First time shooting suppressed

View · by **nhluke** on Thu Jan 14, 2016 6:44 pm

I like it. There were many threads about how it's not worth it, but my experience (one day) found it to be very worthwhile. The suppressor used was an acc omega.

The 300 b/o definitely was my favorite, especially subsonic.
I was impressed with the 5.56 reduction in sound pressure and at 100 yards the omega had little effect on poi. It does seem to through a little more gas and junk back at the shooter, but it may just be more noticeable due to recoil and concussion reduction.
I didn't use a dB meter yet but my buddy shot a couple times minus ear protection and said it will be much better for hunting. 22lr unsupressed levels
I also took a 260 rem out for the first time and also did some testing on ar500 coatings.
I'm surprised I'm surprised "they" don't require suppressed target shooting. It has so many benefits it would "make sense" to require them. I recognize it's not the only way to shoot blah blah blah and I'm not advocating legislation....

View · by **Ghost** on Thu Jan 14, 2016 7:50 pm

Agree with you.

I took my dad for the first time last fall and brought several of my suppressors. He was so amazed at how quiet and manageable the pistols were. It really does make shooting more fun.

View · by **Ironbear** on Thu Jan 14, 2016 8:06 pm

I got to shoot a suppressor, for the first time, recently. The sound reduction was noticeable, but not as much as I expected. It was mounted on a Walther P22, which had an awful trigger! Overall I wasn't terribly impressed with the package. Still...

View · by **Ghost** on Fri Jan 15, 2016 9:23 am

Ironbear wrote:I got to shoot a suppressor, for the first time, recently. The sound reduction was noticeable, but not as much as I expected. It was mounted on a Walther P22, which had an awful trigger! Overall I wasn't terribly impressed with the package. Still...

Did it sound like this?
LINK

View · by **Bearcatrp** on Sat Jan 16, 2016 6:27 am

I went to del tone when they had the invite to learn and shoot suppressors. Was amazed how quiet a 308 sounded. Heck the 9mm was louder suppressed than the 308 suppressed. But to pay 200 bucks and all the BS paperwork to get one is not worth it to me. Am hoping the bill introduced gains traction and allows anyone to purchase these without the 200 dollar extortion fee.

View · by **igofast** on Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:05 am

nhluke wrote:...
I didn't use a dB meter yet but my buddy shot a couple times minus ear protection and said it will be much better for hunting. 22lr unsupressed levels
...

What DB meter are you planning on using? Most 'off the shelf' db meters, or apps for phones clip at <110db. There's ways around it - put them in a box or whatnot to bring the spl down enough to be measured - but then it's not apples to apples comparison.

Ironbear wrote:I got to shoot a suppressor, for the first time, recently. The sound reduction was noticeable, but not as much as I expected. It was mounted on a Walther P22, which had an awful trigger! Overall I wasn't terribly impressed with the package. Still...

In order to take the most advantage of a suppressor you need to be shooting subsonic ammo. Do you know if that was the case? The P22 usually requires a stout(~1300 fps) load, so if you were using the same stuff it normally shoots I can understand why you weren't impressed. The good news is that the suppressor creates additional backpressure so you can use subsonic ammo and it will still cycle reliably on a gun that may have previously been finicky.

View · by **jshuberg** on Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:40 pm

A standard sound pressure meter isn't accurate at all at measuring gunshots. You need a meter designed to measure sound impulse levels.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

View · by **nhluke** on Sat Jan 16, 2016 7:25 pm

I use to do quite a bit of audio production/installs. I will not be using a flip phone to test spl's.

View · by **2in2out** on Sun Jan 17, 2016 9:10 am

I'm still waiting for the ATF tax stamps. Don't silencers go, "pew pew", like in the movies? :rotf:

As far as I know, .22LR from a pistol-length barrel should never go supersonic, because the burn time isn't long enough. P22's have a reputation for being a little finicky on ammo (of which I can attest from personal experience), and I'm under the impression that shooting suppressed wouldn't change which ammo I use, because it's all subsonic.

View · by **Ghost** on Sun Jan 17, 2016 9:39 am

2in2out wrote:I'm still waiting for the ATF tax stamps. Don't silencers go, "pew pew", like in the movies?

