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Old March 9, 2013, 07:44 PM   #1
cryogenic419
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Shooting at the range next to somebody with a suppressed rifle

So we had a good day of weather in my area today, decided to take the rifle out and have some fun. While I am shooting, another guy shows up with a suppressed .223 Rem 700. All I can say is WOW. I cannot believe how amazingly quiet it was when he fired. I've shot suppressed pistol before and I have seen rifle videos so I kind of had an idea of what to expect but I never would have imagined it to be that quiet.

Very cool...and just adds more fuel to the fire I already have about wanting to get a suppressor.
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Old March 10, 2013, 10:56 PM   #2
Achilles11B
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I hear you. After shooting the roommate's SCAR-17 with his YHM can attached, I'm stacking my pennies until I can pick one up for my AR's.
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Old March 11, 2013, 12:09 AM   #3
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I kick myself for not getting one sooner, especially when the permanent ringing in my ears flares up! I got the YHM QD Phantom and switch the one can between several different rifles.
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Old March 11, 2013, 09:48 PM   #4
Technosavant
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Whenever I'm using one of my cans at the range I usually end up having somebody come over to see what I'm doing. They just aren't used to things being that quiet (not movie quiet of course, but quieter than an unmuffled firearm).
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Old March 11, 2013, 09:58 PM   #5
James K
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A friend who designed suppressors once said that the idea was not necessarily to make a gun perfectly quiet but to make it sound not like a gun.

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Old March 12, 2013, 06:11 AM   #6
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LOL, I think that is the post hoc rationalization because they really can't make them perfectly quiet in any sort of reasonably sized package. They would if they could. After all, if people can't hear it, then it definitely would not sound like a gun...anything else...or anything at all other than silence.
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Old March 12, 2013, 09:06 PM   #7
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Suppressed bolt guns are the best

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Old March 13, 2013, 08:08 AM   #8
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We can't use suppressors at our range ........
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Old March 13, 2013, 03:16 PM   #9
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^^^^ Other than you can't use one, do they articulate a reason for the rule? Has anyone asked for an explanation?
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Old March 13, 2013, 06:08 PM   #10
cryogenic419
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It was by no means perfectly quiet, but there wasn't the usual boom going off everytime he pulled the trigger. The only sound I really noticed was the higher pitched cracking from the bullet breaking the sound barrier.

Why their use isn't encouraged more is beyond me.
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Old March 13, 2013, 07:15 PM   #11
Brian Pfleuger
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cryogenic419
Why their use isn't encouraged more is beyond me.
Frankly, it's because US law on the matter is stupid.

The original NFA, which controls suppressors, actually included handguns instead. The sponsors realized that it could not pass and dropped handguns, adding suppressors as a "compromise".

In many other parts of the world, suppressors are cheap, available "over the counter" immediately in most firearms retailers and not only encouraged but actually REQUIRED in some circumstances.

How suppressors were so demonized in 1934, I don't know. Now, Hollywood ensures that Americans see them as the tools of the ruthless, secret assassin, rather than the useful tool that they really are.
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Old March 13, 2013, 07:39 PM   #12
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And if it weren't for the NFA, suppressors wouldn't cost so darned much to begin with. But no one's going to spend $200 on a tax stamp for a $100 suppressor, so the suppressors are priced higher to make them "worthwhile".

Note that I'm not saying the price is jacked up just because they can - a lot of it that suppressors for the U.S. market are designed to last a long time, since the tax stamp makes them so expensive to replace. So we have suppressors that are engineered extremely well, can often be disassembled for cleaning, and are made out of stuff like titanium or inconel.
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Old March 14, 2013, 07:12 AM   #13
eodinert
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I spent $200 for stamp on a $100 suppressor.

Suppressors cost a lot because exotic metals and research are not cheap. Cheap suppressors have neither exotic metals, nor any effort put into their design.
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Old March 14, 2013, 01:19 PM   #14
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Scott is right; the $200 tax stamp pretty much ensures that most suppressors in the US are of heirloom quality... it isn't even just the $200 stamp. If it were ONLY that it would be easier to handle. The real trick is also the extended (5-6 month) wait for approval and the extensive paperwork. If it were only another $200 I would likely have quite a few more (as would others). It's the hassle of the paperwork and the long wait that keeps me from having numerous cans.

