Firearm Suppressors Explained

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Centerfire Shooting Sports is a class 3 NFA silencer shop to where you can purchase a silencer or suppressor for your firearm. This article will explain the differences between the two NFA items and how you can get one of your own.

What Is The Difference Between Silencers And Suppressors?

Some say a silencer is for reducing the sound, while a suppressor is more for eliminating muzzle flash. A suppressor does reduce some of the sound though. Nothing completely silences a gun, so technically silencer is an incorrect term, but it is used by the majority of the public.

The simple answer is both words can be used interchangeably – meaning the terms Silencer and Suppressor refer to the exact same thing. When Hiram Percy Maxim invented the suppressor, he referred to it as the ‘Maxim Silencer’ in his patent and marketing materials.

How much do suppressors reduce sound?

Modern day silencers typically can reduce the noise about 14.3-43 decibels, depending on a variety of factors, such as whether it’s a subsonic bullet or not; length of the barrel/silencer; etc. The average suppression level, according to independent tests done on a variety of commercially available suppressors, is around 30 dB, which is around the same reduction level of typical ear protection gear often used when firing guns.

How Do Gun Silencers Work?

Firearm suppressors work mainly by slowing the release of the propellant gases, resulting from shooting a bullet, and transforming some of the noise energy to heat. The latter approach is accomplished by trying to trap or direct the noise through specially designed baffles or chambers, similar to a vehicle muffler, the sound is then ultimately transformed to heat in these chambers. The former approach is attained by expansion of the cavity the air is being hurried through, usually by simply making the chamber size larger than the barrel’s diameter and by producing turbulence as the air hurries through the suppressor.

Some of the most advanced suppressors will likewise try to get rid of some of the sonic crack by either moving the stage of the sound, to get it out of human range, or reflecting it back onto itself, to try to cancel it out (frequency moving and phase cancellation). However, neither of these techniques are awfully efficient, to date. The stage cancellation is particularly hard because of dealing with a large range of acoustic waves, rather than pure tones. Silencer manufacturers declare to have effective phase cancellation, however, to date, this isn’t supported by any genuine independent scientific evidence and appears to be more than just a marketing tool.

Using A Silencer For hunting

There’s multiple benefits associated with using firearm suppressors for hunting purposes including reduced noise pollution, reduced recoil, reduced muzzle flash, reduced hearing damage and increased accuracy.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) states the limit for a hearing safe impulse noise is 140 dB. The majority of well engineered .30 caliber suppressors will minimize the noise by 25-30 dB taking the sound level under 140 dB. Suppressors make shooting more pleasant. We still recommend using ear protection because hearing damage is cumulative over a long period of time.

There are contending perspectives as to whether a suppressed rifle is more accurate. Some think suppressors generally improve accuracy by promoting the harmonic stabilization of the barrel and by reducing gas caused instability when the bullet exits the muzzle permitting more accurate shots and faster follow-up shots. Suppressed rifles considerably increase precision among inexperienced and new shooters just since suppressors significantly lower recoil and muzzle flash. When the firearm produces less recoil and less sound, newbie shooters might not form bad habits triggered by flinching and instinctive shot anticipation. A more enjoyable experience encourages the additional range time and target practice needed to train breath control, sight alignment and trigger capture.