he like, whatever. And he's able to do it with very minimal help from me. So I'm like, okay, if you can do it, anybody can do it.
- [24:34]
Remy Warren
That's good.
- [24:34]
Brandon Maddox
You know, like the whole, the whole setup process. And then now it seems like, I mean, you guys have like such an easy process that it makes it super easy. But also a lot of the wait times have, have drastically decreased, it seems like, recently, because I feel like the first few times that I purchased suppressors, it was like a year, two years, and now then it was like six months, and now it seems like. I mean, I just got one back the other day that I filled out. I was less than a week.
- [25:05]
Remy Warren
Yeah. Yeah, we've seen a week right now. So it's. Yeah, it's. Our average right now is four days for an individual submission and eight days on a trust. So pretty much everyone's doing a trust because we offer that free. And. Yeah, it's, It's. It's really helped. I mean, I. That all started during a Democratic administration too, which is surprising. But, you know, it happened last April, so it's, it's been, it's definitely driven up demand. I think that, you know, people didn't like the idea having to pay for something and wait for it to show up. Now it's almost more instantaneous.
- [25:34]
Brandon Maddox
Yeah, I think, like, you know, I guess we should talk about kind of the, the process of buying a suppressor, what people need. And then, I mean, what you guys do so well is the service of like walking people through the process. It's literally. You literally hold someone's hand if they have questions, call and get a person that walks you through it. Like, you go on your computer. It's so well laid out. Like, like I always tell my friends, like, if you're at a show, go get your fingerprints at the show because it's so much easier. But like, I, I, when I first got my first suppressor from you guys, I did the fingerprint cards. I was guiding you guys mail, Like, I had a mailed to where I was working at, put my fingerprints on there, mailed them back the next day and was like, done, you know, took a picture with my phone uploaded. Like, it was so easy. Like, you could literally do it from elk camp, you know, like, like, it's wild because, like my pr, like, I had similar experiences with you. I, you know, bought a couple different ones from different gun places. Some were super helpful. Some were like, like, I don't know, the process. You're treating me like I'm an idiot. I'm like, you're forcing me to go get a lawyer to like, walk me through something that doesn't, shouldn't be this difficult, you know, I don't know. So I think, I think let's talk about, you know, what's needed, the tax stamp, like kind of the process that it goes through of obtaining one, and then kind of how you guys have, like, created. I, I think like, the most revolutionary thing is the system or like, the support of being able to buy a suppressor with ease. Really?
- [27:11]
Remy Warren
Yeah. No. Good question. So I will have to say we've been doing about 20 years, so it didn't all happen overnight. You know, it's just kind of making sure you hire good people and then reinvest what you make into better technology and better processes and just every day trying to find ways to make it more efficient. But, you know, in simplest terms, we could do really everything without you ever leaving your house, which is very different than a traditional, like, people are used to going into a gun store and, you know, picking out a suppressor and having to visit three or four different times to kind of make that process come together. Whereas Silencer Central worked with the ATF director a little bit different approach. We kind of went to them and said, hey, you know, we can read the statutes that were written in 1934 when this whole NFA process was created, but we're interested in hearing your feedback as to what you interpret this as. Just working it with them, you know, so bias from us. We essentially, we provide a Free gun trust, which pretty much everyone takes us up on. It's really the best way to go. I know I was listening to sales calls today for an hour and I find most people don't know anything about a gun trust. But I usually say that if you buy a suppressor as an individual and you pass away, it's going to create a lot of paperwork for whoever your family has to deal with it. Whereas a trust, it allows you, the trust will essentially own the suppressor. You'll be in charge of the trust, and with the stroke of a pen, you can add additional people to your trust that can use your silencer once it's approved. So once we send it to you, if you want to add anyone, you just let us know who you want to add. We can put them on the trust and then they can use the suppressor when you're not there. And then also you can pick who inherits it when you pass away. So trust may sound complicated, but we set it up for you and manage it for you, and it's free. So when a customer calls in, we help them find the perfect silencer for them. We sell all silencers on the market. And then once we figure out what they want, which rifles they want to cover, most people don't realize that, you know, that kind of that concept of multi caliber that you could get a 30 cal and use it all the way down to, you know, even your 223 and 22, 250. So once we help them pick out the suppressor, basically send them an online form where they enter in their information and it generates all the ATF forms for that person, specific to the data they gave us and specific to that firearm and specific to our location in the state where they live. So an interesting thing about Silencer Central is I've got stores in every state where silencers are legal. So I've got a physical location and a federal farms license in all 42 states where suppressors are legal. So if a person lives in Alabama, we do all the paperwork here. We submit it to the ATF digitally. Once it comes back approved, we ship that silencer from our Alabama store to that customer's front door. So they never have to even leave their