Since it's such a chore to get approval for one, you aren't that interested in buying less than the very best. The sting of an extra hundred bucks or two for a quality one is but a memory by the time the Form 4 comes back from Atlanta. A so-so suppressor is an annoyance every time you use it thereafter.

I know if I had to do it again I'd have a different .22 can and maybe a different 5.56 one. When I went for a .45 this time I did my research first and bought what I could determine was one of the very best on the market.
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Old March 14, 2013, 02:58 PM   #15
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It boggles me how the media has manipulated the suppressor so. And what's worth, it extends outside of hollywood as well.

Example:

Girlfriend and I went to the Infantry Museum at Ft. Benning. In the Vietnam hall, there is a LRRP exhibit, with an intergally suppressed Ruger Mk I.

My girlfriend recognized the pistol immediately as the predessecor to the Mk III she likes to shoot and then grew horrified when she read the description of the gun and the sobriquet of "hush puppy."

Now all suppressors are evil to her, regardlless of purpose.
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Old March 14, 2013, 05:22 PM   #16
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Geetarman,



I was told when I asked why...."because we don't want to deal with any couch commandos with unnecessary, government controlled firearms and items out here pretending to be navy seals."........Ooo did that statement make me

They have a sign up that pretty much states no NFA items are permitted on the range.
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Old March 14, 2013, 11:48 PM   #17
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I have been working on two silencers for a month now. Both are all stainless with cone blast baffles and K baffles; one for my 5.56 and another for my 308.

Total cost will be about $150 for both not including the taxes. I am fortunate enough to have the use of a friend's lathe instead of buying my own.

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Old March 16, 2013, 08:43 AM   #18
SR420
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I have one sound suppressor that I use on several different rifles
and it's easily the best investment I've made in regards to shooting.

I wish everyone used a suppressor on their firearms.
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Old March 16, 2013, 09:25 AM   #19
Nathan
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Quote:
Geetarman,



I was told when I asked why...."because we don't want to deal with any couch commandos with unnecessary, government controlled firearms and items out here pretending to be navy seals."........Ooo did that statement make me

They have a sign up that pretty much states no NFA items are permitted on the range.
Hmmm so they decided the best way to stop an imagined threat of ignorant shooters with silencers with an ignorant unfounded rule. Well boy they sure showed you their true colors! I imagine they have other ignorance and bias which is hurting people's enjoyment of the shooting sports.


This is why I left the state range here....both the shooters and the "extra" rules got to me.
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Old March 16, 2013, 10:16 AM   #20
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I only go to that range anymore if I'm giving a bid close in the area, or the other ones are closed.
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Old March 16, 2013, 11:50 AM   #21
KO3422
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Suppressor, it's a helluva addictive drug.
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Old April 7, 2013, 07:47 PM   #22
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I can't imagine why a range wouldn't allow legal suppressor use. I completely agree with SR420; I wish everyone used suppressors.

Nothing's more annoying than when you're at the range with some buddies, you're all shooting suppressed, then some guy with an unsuppressed semi-auto rifle with a muzzle break starts blasting away next to you.

That's why I put an AAC flash hider on my main AR; my buddy hated shooting with me because I don't own a rifle suppressor yet. So now I can shoot my rifle with his SDN-6 while I wait for my tax stamp to come in.
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Old April 9, 2013, 11:47 AM   #23
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In britain if you want a suppressor all you do is mention " Its for HEALTH AND SAFETY" and boom you have permission .....down side is the add a lot of weight to the light end of the gun and tend to put it off balance on your when your hunting which is a pain but they are fab things

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Old April 17, 2013, 03:22 AM   #24
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The suppressor I have is an old first generation design which only stays quiet as long as the wipes are new – two or three 30 round magazines – and it is bulky for a 45 ACP unit by the standards of today’s technology. But it is an original Powder Springs MAC suppressor which goes with my select-fire MAC-10 so I’m not too concerned about replacing it.
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Old April 17, 2013, 04:43 AM   #25
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My only use of a suppressor, this was on a .22 rifle, my buddy's Dad owned it, shooting Pidgins in the barn?

His Dad not to pleased with the holes in the tin roof!
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