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Suppressors

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LittleCalm

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Noob question here. Can anyone provide guidance on general pros/cons of suppressors, whether they are just a fun to play with/tacticool concept vs actually helpful or functional (beyond the obvious noise reduction), what firearms/calibers work best, etc., or where to find some good basic beginner advice? I can obviously surf the net to gather info but thought I’d start with the brain trust here. I’m already aware of the legality issues from state to state so not looking for guidance on that. All opinions welcome.
 
Shooting a gun with a suppressor will blow your mind; I can't think of an instance where someone said "ew, no, I don't like that!" after shooting a suppressed gun - Fudds and antis probably would never even show up to pull the trigger.

YouTube videos don't do justice to the noise reduction because of microphone issues.

Suppressors also *slightly* increase muzzle velocity.

 
with an sbr it helps with cycling on a weaker .223 ammo a bit, as you get more gas pressure, obviously.
as of tacticool effect - for folks with tinnitus it actually makes quite a difference, less bang. as of legality issues, etc. - unfortunately, it is all civilian idiocy.
 
One thing to know is that to get maximum effect from a suppressor, you’d like the bullet to be going subsonic when it leaves the barrel. The “crack” of a supersonic bullet breaking the sound barrier can be surprisingly loud. That’s why 45 ACP is slightly more effectively suppressed than 9mm, since most 9mm ammo is supersonic while most 45’s are subsonic. You can buy (or reload) subsonic 9mm, but now you are giving up the velocity advantage that makes modern 9mm as effective as 45 ACP. This is also one of the motives behind 300 ACC Blackout. If you run 5.56x45 subsonic, you really just have a glorified .22 LR. With 300 Blk you can run subsonic with a much heavier bullet than you can with 5.56 and thus have a more effective round down range.

However, by far the major noise reduction accomplished by a suppressor is in the moderation of the explosive expansion of the propellant thus eliminating muzzle blast (and coincidently reducing recoil and muzzle flash). This is true no matter what the speed of the bullet. For the normal shooter, the sound of a supersonic bullet is unimportant. Not having a sonic signature only matters when you are trying to achieve maximum stealth in military usage (such as sentry elimination).
 
The suppressors in my family are for NH hunting: the Gemtech Tracker can on the 6.8 upper on the AR. It's also pretty effective on the 5.56 upper. For fun plinking without ear pro, the Ceiner suppressed Ruger Mk2 KMK 10 with Gemtech "suppressor" .22lr ammo is very quiet. The Gemtech Viper can on the .45 Mac 10 full auto takes out a lot of the bark. Most fun of all is my home brew 20 ga suppressed shotgun. Suppressors are fun toys. Jack.
 
I must admit, of all the stupid MA gun control laws that exist just to make life difficult for legitimate firearms enthusiasts (and you can be sure that public safety has nothing to do with these laws, it's all about punishing those who have ideas different from your own), the Commonwealth's virtual ban on suppressors is the worst. In England, to shoot a gun without a “moderator” (Brit for suppressor) is considered to be extremely rude. The size of most silencers preclude them from being used in the day to day crime that results in most cases of “gun violence” ( I’ve still never seen a gun shoot someone on its own). I bet most gang bangers depend on the noise of their gunfire to intimidate and frighten their victims. The last thing they want is a 6 inch silencer hanging off their Glock making it so that it doesn’t deafen their intended target.

I use an FN FNX 45 Tactical as my home defense handgun. In a free state it would make a perfect home defense handgun for me, threaded barrel for a suppressor, already cut for an RMR, rail to mount a light, 15 rounds of 45 ACP. In MA, I can’t have a suppressor and I’m stuck with a 10 round mag. For a home defense gun, a suppressor is one of the most valuable additions. It allows you to engage an intruder while preserving your and your loved ones hearing. Fire off a few rounds of 45 at an indoor range without ear pro and see how long it takes for your hearing to recover (if ever). Do it with an unsuppressed AR in a narrow hallway and there is a good chance of permanent hearing loss.

There is absolutely no “common sense” reason to ban silencers. Again, it is only done by those who want to punish the “deplorable” folks who “cling to their guns and their religion”.

Done ranting.
 
I own a lot of silencers from a lot of companies. One thing I learned early on is many suppressor companies publish a lot of bs dB numbers. Peak dBs do not matter, so ignore the numbers you see from anybody except Pew Science. The other thing to keep in mind is the platform, I have suppressed bolt guns that are quieter than a suppressed 9mm with subs. Gas gun performance is completely different. You are getting a big portion of the sound coming out of the action. This means even a perfectly tuned gas gun is going to be loud to the shooter. If you have any questions about brands let me know. If you want to see pure objective performance check out the data at Pew Science. It’s the only objective data on silencer performance available, and most of the data is free.

pewscience.com

Suppressor Sound Testing — PEW Science

Industry leading independent suppressor testing and metering. Real Sound Signature Reviews with Silencer Sound Standard test data. The Suppression Rating determines what is "hearing safe" for your use; hunting, self defense, and target shooting. The most accurate sound metering data ava
pewscience.com pewscience.com
 
Before I gave up my FFL 07 SOT here in fine state of Commichusetts where you need the above to (legally) own cans I had several. All I can say is if you live in a the free world buy many. Yup, not cheap but it makes a huge difference in noise and felt recoil. I had one for a 308 and it sounded like someone shooting on a different range. A few guys even shot it without ears. I would not recommend that on 308....but several other calibers it's good to go. By the way.... plinking with a .22 in your garage is the most fun you'll have with your clothes on. Mind you.... you still need to use the noggin as far as safety is considered but shooting at home make Commichusetts somewhat tolerable!
 
