We Need a Palmer Lucky* for Suppressors, ie, A rich guy with essentially unlimited money hyper focusing on his special interest to the point where he's influencing government decision making. Essentially setting $100M on fire to make the world's largest and automated suppressor manufacturing factory churning out stamped steel baffle cans.
Ok we really need a rich autistic guy to dedicate his life to making suppressors because I just saw a video that blew my mind. Liberty Precision Machine let a guy tour their shop and look at their production processes. And I'll admit that yeah, they're a small shop, constrained by finances and capacity, and that I'm not a machinist or a businessman, but they're CNCing baffles for like $10 per BEFORE calculating in machine time, labor, other steps in the process, power and taxes.
They're buying 48 inch rods of 17-4 stainless of diameters between 1.75in and 2.25in and getting between 21 and 23 baffles per bar depending on the exact suppressor
Lets do some quick math where I make a lot of assumptions. Several online metal supply stores, whose prices do not reflect that of what an actual manufacturer would be paying, list the stock they use (48in, 2In diameter 17-4 round bar for between $300-400. Now, they're buying in relative bulk from a wholesaler, so let's say they get a bar for, Say $230, they state that the maximum they can get from one bar depending on the suppressor model is 23 baffles. That means the raw material cost for every baffle is $10 assuming maximum yield. like I said, this isn't calculating labor, machine time, taxes or literally anything else. Their smallest suppressor has 4 baffles, $40 in baffles alone from the raw materials standpoint, PLUS the main blast chamber and mount section. Now, this calculation would also change if they were a larger manufacturer and bought 12 foot bars in much larger quantities. But still, to make suppressors dirt cheap you need stamping technology. But stamping is expensive and largely single purpose, so manufacturers go with CNC.
Are there any machinists or smart people that can give more insight into this problem
". It felt like someone running the place getting a complaint from an influential patron and reminding the rank and file to actually enforce a silly policy.