Thread: Educate this Canadian

WTF is up with all these suppressors? Are they a government requirement? What's the purpose? In this part of world I've never seen one. I've gone to dozens of gun shows and looked at thousands of guns and have never seen one. I've even been to the Excited Stated of America (USA) to look at their gun shows and haven"t seen one. I did notice one on the show "Life Below Zero". That Glen guy seems to have a "muffler" on his rifle. So educate me and inform me of their purpose, advantage or whatever. Thank you. Inquiring mind wants to know.

We quite like our hearing, also the dog appreciates it quite a lot too Well thats the reason I use them on all my rifles

It's not polite to make lots of noise. Scares other people's animals away. And makes anti-firearms people nervous.

Seriously though, they tend to dampen barrel harmonic vibration and may make a rifle shoot a bit more consistently (which improves accuracy a tad) as well.

This https://www.gunworks.co.nz/suppressors.html

Or This DPT Machinists - DPT Machinists

Or This https://www.facebook.com/gunsmiths.c...8963120123307/

The info is out there..

The list of advantages outweigh the list of disadvantages Canuck.

The primary purpose is to reduce the noise of course. As you would imagine they don't reduce it to "hollywood movie" levels but they take the sting out of the top end and as mikee said, it makes life a lot more pleasant for the shooter, his companions and his dog if he has one. When hunting a suppressor will often allow you to get a second shot away as animals can be confused by the muffled rifle report giving them less cause for alarm. I find this is especially the case on the open tops where there is no cover and you can monitor animal behaviour after your first shot.

The downsides of using a suppressor are of course the added weight, added overall length and the weight-forward balance of the rifle. Most of us justify these by the mechanical advantages of using a suppressor - less recoil, better accuracy and sometimes increased projectile velocity.

While a late starter for using suppressors I'm now a convert and no longer use any non-suppressed rifles. Personally (somewhat tongue in cheek here) I believe suppressors should almost be manatory from a health and safety perspective.

+1 for what the other guys have said.
Personally, Guns are noisy and I don't like having my ears ringing after a shot.
For rabbit shooting with subsonic 22LR it's good being able to shoot multiple animals in a string without changing position.

Pros: suppressed noise = hearing protection for you, your dog and anyone else nearby, less offensive to non shooters who may hear shots in the distance and complain (problem in NZ), when using sub's especially with a 22lr pretty much silent for pest control (great at night), reduced recoil, consistent barrel harmonics can actually improve grouping.
Cons: extra weight at the muzzle, extra length, if shooting a lot they get hot and can cause mirage which effects sight through your scope (only really an issue at the range).

Probably not as common in the states because their laws require a tax stamp application of some kind (don't really know the in's and outs of that) which can take over a year to come through before they can purchase a suppressor - they are gaining more popularity though. In some countries they are banned - most likely due to the the uneducated learning about them from movies where they are for sneaking assassinations... We can readily purchase these in NZ under a standard firearms licence (as you should be able to) and the benefits are great.

I have been using subsonics with a suppressor on a 22 for about 30 years. We were shooting on one of the first farms I got access to. When meeting the farmer for the first time , he gave us a "once over" and asked about our rigs. He was worried about us scaring stock but had to do something about the rabbits. We gave him a go and reassured him that they were quiet. He did not say much, but the following week when we returned, he had been to town and got the same set up and put it on his quad for his sons to use. He said they were so quiet he was happy for his sons to use them when amongst the stock....

With the centrefires, there is still a bang but the volume is greatly reduced. My understanding is that it really knocks back the noise from the powder burn, but does nothing for the supersonic crack from the bullet. So while animals hear it they cannot tell direction easily and with the noise arriving momentarily after the bullet, if the bullet does not hit them (2nd animal or a miss) they tend to associate the noise as coming from where the bullet hit and will often head towards you. Almost all of my hunting is done with suppressors, the only ones that I dont use suppressors on a Full wood stock rifles that I would have to ruin / modify the stock to fit one.

I'm a late convert to the use of suppressors, only been using one on my .308 for about three years. Is all about hearing protection for me, at 45 I have hearing loss of high frequency noises and now struggling to keep up with conversation in noisy environments. All due to gun shots (and probably loud music too). I don't want to loss any more. The other benefits of reduced recoil, less disturbance of game and slightly improved accuracy (not always but usually) are nice too.