house, which is pretty neat. So essentially they'll fill out the paperwork, we generate all the forms for them digitally. ATF likes us to do a call where we do like a video call. We have the customer look at the forms to make sure that the data you gave us and the forms we completed are all filled out correctly. In other words, if you told us you're not a felon, then that's how we fill out the paperwork. So it's kind of like you get a look at it before you sign it and then you digitally sign it with basically a pin and a username that the ATF gives you, so then they know it's you. And then once you do that, we submit it. The Feds do charge a 1 time 200 tax per silencer, so we usually collect that from the customer and then we remit it for them on their behalf. Once the silencer comes back approved, we'll send them a 4473 digitally via DocuSign. The same thing you'd fill out if you bought a rifle or shotgun or handgun locally. They fill it out, that's all processed at the local location where the customer lives. And then it stays on file there. And then we're able to actually ship that silencer to that customer's front door. So, you know, like you said, it's sort of like we sit on netsuite, Oracle. So we're in a system where we can do a thousand E forms an hour and we can ship about 4,000 suppressors a day. So we really scaled it up so we can function at high volume. And you know, to function at high volume we gotta have really good processes. So I would say that's the main thing we focused on the last 20 years is how do we get rock solid processes so that we can run efficiently. But you're right, we have a whole call center, about 55 people up there just in customer service that if anyone hits a bump on the road or ask questions or curious about where their package is or did they fill out all the paperwork. Right. Or anything that comes up, they can call, you know, every morning we have to give an update. And usually we're at about a 3% abandonment rate, which is pretty low. So if you call, you're going to get somebody and they're going to help you figure it out. Yeah, I mean, it's a pretty smooth process. I mean, like I said, It's 100% digital. It really helped when we, when Covid came because people are like, really? I could just sit here on my couch. The problem we had is a lot of sheriffs weren't doing fingerprints, so there's really nowhere to get fingerprints done. That is one thing. Like you said, we'd send you fingerprint cards if you're a new customer and you just basically roll your own prints. And then we basically scan that in digitally so that we can upload it to the atf. The interesting insight there is that, you know, the statutes require fingerprints, and that's really from when it was written in 1934. They don't really use the fingerprints because the background check the FBI does on you is the same background check you would if you bought a regular firearm, which they don't need fingerprints for. So. So it's kind of interesting. It's one of those things we have to submit that they don't really use. But I guess we kind of expect that from the government, right, asking us for things that they don't need just to create more obstacles for us. But, no, I mean, Silencer Central is definitely the largest dealer in the country because of us having all those locations. One of the products that we focus on, too, is Banish. And Banish is the number one selling based on volume of suppressors in the US as well. I think what's unique about us is having, you know, access to all the products out there and then also being able to ship to people's front door. But I think the other thing is I feel like we were the first Silencer to really promote to hunting, and I think it's based on where we started. You know, I. I became more of a hunter once I started selling these, just because I was getting into it more. But when I would go to shows, I found that 100 of my customers in North Dakota and South Dakota, when I first started in 20 2005, they were all coyote hunters. And their whole goal was to call in as many coyotes and shoot every one of them and not scare them off with a shot. And so I sold so many suppressors that way, where people wanted something really quiet and they wanted something lightweight and they wanted something short. So it's kind of dictated, you know, the whole company's focus has been more on hunting just because that's where we started and kind of expanded from South Dakota out to get locations in every state. And, yeah, the hunting market's been really good for us. We spent a lot of, you know, time and money there. If anyone's ever been to a conservation event, they've probably seen where at Silencer Central, we always donate a suppressor to these local conservation groups, and whatever money they raise for those suppressors, we give them 100. So I think, you know, last year, I think we were just shy of, you know, $8 million that we gave back to conservation through that, where 100 of the donation went back to conservation so we've really doubled down and committed in the hunting market, which I think is unique. I think other people make tactical silencers, then they might make one or two suppressors for hunting. But it's pretty much what we've done exclusively over the years, is focus on the hunting aspect.
- [34:27]
Brandon Maddox
Yeah, I definitely noticed that. I mean, it's awesome because a lot of the tactical stuff, it, you know, it fits what you need for tactical needs, but doesn't always fit that. Like, when you're hunting, you're carrying it around all the time. You're in inclement weather and other things, you know, you're. You're really taking, hopefully not that many shots, but they need to be very precise and probably at distance. So having that suppressor that like, fits that need is always like what I'm looking for. Because it's like, I, you know, I. I remember some of the first ones that I got just weren't like, great for hunting because it was like they. They made it quiet, but it wasn't. It was just designed for something else. You know, it was like a different application.