Lots of pros, but I will be the odd man out and mention some cons I found regularly shooting a 5.56 10.5 SBR AR with a YHM can.

The can gets really hot. I made the mistake of putting the rifle down on my shooting mat after 20-30 rounds and it melted it. Im always cautious letting the rifle hang on the sling where it may lay against my pants and burn me.

Its dirty, after several hundred rounds the AR is absolutely filthy. It will malfunction eventually if you dont keep it lubed, which exacerbates the final con....

It blows crap back into your face. I ended up getting a PRI Gasbuster charging handle that helped alleviate this some.

With all that, suppressors are far better than a hearing aid.
 
Cap'n Mike said:
Lots of pros, but I will be the odd man out and mention some cons I found regularly shooting a 5.56 10.5 SBR AR with a YHM can.

The can gets really hot. I made the mistake of putting the rifle down on my shooting mat after 20-30 rounds and it melted it. Im always cautious letting the rifle hang on the sling where it may lay against my pants and burn me.

Its dirty, after several hundred rounds the AR is absolutely filthy. It will malfunction eventually if you dont keep it lubed, which exacerbates the final con....

It blows crap back into your face. I ended up getting a PRI Gasbuster charging handle that helped alleviate this some.

With all that, suppressors are far better than a hearing aid.
Click to expand...
Is it a YHM Turbo? Did you tune the AR to the silencer?
 
If you can legally get a suppressor. Do it. Once you do you’ll never go back. They do an amazing job mitigating the concussion from centerfire firearms. I was literally just shooting my Ruger Ranch in x39 with a Sandman S about an hour ago. The downfall of starting down this road is stamp collecting. I rarely look at firearms now that can not act as a suppressor host.
 
one-eyed Jack said:
The suppressors in my family are for NH hunting: the Gemtech Tracker can on the 6.8 upper on the AR. It's also pretty effective on the 5.56 upper. For fun plinking without ear pro, the Ceiner suppressed Ruger Mk2 KMK 10 with Gemtech "suppressor" .22lr ammo is very quiet. The Gemtech Viper can on the .45 Mac 10 full auto takes out a lot of the bark. Most fun of all is my home brew 20 ga suppressed shotgun. Suppressors are fun toys. Jack.
Click to expand...
Supp 6.8.... I have nothing appropriate to say but I'm a fan
 
yes a $200 stamp for every suppressor or NFA item. and yes. you can use a 45cal pistol suppressor on 9mm. or a 30cal rifle suppressor on 556. there are diminishing returns when the bore of the can is larger than the caliber being fired. but sometimes it’s worth it. I don’t use rimfire in anything but rimfire suppressors. due to the exposed lead and cleaning necessary. I use jacketed in all my centerfire cans.
 
Cap'n Mike said:
Lots of pros, but I will be the odd man out and mention some cons I found regularly shooting a 5.56 10.5 SBR AR with a YHM can.

The can gets really hot. I made the mistake of putting the rifle down on my shooting mat after 20-30 rounds and it melted it. Im always cautious letting the rifle hang on the sling where it may lay against my pants and burn me.

Its dirty, after several hundred rounds the AR is absolutely filthy. It will malfunction eventually if you dont keep it lubed, which exacerbates the final con....

It blows crap back into your face. I ended up getting a PRI Gasbuster charging handle that helped alleviate this some.

With all that, suppressors are far better than a hearing aid.
Click to expand...
1615084199923.png
 
one-eyed Jack said:
The suppressors in my family are for NH hunting: the Gemtech Tracker can on the 6.8 upper on the AR. It's also pretty effective on the 5.56 upper. For fun plinking without ear pro, the Ceiner suppressed Ruger Mk2 KMK 10 with Gemtech "suppressor" .22lr ammo is very quiet. The Gemtech Viper can on the .45 Mac 10 full auto takes out a lot of the bark. Most fun of all is my home brew 20 ga suppressed shotgun. Suppressors are fun toys. Jack.
Click to expand...
you should try branching out from Gemtech. Lots of the newer options blow them out of the water...even more so now that their engineering staff works for GSL and new products are essentially DOA.
 
I currently own two, and a 22 rimfire can is in NFA jail waiting for my stamp., Suppressors add a uniqueness to shooting unlike anything you have heard. When I shoot my handloaded subsonic ammo through a can you can literally hear the "spin vortex" the bullet creates as it traverses downrange. Suppressors actually justify owning and shooting a 300BO !
 

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