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

I see a lot of folks are putting silencers on their hunting rifles, even sacrificing ballistic performance by shortening barrels.

Anyone else prefer their hunting rifle to not have a silencer?

Nope.

We glass up everything here in the west, put a stalk on, and get set up for the shots as needed. Use a spotter to watch/call shots and video.

It got old while trying to communicate with earplugs and having to take them in and out. Trying to quietly yell or throw rocks to get the shooters attention without the animal hearing. Makes it so much nicer and less frustrating to be able to whisper and communicate. Sucks when you accidentally catch a braked shot w/o earplugs in due to miscommunication with shooter while off to the side.
 
Don't you still need hearing protection with one?
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.
 
Honest question. What's the big deal though if you have to wear hearing protection still?

I'm not knocking them, just trying to justify the cost to myself.
If I'm doing load development at my place, I don't where anything while shooting suppressed. If shooting a lot or at the range, hearing protection is needed obviously. The reduction in muzzle blast is worth every bit as much as the sound reduction.
 
Good appology.
Thanks h and I may have left out the important part. Hell no I'm not a Dem
. I'm probably the most libertarian person you even met. I have one basic rule. If what you do doesn't infringe on someone else's rights it should be legal.
Sorry off topic but that needed to be cleared up.
Anyway I never wanted a cab till I used one. Less hearing damage and being able to hear your impact is amazing. Still love my brakes for some times but if I can convince myself I can deal with a long barrel I will. And I'm lucky where I can zero mine with can and hike with a brake and can in backpack. I can make shots out far enough that if I see something to far out for that zero say over 400 I can spin the can on and get setup for a longer shot.
 
That makes more sense. It's quiet enough for a few shots. That sounds nice for hunting.
So it is technically loud enough to erode hearing over time much like a vacuum. But quite enough most won't wear protection. I wear protection if I got it the range just to save what little I have left. But you can easily fire many rounds and not even think about it. If you were to ask me I would swear that no way it was loud enough to do damage. But doctors say they do.
 
I have 6 or 7 suppressors sitting at the back of my safe. I choose to use brakes. If you are at the range with a can, you'll be wearing ear pro because not all have suppressors. I bought mine because it was like the powder craze of today, hard to get, need many. I never cared for the recoil impulse of a can on a rifle, or the fouling changes associated with them.
Maybe it is my style of shooting, or being so old school, but suppressors on pistols just amuse me at best. IMO, if you can't holster a pistol at a range, it is worthless, <pistol-not revolver.
If i was a predator hunter, I would definitely use one. Hunting another great application, but shorting yourself 4" of barrel to add 8" of can seems counter productive.
 
I see a lot of folks are putting silencers on their hunting rifles, even sacrificing ballistic performance by shortening barrels.

Anyone else prefer their hunting rifle to not have a silencer? Maybe I'm old school but I don't have muzzle brakes or silencers on my hunting rifles.
What is your personal maximum hunting distance?
I have a 20" short-barreled 6.5SS that I built to shoot suppressed exclusively. It pushes a 156 Berger Elite at 2916fps. For where I hunt, that makes it an 1130 yard deer or pronghorn round to maintain 1800fps and 1000ft/lbs minimum on game. Subsequently, I have a 26" 6.5SS as well. Still running suppressed. Pushing the 156 @ 3068fps. Makes it a 1270 yard deer round. An extra 140 yards....that I will never take advantage of. So I just get a little extra horsepower for the range I will shot a deer at with it. An extra 122fps and 160ft/lbs at 1130, and .019 seconds less TOF.

If the difference of 140 yards extra past 1130 makes a difference in your self-propoaed hunting limitations, then run the 26" and set it up without a suppressor. Or, take the suppressor length and add it to your barrel. A 33" would gain you some serious speed. If you want to shoot past 1270 on deer. Or just jump up in cartridge class.
 
I use cans on hunting rigs when my barrel/caliber/bullet/ powder combo gives me the desired velocity. Some larger caliber rifles preclude the suppressor due to resulting length. So for me, I love them, but do not use them on my longer barreled larger caliber hunting guns.
 
I do not own a suppressor, I would love to some day, if they will pass al law not requiring an ATF permit and 200.00 tax.. I do have a question for those that run them, how often do you need to clean them? What happens if you fail to clean them, does it cause a failure that will require a new one? Also, to own multiple suppressors, so you need an ATF approval and 200.00 stamp per suppressor owned?
 
I do not own a suppressor, I would love to some day, if they will pass al law not requiring an ATF permit and 200.00 tax.. I do have a question for those that run them, how often do you need to clean them? What happens if you fail to clean them, does it cause a failure that will require a new one? Also, to own multiple suppressors, so you need an ATF approval and 200.00 stamp per suppressor owned?
Every NFA item, SBR, Silencer, AOW, etc... requires it's own tax stamp.
 

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