- [35:10]
Remy Warren
You know, people ask me about that, I always tell them, and it hit me. I was working at a pure gun show and piers where the capital is in South Dakota. It's a big sort of outdoors area. A lot of everybody hunts up there. So I remember working the show, I could see people looking at me and they're like, okay, I like this idea of a suppressor is what I could see on their face. But they would pick up something that was, you know, typically stainless steel, heavier, and maybe something that was probably made to screw onto like an AR look very tactical. And it just. I could tell I was having trouble selling because they, like you said, they wanted something lightweight. They want something quiet. They want something more for an application hunting. And that's when, you know, I basically called up, you know, a manufacturer here in western part of South Dakota and Sturges, and they're the ones that, you know, came up with a suggestion for me that, hey, let's. Let's make a suppressor and we'll put your name on it. So that's kind of how it started in the whole hunting market was at that time, no one made anything out of titanium because it's harder to source the materials and it's harder to machine. But. But we kind of went all in and started with titanium. Day one. Probably 95 of the products we sell are all titanium. Just because people prefer that lightweight and that strong, strong metal.
- [36:13]
Brandon Maddox
That's awesome. No, and I also appreciate your guys's commitment to, you know, the conservation organization. I've actually bought some at, bought one at Nevada Bighorns Unlimited last year. You know, it's like you can silent auction, raffle or whatever. And we've got some, I'm actually doing a big donation this year to the Nevada Bighorns Unlimited, like a, a, a rifle gear package and I think we've got a suppressor in there as well. So. Yeah, I mean like you see them at, you know, all these banquets, dinners, other things like, you know, we definitely see the presence there and, and you know, what you guys contribute. So.
- [36:46]
Remy Warren
Yeah, yeah, people give me pushback. They're like, it devalues your brand if you're giving it away. And I'm like, no, I mean, you know, it. Basically what it's doing is getting back to conservation and those groups have a stronger partnership with us. Because the way I explain it to people is when I first started doing this, no one thought that silencers were illegal. I mean, I spent the first probably three years of gun shows explaining to people that they were legal and then I had to spend probably another year explaining to them that you can hunt with them. So to be able to get in front of conservation groups and talk about silencer central and talk about hunting and talk about suppressors is really a win, win for me. So I feel like I'm paying back for being able to get that, you know, kind of share a voice in people's mind that you can hunt with them. So it's been, you know, it's funny, I get, I get feedback too that some hunting conservation groups, they try to stay away from firearms because they don't want necessarily to be correlated with the second amendment. They want to be correlated more with conservation. But what's interesting is in most cases, all these conservation groups, we're their largest donor. So they have to sort of talk about second amendment and suppressors because at the end of the day we're their largest donor and it's not to divert from their conservation message, but at least we're able to get a little bit of message, message in there for second Amendment and firearms, which is nice. It's good for the industry as well.
- [37:55]
Brandon Maddox
Yeah, for sure. I mean that's, that's the thing is like, I think that there's a lot of opportunity out there, you know, for, for hunters. And it's like very few hunters that I know don't own a firearm. Even if you're a bow only hunter, they all own Firearms as well. Right. Like, it makes like, you know, I mean, like, the Second amendment is just as, as integral to hunting and hunters as conservation is. It's like, it's as much of a part of it as anything. And I've been fortunate to be able to go to a lot of other countries and do a lot of things, and they aren't. They aren't awarded the same freedoms as we are with, with firearms. Which is kind of funny because, like, New Zealand, I use an example. Or us, you know, not Australia, but like New Zealand. Right. It's like you can get a suppressor no problem. Anybody could go buy one. Like, it's. It's not even a thing. But yet owning a firearm can be very difficult in the lengthy process. Right. Or a more difficult process. And here we're the exact opposite. Anybody can have a firearm, but then to have something that makes it more efficient and in some ways safer for the user is like highly regulated. And you have to get a tax stamp and go through this process, which, you know, used to be a very. I mean, it really did. It was a real pain in the ass process. But the way that you guys have set it up, it makes it super easy for people to be able to get into it. And that's why, like, I tell all my friends about it because it's. And, well, and people on the podcast as well, because it's like, all right, I enjoy hunting suppressed. And it's not that hard to do. All you have to do is go online, select purchase, they send you emails and send you what you need. And within, I guess, you know, I'll probably. This one that I just got, I think I started the process literally last week and I got. That was a 44. 73. Yeah, 4473 today. I just saw that was in my inbox. So I'm like, that's within, you know, from the Salt Lake show a couple weeks after that till now, less than a month. And I. That'll probably ship and be here at my door within what, a couple weeks after filling that out, you think, oh.
- [39:56]
Remy Warren
Yeah, yeah, it's usually less than 10 days.
