Carothers and Guns

Nathan the Machinist said:
Lets see...
...math....

If you need .5-1.0 cubic inch of volume capacity per grain of powder, and a 50 BMG holds well over 200 grains, a 3-in diameter can would need to be almost 3 ft long. Holy crap what an enormous round to try to quiet. Safe to say it's not practical to get hearing safe on something that big?
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TBH, most suppressors on ANYTHING supersonic really aren't 'hearing safe'.

.50 BMG suppressors are basically for 'sonic signature' suppression, i.e. make a .50 sound less like a .50, or make it a little harder to pinpoint the shooter's position.

The Steyr HS50 with the suppressor issued to the Austrian military is one ridiculously long combo.
 
A good suppressor cools the gas reducing the volume exiting the end of the can, and a well designed suppressor holds the gas long enough to extract heat out of it and also slow the exit velocity of the gas so it creates a ssssppphhh sound rather than a loud pop. It's like uncoupling an air tool and the air escaping out of the hose.

At the end of the day, regardless of the design or who made the can, you're going to want at least half a cubic inch of internal volume per grain of powder burnt to have much success doing this. Otherwise, while quieter, it's still going to be pretty damn loud with a characteristic gunshot blast.


I think a lot of the goal with the use of suppressors on military weapons is to make it where the muzzle blast is not louder than the supersonic crack of the projectile. Because you hear the muzzle blast from the direction the gun was fired but you hear the projectile crack 90° from its closest point to you. If both sounds arrived at your ear in a similar time frame if someone is shooting at you with a suppressor it might sound like they're 90° from their true location.

When wildlife management uses a suppressed .22 to cull a herd of deer on an airport landing strip, the bullet impact dwarfs the sound of the firearm so sometimes the deer aren't even aware they're being shot at, they just notice a thump sound coming from the head of the deer standing next to them. I've heard it's possible to shoot an entire group standing without any of them thinking to run.

The sound of bullet impact on a cranium from a suppressed 22 or 9mm etc is surprisingly loud. Even if the gun and projectile were completely silent, we're still talking about significant noise. It's not like in the movies where the guy squeezes the trigger and there's a little piff sound and the person just drops.
 
Richard338 said:
I shot a "sniper" match in Texas and several guys brought suppressors. After a bunch of shots those cans were so hot they couldn't see through the mirage. Not so good for long strings.
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I've never shot anything that was particularly big suppressed nor have I ever shot long distances and high magnification with something suppressed, but in my limited experience you can put 30 rounds through a rifle and, with regular optics at a regular range, I've not really noticed a lot of problem with that. Of course the rifle I'm talking about is not sub MOA so it's probably a different animal than what you were talking about.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
The sound of bullet impact on a cranium from a suppressed 22 or 9mm etc is surprisingly loud. Even if the gun and projectile were completely silent, we're still talking about significant noise. It's not like in the movies where the guy squeezes the trigger and there's a little piff sound and the person just drops.
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That's for sure, even at 100 yards shooting a 22 you can hear the bullet pass through the cardboard. Shoot a larger object, more solid surface, lot more noise. 22 impacting a 4x4 close enough sounds almost like a nail gun so shoot something like a bone, created a hell of a whack

Richard338 said:
I shot a "sniper" match in Texas and several guys brought suppressors. After a bunch of shots those cans were so hot they couldn't see through the mirage. Not so good for long strings.
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Depends on the round and magnification of the scope but mirage can definitely be bad quick, but I've had mirage so bad at high magnification shooting over a corn field where I had to back off the magnification as well. Higher magnification of scope, quicker you notice the mirage, high quality wraps help but only so much
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
A good suppressor cools the gas reducing the volume exiting the end of the can, and a well designed suppressor holds the gas long enough to extract heat out of it and also slow the exit velocity of the gas so it creates a ssssppphhh sound rather than a loud pop. It's like uncoupling an air tool and the air escaping out of the hose.

At the end of the day, regardless of the design or who made the can, you're going to want at least half a cubic inch of internal volume per grain of powder burnt to have much success doing this. Otherwise, while quieter, it's still going to be pretty damn loud with a characteristic gunshot blast.


I think a lot of the goal with the use of suppressors on military weapons is to make it where the muzzle blast is not louder than the supersonic crack of the projectile. Because you hear the muzzle blast from the direction the gun was fired but you hear the projectile crack 90° from its closest point to you. If both sounds arrived at your ear in a similar time frame if someone is shooting at you with a suppressor it might sound like they're 90° from their true location.

When wildlife management uses a suppressed .22 to cull a herd of deer on an airport landing strip, the bullet impact dwarfs the sound of the firearm so sometimes the deer aren't even aware they're being shot at, they just notice a thump sound coming from the head of the deer standing next to them. I've heard it's possible to shoot an entire group standing without any of them thinking to run.

The sound of bullet impact on a cranium from a suppressed 22 or 9mm etc is surprisingly loud. Even if the gun and projectile were completely silent, we're still talking about significant noise. It's not like in the movies where the guy squeezes the trigger and there's a little piff sound and the person just drops.
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A 300BLK, with a suppressor and subsonic 200gr - 220gr ammo (there are a couple manufacturers who make bullets specifically designed to expand at subsonic velocities) is a lot of fun.

Buddy has one, and the bolt cycling is the loudest thing you hear before the THWAP of the impact. With supersonic rounds though, it's still LOUD.
 
Knibes said:
$200 tax stamp. Depending on how you buy the suppressor your local FFL might charge up to $100 as a transfer fee. Sometimes there is no fee like if the shop has a relationship with the online dealer or if you are buying from their inventory.
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Thx. Is that per piece you buy, or one and done?
 
mb> said:
So dumb.
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I'm definitely not a fan of it, I've paid the tax more times than I care to admit, but at least I have something to show for my government theft. I paid a lot of money in Obamacare fees because I made a choice. The state of Indiana took $550 for plates for my truck last year and at home I have to deal with super crappy roads and a non existent highway department while closer at work I have to deal with over congested roads with lights that aren't timed or make sense.

Least I know after I pay $200 I'll eventually have a can, or SBR, or SBS, or machine gun in my hands instead of paying thousands of dollars each year that end up being wasted. Which I'm not saying the tax money generated from NFA items isn't being wasted, but at least I know I got something in return for the taxes
 
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