Hunting Rifle: Anyone Else Have No Desire for a Silencer?

[J.J. Weiland]

Don't you still need hearing protection with one?

Yep, on everything supersonic.

 

[J.J. Weiland]

Suppressors being NFA items is exemplary of feelings and perceptions driving laws, not facts. Look at DOJ/FBI crime data for the past few decades and find me one example of a legally manufactured suppressor being used criminally.
Hell, even the UK sells "moderators" over the counter as heath items.

That being said, I don't own one and shot precision rifle competitively for a long time without a can. Half deaf from years of riding Harleys, running heavy equipment, rock concerts as a kid, and all my hunting with no ear pro, (just used foamies when I was burning 2-3 barrels a year competing). If suppressors were as cheap and easy as they should be I'd bet my tinnitus would be much better.

I use plugs backed up by muffs. Wish I had started that way my hearing would be better. When cans can be bought over the counter I will try one. Until then no.

 

[J.J. Weiland]

Only if you're at a range and any other gun that isn't suppressed. Some cartridges you can get away without any at all, all day. Most, it's just at or just over the hearing safe level. Fine for a shot, or 3. You don't need to wear hearing protection hunting.

Those last 2 sentences make no sense. Hearing loss happens instantly. I found this out the hard way.

 

[J.J. Weiland]

I don't have any and don't want any on a hunting rifle. They look goofy to me and add unneeded length.

I can see the benefit, just wish they were smaller and looked better.

On a pistol I'd own one though.

I have a friend who thought safety glasses made him look goofy. He has been sporting a eye patch now for 20 years. Cans, plugs, or muffs your choice, but use something.

 

[Chase723]

Yep, on everything supersonic.

Not really true. You should wear plugs with anything that would require you to wear double ear pro. Pick a rifle you'd be fine shooting with only plugs in and you'd probably be fine shooting it suppressed without any. A good can offers the same level of protection as the best set of ear plugs-caveat is that the can isn't dependent upon how they are inserted and fitted and therefore not subject to de-rating and degradation. The other major bonus is that they eliminate almost all concussion which plugs do not.

 

[Chase723]

It seems many of the pro can folks are emotionally envested like first focal plane scope users.

I also think a lot of people are married to the notions of barrel length and SFP scopes. There's a place for all of it (FFP, SFP, long barrels, short barrels, suppressed, unsuppressed, etc). The choice should be influenced by experience and dictated by the application.

 

[SixDemonBag]

I mean really, what's not to like?

Slap the Saker on the ole 6.8. Find a pack of hogs with a couple of big ones at about 100 yards, we will call them Larry, Leroy, and Jimbo. Take aim at Jimbo and squeeze, he is down hard taking a dirt nap and won't be down for breakfast.

Leroy and Larry startle and go about 10 feet in different directions, look around and start vacuuming up corn again. Shoot Leroy square in the head and he has punched his toll pass to the rainbow bridge.

Larry runs around for a second. Not sure where to go because he isn't sure just what happened, just that something has definitely happened, Larry goes over and takes a good look at his just-departed rooting buddy and says "Hey, Leroy are you asleep? You must be sleeping like Jimbob" and goes back to suckin' up corn.

Cross hairs on Larry and.... well you know the rest.

Suppressors are way too much fun not to have in your life.

 

[orkan]

The choice should be influenced by experience

How can shooters get experience, if they rarely shoot, and refuse to consider any ideas that are not their own?

 

[hydehunter]

to all posters pro and con, you are not going to change anyone's mind on either to have or have not. I am like everyone else who think we are being taken with this 200.00 tax stamp and having to wait a year or more or sometimes less. I finally jumped in and bought mine last year and received it in March 7 months, today I will buy my second one and I to have lost so much of my hearing but I could not believe how quiet the can makes my rifles no more muffs or ear plugs just no more 26 inch barrels they will be all 20-21 to be handier to carry around except ones that will be shot from a bench or prone, in fact my 30.06 is going to be cut from 26 to 21 so to each their own but don't try to change any ones mind, that is what the antis want keep every one arguing be safe and protect your hearing one way or the other

 

[asd9055]

Do you know how loud the recoil spring is in an AR.....looking for a hydraulic buffer for the blackout after useing the can
The can has allowed the 30-06 on the fun gun list and allows the 6.5Grendel a lot more target possibilities in a prairie dog town.
32 pages of trying to justifie to or not to can a gun= Do what works for ya!

I think we need an electromagnetic rail rifle, no noise at all, a rifle scale of the navy's big relectromagentic rail gun.

I think it is time to give this a rest! Nobody is changing anyone's minds!

 

[RockyRandy]

Almost all the threads that deal with "opinions" end up the same—like asking which shade of blue is prettier. It's all personal preference. I am thankful we still have folks who can talk/argue about guns and shooting. But the "right" answer is always the one that works for you or meets your needs. Please knock off the personal attacks or those regarding legal weapons!

Spot on thank you.