Originally Posted by canuck hunter

WTF is up with all these suppressors? ....

I know what you mean - 20 years ago suppressors were used on 22lr rifles but basically unheard of for centrefire. I had a gap of not doing much hunting then when I get back into it, it seems everyone had a suppressor on their centrefire rifle. I have some classic rifles I will never chop or thread, but have had suppressed rifles and have one now for shooting over a dog (largely with subsonics). For me, the main reason is to reduce damage to the dog's hearing, with the added benefits of reduced damage to my hearing, and reduced recoil. Even with the unsuppressed rifles I have subsonic and reduced loads to reduce the noise and hearing damage.
One potential downside is that the general public seem to think they make rifles look more "evil", and are used for criminal purposes.

Thanks for all the answers guys, I now see the need although it's too late for me as I have permanent ringing in my ears from years of shooting. I still think they are ugly and must throw off the balance of the rifle but I I guess that's the price to pay for the reduction in noise and recoil. My largest calibre is .30-06 so recoil really isn't a problem but I guess less is a bonus.

Thanks again to all that explained it to me.

Originally Posted by canuck hunter

Thanks for all the answers guys, I now see the need although it's too late for me as I have permanent ringing in my ears from years of shooting. I still think they are ugly and must throw off the balance of the rifle but I I guess that's the price to pay for the reduction in noise and recoil. My largest calibre is .30-06 so recoil really isn't a problem but I guess less is a bonus.

Thanks again to all that explained it to me.

NZ has become very soft...I think it is our leadership...here in NZ we still separate the men from the boys, with crowbars...But I am with you I don't really understand why people take a perfectly good rifle and chop half the barrel off and then make a muffler to take it back to it's original length, if not longer and then bitch cos the rifle wont group

Originally Posted by Shadowsol

Pros: suppressed noise = hearing protection for you, your dog and anyone else nearby, less offensive to non shooters who may hear shots in the distance and complain (problem in NZ), when using sub's especially with a 22lr pretty much silent for pest control (great at night), reduced recoil, consistent barrel harmonics can actually improve grouping.
Cons: extra weight at the muzzle, extra length, if shooting a lot they get hot and can cause mirage which effects sight through your scope (only really an issue at the range).

Probably not as common in the states because their laws require a tax stamp application of some kind (don't really know the in's and outs of that) which can take over a year to come through before they can purchase a suppressor - they are gaining more popularity though. In some countries they are banned - most likely due to the the uneducated learning about them from movies where they are for sneaking assassinations... We can readily purchase these in NZ under a standard firearms licence (as you should be able to) and the benefits are great.

"Great at Night" pretty much why they are banned here in Canada but we make banning stuff a national pastime I think potatoe lauchers are next on the hit list, be it a sad when they'll sell ya a deer tag but to fill it you'll have to jump outta a tree and stick it!!

Ive had one on my original .22 for 30+yrs now and its quiter than my airrifle .my 3centrefires share one and its a godsend too.Im awaiting the inventor (no doubt a kiwi) who'll make one for 12guages -I will personally be first to give him or her a big wet beery KISS!
ive heard a lot of people who aren't that comfortable around firearms(noise being no 1 one scarey)say the use of the suppressor does put them more at ease to a degree ,which i think is a bonus from our POV

Originally Posted by DavidGunn

NZ has become very soft...I think it is our leadership...here in NZ we still separate the men from the boys, with crowbars...But I am with you I don't really understand why people take a perfectly good rifle and chop half the barrel off and then make a muffler to take it back to it's original length, if not longer and then bitch cos the rifle wont group

I guess you are referring to "bush pig" set ups? I wouldn't buy a rifle for a caliber that benefits from a longer barrel and cut it down to suppress it either. That said, I would have no problem buying a Ruger American Ranch with a factory threaded 16.1" barrel and suppressing that for the bush. As it is I only shoot suppressed with my rifles, 24", 22" and 18.5" barrels + suppressor length - all shoot very well, and I would like to save what is left of my hearing after years of abuse.