differance in silencers

[crotalus001]

TONS of inaccurate info in this thread. Silencers (NOT more accurately called suppressors as Hiram Maxim who invented them called them silencers) are legal in all but 6 states (7 if you count WA where you can own them but not use them), they are VERY useful for a variety of reasons from pest control in city limits to teaching people to shoot to reducing noise pollution/hearing loss in shooters, and they are just plain FUN.
I LEGALLY own 2 silencers AND a full auto maching gun. LEGALLY.

[BenchRest]

(7 if you count WA where you can own them but not use them)

Makes you wonder...

[TargetGunFan]

Originally Posted by HEMI

Supressors are used by criminals and are illegal just about everywhere.
They have no use to the law abiding my .02.

OP, the difference as stated is life expectancy and yes on a tech 9 it will make a big difference, think explosion vs. cap gun.

You sir are either grossly misinformed or willfully ignorant, supressors are used to be a good neighbor and reduce noise. Its pretty obvious you have no experience with supressors. First of like others have said they aren't silencers they don't silence anything. There are 3 noises a bullet makes or 2 if sub-sonic. There is a pop the sound of compressed gas escaping, there is is a crack of breaking the sound barrier, and there is a hiss of water vapor boiling off the surface of the bullet. The suppresor reduces or removes the pop. It does nothing about the crack or the hiss. I have several suppressors and all of them sound similar to cap gun except when using sub sonic where the only thing you really hear is the hiss and impact of the shot if you are close enough.

Very few criminals if any in my recollection actually have access to supressors let allone a threaded barrel to use one.

On a semi-auto a supressor will generally make the gun run a little dirtier especially on a blow back style pistol. On a bolt action there doesn't seem to be much of a difference in how dirty it is. The first shot seems to be the loudest as the air in the supressor hasn't been heated up and is a bit denser. I have not noticed a real decrease in range or acuracy on my supressors but in theory you should lose some range due to the added turbulence when passing through the baffles.

[miker557]

I am a former owner of an H&K MP5SD-A3 (most civilized gun in the world, folks). Obtaining a suppressor is the same as obtaining a machien gun - ATF Form 4 filled out in triplicate, signed by head of law enforcement having jurisdiction over where you live, three FBI fingerprint cards, and $200 for the transfer tax, all sent to BATFE. After they do their stuff (8 weeks to 8 months, depending on who's in office), if it's approved they send you back 1 copy of the Form 4 with that magic $200 tax stamp on it. Congrats, as far as they are concerned you now own that suppressor.

In Texas, it is legal to both own and shoot such weaponry, so long as you own it legally. That's not to say you can shoot it anywhere - some gun ranges prohibit Class III weapons, or if it's a slow day they'll throw a box out onto the pistol range and let you squeeze off a clip or two. It IS illegal in Texas to hunt with a suppressor.

As for criminal s using them - I've been a cop in Dallas for more than 25 years, and I've never seen one used. Most of the bad guys like the noise a gun creates, it makes them feel powerful and important, even though they are really just slimy, cowardly little bastards ....


Miker

[twtalbot]

Originally Posted by HEMI

Supressors are used by criminals and are illegal just about everywhere.
They have no use to the law abiding my .02.

Suppressors are used by people who want to shoot without being the center of attention for everyone in a 1-mile radius.

[twtalbot]

Originally Posted by Despoiler

How much does a suppressor suppress the noise level?

Despoiler

Depends on how good the suppressor is, how fast the bullet is, and how noisy the gun's action is. You'll get the best suppression on a bolt action or single shot firing subsonic ammo. With such a weapon the muzzle blast is the only source of noise and that's the only noise that a suppressor can help with. It can't do anything about the sonic "crack" of a high velocity bullet or the noise of a semi or full auto's bolt slamming back and forth.