How effective is a silencer on a gun?

Question

im just curious, i find it hard to believe that it cud make that big of a difference. in movies and videogames they make it sound like a dart gun, but this cant be realistic. what is it really like?

Answer 1

With the right ammo, no louder than an air rifle, often less.

Answer 2

the movies isnt realistic, and it does help a bit but i find it more cumbersome than helpful. ive shot the mp5sd and it wasnt that helpful and it just added an extra 5lbs to it.

Answer 3

Sound suppressed firearms are relatively loud, but suppressed .22 pistols and rifles are very quiet.  Most all can be fired without hearing protection, but the key to what the suppressor does, in layman's terms, is to make a gunshot sound like something other than a gunshot.  This is an accurate description: They do not sound like gunshots.  More like a pneumatic staple gun.  

There are some very effective silencers though; the MP5SD is regarded as having the worlds most effective silencer on a centerfire firearm, when used with subsonic 9mm. The sound of the bolt sliding open and closed is louder than the report of the bullet.

And you keep reading about subsonic ammo, which is a key to a silence weapon. If you put a silencer on a rifle for example an M4, but use supersonic ammo, the sound coming from the gun will sound like the above mentioned pneumatic stapler, but as the bullet travels faster than the speed of sound through the air, it will create a mini sonic boom, which will sound like a very loud crack. the muzzle is not the only place sound comes from too.. with a semi auto, you have to remember that the slide slams back exposing the breech and allowing some of the sound to escape back that way. Not to mention the bolts / bolt carriers themselves are pretty loud too ( like the AK for example)

The most silent weapon you could possilby make would be a single shot or bolt action .22LR with subsonic ammo: that would sound probably quieter than a bb gun.

So when you see in a movie a guy with a .45 pistol and a suppressor fire and it makes a little pfft noise, they are full of c**p.  

Answer 4

G'Day mate I've shot a 22lr with a silencer with  subsonic about 1000 fps and all you here is the click of the trigger and the in packed on the rabbit it hits is loader than the shot. cheers mate.

Answer 5

if you are using a bolt action weapon, and sub-sonic ammunition. it wont even sound like a gun being fired.

Answer 6

They are technically "suppressors".  The level of decibel suppression varies from can to can.   Unless  you are using sub sonic ammunition, you will likely get some noise and you will always hear the action on a semiautomatic firearm.  When shooting outside, you will not need ear plugs.  It makes a subgun suprisingly quiet but not as silent as portrayed on TV and in movies.

Answer 7

Depends. If you're using subsonic ammo it can be effective to the point where all you hear is a clacking sound of the action going back and forth.

No suppressor makes the goofy *fap* noise that they use in the movies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ji0WsngB...

all you're hearing there is the action working ^^

Answer 8

I've only fired one professionally suppressed firearm. 'Silencer' is just a Hollywood thing, all a 'silencer' does in real life is to suppress the sound of the gun shot.  A few years ago I fired a professionally suppressed Beretta Model 92 and I was not impressed.  The vendor explained that the silencer had to be refilled with oil after every few shots to maintain efficiency.  Also, that subsonic 9mm ammo should be used for best results.  It still sounded like a gunshot to me, just not as loud.  He said all it was expected to do was to change the pitch and loudness to make it sound more like a car backfiring than someone firing a gun.  I guess it did if you weren't paying attention.  The added length to the pistol made it more unwieldy and although it never did I kept worrying about the oil leaking from the suppressor and ruining my uniform.

H

Answer 9

A silencer is just a muffler for a gun.  It provides a space for the hot high pressure gun powder gases to expand and cool.  The word silencer is a marketing gimmick coined by Maxim over 100 years ago.  It is also a legal term used by the federal government.  Sound suppressor or moderator better describe what they do.

Most silencers are made from a metal tube and baffles.  The baffles are usually cone shaped and help reflect the gasses back on themselves and create turbulence.  Rubber disks (called wipes) can be used; they are very effective but wear out quickly whereas a metal silencer equipped with baffles can last thousands of rounds as long as it is not overheated or mounted crooked.

A good silencer will reduce muzzle blast by 20-30 decibels or 100-1000 times lower.  It does not reduce action noise (bolt moving back and forth) or noise made by the bullet as it passes through the air.  A bullet moving faster than 1100 feet per second makes a sonic boom that sounds like a whip creaking; but is much less noisy than the muzzle blast.  Subsonic ammo is usually significantly quieter than full power ammo due to the lower powder charge and less bullet flight noise.    

Suppressed firearms are still noisy, a 22 rimfire rifle will be about 115 dB, 9mm pistol 125 dB, 223 Remington rifle 130 dB, 308 rifle about 135 dB.  Impulse noise tend to sound much less noisy than continuous noise.  The effectiveness of the silencer also depends on the ammo and gun used.  The only good way to tell how well a silencer works is to measure the suppressed and unsuppressed levels with a suitable noise meter.  A cheap meter from Radio Shack will not work; one with a response time of no more than 20 micro seconds is required.  When shooting a rifle or pistol with a good silencer, you may be impressed with how much less noisy it is.  While it might still be loud enough to require hearing protection, the difference will be dramatic.  Shooting under a roof, inside or next to a building makes it feel much louder than when shooting in the open.  A powerful center fire rifle using subsonic ammo sounds like a car door slamming when used with a silencer.  A high powered rifle like the 308 is louder, but entirely comfortable to shoot when suppressed.  Silencers work poorly on revolvers due to the cylinder/barrel gap.  Some custom made revolvers with a tiny gap and the 1895 Nagant which seals the gap work very well.

If you watch Youtube videos or TV programs that feature real suppressed weapons, then you may not be impressed with the difference in the noise level.  A typical camcorder microphone and TV speakers are not capable of recording and playing back the extreme differences (as much as 1000 times difference) in noise.  Hollywood sound effects are normally used to put gun fire sound on film or video as many movie sets do not allow the use of live ammo for safety concerns.

Silencers are legal for civilians in 37 of the states.  Federal law does not require a permit or license to own them, just the payment of a $200 tax.  ATF authorization is routine (1-2 months) and I have never heard of anyone being denied as long as they filled out the paperwork (2 forms, finger prints, photo) correctly.  Take a look at http://www.subguns.com and http://www.silencertests.com for more info.  Al Paulson’s Silencer History and Performance is an excellent book to check out.

Answer 10

Very effective to the point that its very difficult to detect as a gunshot.*