Editor's Note: As we keep hearing how the firearms industry's in the doldrums, we're seeing more and more that thinking out of the box is one way to get through slow times. Henry Repeating Firearms can't keep up with the demand for their lever-action .410 shotgun, and the companies who are rethinking existing products (we know several who are "just about ready" to announce more of those revisits) are finding a new consumer market enthused about "variations on a theme" - with the them being "we are new to the sport, but we love everything about shooting."

There are also other reasons innovators get creative with their ideas, one being government restrictions. Today, we're sharing Rich Grassi's take on one of those forward-thinking companies (Silencerco) that's taken their existing product (suppressors) and found a way to make them far more accessible to consumers. And it's one of those "head slap" ideas that many of us might have considered- but not seriously. Again, innovation at work.

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http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2357030.jpg> SilencerCo photo.

It seems we've re-entered the world of the "work around" solution to state and federal infringements on gun rights. Legislative bodies, instead of focusing on issues of bad behavior and the causes of bad behavior, focus on 'gadgets.' Making things "illegal" or restricted is intellectually lazy, it's ineffective in slowing the rate of criminal behaviors and simply feeds the ego of the elites who aren't subject to such restrictions.

Look at the "firearms" now made by industry bigs Mossberg and Remington: not shotguns, nor federally-described "pistols" – certainly not rifles – bureaucrats have named them "firearms" and allows folks to have them without tax stamps and one-year waits.

In such an atmosphere, people will continue to seek alternative methods to "stick it to the man." SilencerCo has apparently done that with the integrally suppressed Maxim 50 muzzleloader. Yep, a sound suppressed "non-firearm."

Sheesh.

The release contends that the non-firearm "can be purchased right now on the web with no regulation (no 4473, no tax stamp, no photographs or fingerprints) at store.silencerco.com and be shipped immediately to the purchaser with few exceptions*."

As to those exceptions, there are states where air rifles are as terrifying to local officials as the steak knife is in Great Britain. Places like that aren't going to allow home delivery of "antique firearms."

"The Maxim 50 is built on the base of a Traditions Vortek Strikerfire Muzzleloader," the release says. "For those who know muzzleloaders, you'll also know that they are not considered firearms by the BATFE but are instead antique firearms, a definition and difference that is very distinct. Because of this, a moderator that is permanently affixed to a muzzleloader is not legally defined as a silencer, since it does not attach to a firearm."

http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2357031.jpg> SilencerCo photo.

ATF Technology Branch apparently passed the project during the three years it took to bring it to market.

How does a sound suppressor make for an improvement in, say, hunting? What about the billowing cloud of smoke from the black powder rifle.

"The Maxim 50 solves all of the issues experienced by muzzleloader shooters while also drastically reducing the resulting smoke by more than two-thirds, allowing hunters to see the location of their shot and track their game."

So, for those who like to keep the noise down, they can keep the smoke down – and order a suppressed (non-firearm) rifle direct to their doors . . . in free states.

To see what all the . . . quiet . . . is about, see the manufacturer's https://www.store.silencerco.com/products/maxim-50?variant=37950952529/>website.

- - Rich Grassi