- [39:58]
Brandon Maddox
Yeah, that's wild. That's like crazy. You know, you're like, like, especially as being someone that like, you know, used to do that and wait years, you're like, oh man, I got my. Like, I, like, me and a group of friends used to be like, yeah, we, we ordered our suppressors and we're just like, we can't wait to use them, you know, and you're like a year and a half goes by like, yeah, I got mine. I'm still waiting nine more months, I hope. We'll see. There's no way to check in. You know, you just like had no clue. But yeah, I mean, let like, like you guys have done a great job with that, that process. And like I said, the, I mean, as a consumer of it and just being able to do it, it's so simple. Like the simplicity of it makes it a no brainer. Like. Yeah, you know, if, if you're between buying a new rifle or buying a suppressor that you can put on your rifles, like, absolutely, you know, buy a suppressor because it's in the long run, like I just continue to use it. I, I, you know, have 30 caliber. I put it on everything under.30 cal. And then, yeah, I mean it's super easy. And then I end up seeing something that's like, oh, I could use this for my 9 millimeter pistol. That sounds fun, you know, or like whatever, you know, like, oh, I'll try that out. It's always fun to try new stuff for sure too. So. But yeah, I mean, I, I encourage like hunters. If you're in a place where it's legal and you're hunting majority of the places where it's legal, like it's such a benefit to have in the field. It's hard to kind of get away from really. Well, man, thank you so much for your time, Brandon. I, I think that that's, you know, it's pretty informational as far as I think the, the biggest thing is just people understanding the ease of it and, and being able to say like, oh yeah, this is something that I, I might need. It is, it is a, A, a tool that I think is so beneficial and I think that our listeners, it's awesome to be able to, to kind of put it in front of them and let them know, hey, it's super easy. Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing. So.
- [41:54]
Remy Warren
Yeah, no, I appreciate the opportunity because I always say the biggest thing is just the educational component. But like we said, the best, the best sales point for anyone think about it is ask anyone that owns one and they'll tell you they'll never shoot again without one. So if that's absolutely sort of a good sales pitch, I don't know how you know how you can get any better than that. I'm an experience. Few examples, right, where someone says, yeah, after I try that, I'll, I'll never go back. You know, you never Hear anyone say, well, once I drove before. I'll never drive. You know, I don't know. You just. It seems like people. It's very rare to hear a scenario when someone says, yeah, after I got one out, I'll never shoot again and fire without it.
- [42:27]
Brandon Maddox
Yeah. Well, thank you so much, man, for taking the time and appreciate you jumping on with us. And I mean, for those of people looking, I mean, what's the best way, just Silencer Central, head to the website? Super easy to find.
- [42:41]
Remy Warren
Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, we've got also a whole call center here of hunters. So if you just want to call, it doesn't mean you have to buy anything. You can just have questions, and they'll answer your questions about what would be the best suppressor for what you're trying to use for. And, yeah, you can do silencer central.com or just look on the website and call the phone number and have, like, where you can text and ask questions. So we're definitely available to help people make sure they get the right one. And then we stay on top of them. If, you know, to make sure they're responsive, we'll text them, hey, remind them you got to do this. And so, no, it's. It's a good. It's a good process we've been working on for 20 years, trying to make it better every day, so I appreciate your feedback as well.
- [43:15]
Brandon Maddox
Awesome. Well, thanks, man. Catch you.
- [43:17]
Remy Warren
See you, sir.
- [43:22]
Brandon Maddox
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that podcast. You know, for me, I've just enjoyed hunting with suppressors, and so I thought it'd be a good topic to cover and sit down with Brandon, especially because, you know, a lot of. Of people's hesitation, those that don't have one, it's that purchase process of, like, what's that look like? And they've made it so easy. Like, as a customer of Silencer Central, honestly, it. It's just been super easy, and that's where I get all my suppressors. So it's been cool to sit down with him and kind of bring that information to you guys. I hope you guys enjoyed that. One of the other things I want to mention, an awesome supporter of this podcast and outdoor class. I've got. I've got a couple courses on there, and there's. There's always new courses being added as well. I mean, you can get. If you like this podcast, you like information on hunting tips and tactics. There's stuff on elk hunting, pronghorn hunting, cooking. Some of the cooking stuff's just. Just awesome. And I. And I. I've even learned more about cooking from some of the people on there cooking. There's some survival stuff. There's even some shooting stuff, stuff for both archery and rifle. So if you guys are looking for more information, it's a great format where you can plug it in on your tv, you can watch it at whatever, you can binge a course, or you can, you know, pick different topics based on seasonality. It's a. It's a really cool and useful resource for sure. And I like the way that they put it out with the video and everything like that, because then you kind of get to see it. So if you guys are interested, there's a real. I mean, right now is the best price you can get. There's a. There's a special going on. It's. I think it's 69.99. And then you can still use code REMY15 for an additional 15 off that. So that's like under $60 for the year. And you get access to all the courses, not just the ones that I've done. So if you guys are interested, you haven't checked out outdoor class or maybe checked it out and want to go back and watch some of the things that, that you might, that might have been new or maybe you missed. Now is an awesome time to do that. I'm going to say until next week, keep it quiet. I don't know. We'll catch you guys later.