As far as I know, .22LR from a pistol-length barrel should never go supersonic, because the burn time isn't long enough. P22's have a reputation for being a little finicky on ammo (of which I can attest from personal experience), and I'm under the impression that shooting suppressed wouldn't change which ammo I use, because it's all subsonic.

My video above was made with bulk federal ammo. I've never shot subsonic. Suppressed the action cycling is the loudest part. Unsuppressed is louder than the video depicts.

View · by **Ironbear** on Sun Jan 17, 2016 4:27 pm

igofast wrote:
Ironbear wrote:I got to shoot a suppressor, for the first time, recently. The sound reduction was noticeable, but not as much as I expected. It was mounted on a Walther P22, which had an awful trigger! Overall I wasn't terribly impressed with the package. Still...

In order to take the most advantage of a suppressor you need to be shooting subsonic ammo. Do you know if that was the case? The P22 usually requires a stout(~1300 fps) load, so if you were using the same stuff it normally shoots I can understand why you weren't impressed. The good news is that the suppressor creates additional backpressure so you can use subsonic ammo and it will still cycle reliably on a gun that may have previously been finicky.

I am pretty sure the ammo was NOT subsonic. Overall, I didn't think the suppressor attenuated much, but I didn't know what to expect. I don't know the brand, but it seemed that if I was going to spend the money and trouble, I would want it quieter. My main takeaway was that I would want to do some research to see what I was REALLY getting, before I put my money down; and to calibrate my expectations.

I found the Walther to be truly unimpressive. It had one of the worst triggers I have ever experienced! My first thought was that I forgot the safety... but... no... I think I've shot better double-actions.

As I stated, I found the overall package uninspiring. Would love to have chance to try some other setups though!

View · by **griffdawg** on Sat Jan 23, 2016 1:03 pm

I went last night to inaugurate a couple cans. My first impression with the specwar 556 was great, comparable to a 22, and reduced recoil. The sparrow was excellent as well. I did bring some Remington, winchester hyper x, and Aguila subs. The subs obviously had the least sound. The Remington and winchester sounded a little subdued, but with different tones. All of these were shot with no ears inside.

View · by **ijosef** on Sat Jan 23, 2016 2:14 pm

I suppose it all depends on the design/efficiency of the suppressor, same as a muffler on a car. I've never fired a suppressed firearm, but I know the principle is the same. I wonder how quiet a small caliber subsonic pistol round (like a .380) would sound with an efficient suppressor.

View · by **Boone** on Sun Jan 24, 2016 8:54 am

I just got my Specwar k 5.56 can in last week and took it to bills to gauge bullet drop and zero the rifle. Being a lefty, there was a lot more gas in my face, which I expected and plan to tune the gas block a little and possible add a gas buster charging handle. My girl friend really like shooting it as it was much quieter than our unsuppressed firearms. Her being a right handed shooter, she didn't have an issues with the gas. I definitely more excited to go back to shooting outdoors with this setup.

[youtube=https://youtu.be/TGwQdSrhAY8][/youtube]

View · by **Ranb** on Sun Jan 24, 2016 6:42 pm

igofast wrote:In order to take the most advantage of a suppressor you need to be shooting subsonic ammo.

I disagree. A silencer is only intended to suppress muzzle blast, it does nothing for action noise or sonic booms. A silencer will reduce noise by about the same amount no matter what load is used. A standard supersonic load will generally use more powder than a subsonic load, so the muzzle blast is louder to begin with and the suppressed blast will be louder also. But a 30 decibel decrease is a 30 decibel decrease no matter where you started.

The P22 usually requires a stout(~1300 fps) load, so if you were using the same stuff it normally shoots I can understand why you weren't impressed.

Not mine. I generally use Blazer ammo in my pistols with 5" barrels or less. I get about 1070 fps in a pistol and 1250 fps in a rifle with Blazer. But even the slower target velocity ammo works in my P-22.

The good news is that the suppressor creates additional back pressure so you can use subsonic ammo and it will still cycle reliably on a gun that may have previously been finicky.

The only time I notice additional back pressure making a difference was on gas operated rifles like the AR-15.

Barrel length makes a difference. I can tell the difference between my Savage with a 16" barrel and a Winchester with a 20" barrel. Ditto for the 5" barrel on my Ruger compared to the 3" barrel on the P-22.

Randy