Lead Bunker
Buying a suppressor at Lead Bunker
Suppressors are NFA items — the buying process is a few steps longer than picking up a regular firearm, but Silencer Shop and Lead Bunker make it about as painless as the federal paperwork allows. Here's the full walk-through.
The process, top to bottom
- 1. Create an ATF eForms account at eforms.atf.gov
- 2. Create a Silencer Shop account using the same email address as your ATF eForms account
- 3. Pick your suppressor on silencershop.com and choose Lead Bunker as your dealer / pickup FFL
- 4. Complete Silencer Shop's eligibility questionnaire — upload to their portal or email/bring to Lead Bunker
- 5. Wait for ATF approval (the tax stamp). Current wait times vary — Silencer Shop tracks this for you and notifies when approved
- 6. Pick up at Lead Bunker — bring your CPL and driver's license
Your ATF Form 4 application requires fingerprints. Instead of trekking to a separate fingerprinting location, stop in at Lead Bunker — our Silencer Shop Kiosk captures your prints digitally and sends them straight to your Silencer Shop account in a couple of minutes. One less errand, one less form to mail. Walk in any time during business hours; no appointment needed.
Set up your accounts — in this order
Two separate signups. The order and the email address matter. Use the exact same email for both — otherwise Silencer Shop can't link your suppressor purchase to your eForms application, and the whole thing stalls.
ATF eForms (do this first)
This is the federal portal where your suppressor application actually lives. Create an account, set your username and PIN, and have your CPL and driver's license handy for ID verification.
eforms.atf.gov →Silencer Shop (use the SAME email)
This is where you'll actually pick out and buy your suppressor. Important: sign up with the exact same email you used at eforms.atf.gov — Silencer Shop links the two accounts by email address.
silencershop.com signup →If your ATF eForms email and your Silencer Shop email don't match exactly, the systems can't talk to each other. Your application won't auto-route, and you'll spend hours on the phone with Silencer Shop support to fix it. Use the same email. Write it down somewhere safe before you start.
Complete the eligibility form
After you start your suppressor purchase, Silencer Shop generates an eligibility questionnaire based on the standard federal disqualifier categories. The questions are essentially a long checklist of "have you ever..." items covering things like prior felony convictions, restraining orders, substance use, citizenship status, military discharge status, and mental health adjudications. It mirrors what's on the ATF Form 4473 you'd see for any firearm purchase, plus a few NFA-specific items.
Download & fill out our suppressor intake form
Fillable PDF — opens in any browser or PDF reader. Click the YES/NO boxes and type into the fields directly, no Word required. Save it, then upload during your reservation, email it to us, or bring it to pickup.
What you'll need to fill it out
- Your ATF eForms username and PIN (from Step 1)
- The same email address you used for Silencer Shop signup (Step 2)
- Honest answers to the eligibility questions — these are the same federal disqualifiers from the standard 4473 form, plus a few NFA-specific items
- Your CPL and driver's license for ID verification at submission
How to return the form to us
Three options once it's filled out:
- Upload during your reservation — the reservation form on our inventory page has a "Silencer eligibility form" upload slot. PDF or Word file is fine.
- Upload to Silencer Shop's portal — routes directly to us automatically.
- Bring it in person — drop off at the shop, or hand to us when you come to pick up the suppressor. Bring your CPL and driver's license either way.
Wait for the tax stamp, then come pick it up
- Wait time varies by ATF workload. eForm submissions have historically moved faster than paper Form 4 applications — sometimes weeks, sometimes months. Silencer Shop tracks your application and notifies you the moment your tax stamp is approved.
- You can keep shopping while you wait. Range visits, training, regular firearm purchases — all of that continues normally. The waiting period only applies to picking up the suppressor itself.
- When you're approved, we'll get notified at Lead Bunker too. Come in at your convenience to complete the transfer.
- At pickup, bring: your CPL, your driver's license, and any documentation Silencer Shop emailed you. The transfer paperwork takes about 15–20 minutes at the counter.
Questions specific to your situation, or stuck somewhere in the Silencer Shop flow? Get in touch — we deal with this process every week and can usually unstick things faster than Silencer Shop support over the phone.