 

[Veteran]

I did the same. I spent 20 years in the Infantry, and 3 years with Range Control at Carson, and I ran small arms, MG and Tank, Bradley and Apache ranges. I used hearing protection on every range, especially demo ranges. I use protection when I'm on a range now. I use some of the newer plugs when hunting, so that I can still hear adequately while getting a noise reduction when firing. But I haven't ever needed a suppressor on a rifle, including the two that I have muzzle brakes on. When I hunt, I just don't fire my rifle very much. I shoot it a lot at the range, but in the field, mostly only if I see something or to verify zero at altitude. As to silencers on artillery pieces or tanks, I don't think they could be built to withstand the pressures exerted on the weapons, and the resultant back pressure would probably damage the breech. Explosives can't be silenced, which I'm sure you know. I'm sure that was tongue in cheek. I wouldn't shorten a rifle and lose the attendant velocity just to silence a weapon I'm only going to hunt with. As to velocity loss, the 300 Win Mag loses significant velocity when shortened to 18 or 16 inches, due to the types of powders used in the cartridge. A 30-06, which is only 150fps behind the 300 in the same barrel lengths with the newer powders, in a 24" barrel would equal or surpass the 18" 300 with all but the heaviest bullets. I can get nearly 2900fps from a 24" -06 and 180 grain bullets with safe loads using Superperformance and a couple of other new powders, and 2650 or better with 200 grain bullets. I'll keep the barrel length, barrel life, and the velocity. I don't really want to re-barrel every year or so. By the way, I shoot both cartridges, chronograph same, and have 22" and 24" -06's and 24 and 26" 300 Win Mags for which I reload. I've been shooting them for around 45 years.

I only spent 4 years AD, if I done 20 like you, I probably would be deaf.

Yeah, there are probably good engineering reasons and physics reasons why trying to silence tanks and artillery is a non starter.....Lost velocity and range maybe one of them. Dont wanna be outgunned in war.... Maintainence, and backpressure at the breach etc probably too. I do think muzzle brakes were 1st invented for artillery or tanks though.....

At least with dynamite, C-4, Shape charges, and explosives in general, I was far enough away, it wasn't that bad, more concussion wave than sound sometimes....One of the worst was the CEV, combat engineer vehicle, Basically a tank with a real fat short barrel that shot a 600 mm HEP round. (high explosive plastic)

It was fir taking out concrete and steel bunker emplacements. short, fat, big diameter barrel almost like a mortar, but a cross between mortar and rifled bbl. Just louder than Hades....If it was within 600 meters of a target you had to be "buttonedup" cause the blast radius of that 600 mm HEP round was 600 meters.

Really ugly when there is a misfire on the range and the round is rotated after 30 min. and refire is tried, and wait another time period
for "cookoff" and then the gunner has to hand the round down to you to carry to the dud pit.......

If one goes off, there aint even a watch to send home to momma....

At least when I went to airborne school, the blackhats always told us that if your reserve chute dont open, raise your left hand!

Why?

So they can send your watch home to momma.....

 

[Parkerized]

I don't know what the HR 95 bill says, but why do we need the Government telling us how to protect our own hearing???

For those whom cannot or will not read. You have to pass it to find out.

The point is, we must fight for every scrap of freedom. This is one way to do it. The other way will cost a great deal more.

 

[BrentM]

This forum is called Long Range Hunting, The people who write threads in here write about maximizing their weapon to make very difficult shots . They go to great pains to purchase the absolute best bullets the best barrels , the best reloading components, the best optics, and the services of the best gunsmiths all in the effort of getting the best possible results at long range. Shortening the barrel is very detrimental to all that effort, perhaps some of these can supporters don't realise how detrimental shortening the barrel is to preformance, therefore your ability to make a shot. I don't think Chase realised how much velocity loss their was in an 18 inch 300 wm when he claimed in post 375 that a 18 inch 300 still has 200 fps more velocity than a 30-06 with a 24 inch barrel when that is not true I showed him a very good study in rifleshooter.com that showes the two become very close to the same velocity. As that study shows the loss of 200fps between 24 and 18 inches which changes the wind drift from78 inches to 88 inches at 1000 yds. That is a very real loss and is lessening the chances of a hit at 1000yds. If you consider a 12 inch vital area that only gives you 6 inches from the center of that area to the outside so if your windage call is off by 7 inches you are outside of the vital area , adding 10 more inches to your drift only makes it more difficult to hit your target which is the opposit of every thing written in this forum and surely the opposit of what you want to do if you are serious about hitting targets at long range. shortening your barrel is detrimental to velocity and seriously lessens your ability to make good shots

Disagree with you on the comment about very detrimental. The whole post has brought out a lot of opinion and preferences. Basically in a way you are saying that no matter what cartridge and bullet a guy chooses to use he must maximize that given combo. In the 300 vs 3006 comparison you state a shorter barrel 300 has same performance as the longer 3006. Does that mean you'd scoff at the 300 and praise the 3006 simply due to one being restricted? In the end, in this example, they should both net the same terminal performance and my guess is that is no one is going to bash the 3006 performance so there is zero need to bash the 300. People do not always choose the maximum performance for long range hunting by virtue of the term. People choose a cartridge they can manage and shoot well that provides the terminal performance they need and expect. People disagree daily on what those minimums are but in the end you can always argue there is something better in one category or another. The fact is that shortening a barrel reduces velocity and yes it increases drop and drift....... so what. Running X vs Y cartridge does the same thing, 3006 vs 300, 284 vs 7mag, 6.5 creed vs 6.5 PRC. For me, hunting predators I could run a super long barrel creed with hot loads to keep pace with a short barrel prc with a can. In the end they both perform about the same but I'll choose the can all day vs non, especially since I hunt with my dog most of the time. With a no can and brake my dog hates the db level. With a can he will lay or sit next to me and not flinch. I thoroughly enjoy not having to pack or put on ear pro for hunting situations and if wind is an issue, get closer, or get better.