Experience with Suppressors?

[FN509Fan]

A guy at work who is ex special ops was yacking about suppressors a while back and for some reason in the last day or two I started wondering if there was such a thing as a "muffler" that would quiet the report to the point where you wouldn't need hearing protection to save your hearing if you had to fire in a home invasion. Something that would be smaller than a 2" round x 6" long tube hanging off the end of my FN509.

I guess something like this might work, but the sound level still seems pretty high.
https://www.silencershop.com/silencers/pistol/gemtech-aurora.html

Sound is measured in decibels (dB). A whisper is about 30 dB, normal conversation is about 60 dB, and a motorcycle engine running is about 95 dB. Noise above 70 dB over a prolonged period of time may start to damage your hearing. Loud noise above 120 dB can cause immediate harm to your ears. - CDC

 

[csanc123]

Just buy one....get a stamp.

 

[rbird7282]

Suppressors will make things much quieter but unless the ammo is subsonic, you'll still get that sonic crack as the round breaks the sound barrier. I'm not totally up on 9mm suppressors but I've heard that you would normally go with 147 grain subsonic rounds.
I have 4 suppressors, one .45, two .22, and one .30 cal. , they certainly make things better. I always shoot my .308 suppressed and unless it's for competition, I shoot my AR's suppressed as well.
I still use hearing protection when shooting anything other than a .22.
A .22 with a suppressor and subsonic ammo is stupid quiet.
Once you get a can, you'll never want to shoot without one.

 

[Blkhawk870]

Buy one now so you may get it next year

 

[John from MD]

.22LR subsonic out of a can makes backyard shooting fun it is that quiet. A 9mm carbine with delayed blowback operation and subsonic ammo is hearing safe with the right can.

 

[normbal]

I only own 14 of them. Far from an expert, but I’ve built several on form 1’s too.

my $500 Yankee Hill Machine 5.56 is quieter than my Surefire RC-2 at over twice the price.

both louder than .22 LR.

AAC 9mm and .45 acp cans are so quiet when wet (water or electrical wiring lube) with subsonic rds the action is louder than the shot being fired.

as said, get ‘em while you can.

 

[John from MD]

I only own 14 of them. Far from an expert, but I’ve built several on form 1’s too.

my $500 Yankee Hill Machine 5.56 is quieter than my Surefire RC-2 at over twice the price.

both louder than .22 LR.

AAC 9mm and .45 acp cans are so quiet when wet (water or electrical wiring lube) with subsonic rds the action is louder than the shot being fired.

as said, get ‘em while you can.

Do you use the clear electrical lube or the yellow stuff? I have been using spray grease which works well but doesn't clean as easily as a water based fluid.

 

[inkd]

A guy at work who is ex special ops was yacking about suppressors a while back and for some reason in the last day or two I started wondering if there was such a thing as a "muffler" that would quiet the report to the point where you wouldn't need hearing protection to save your hearing if you had to fire in a home invasion. Something that would be smaller than a 2" round x 6" long tube hanging off the end of my FN509.

I guess something like this might work, but the sound level still seems pretty high.
https://www.silencershop.com/silencers/pistol/gemtech-aurora.html

Sound is measured in decibels (dB). A whisper is about 30 dB, normal conversation is about 60 dB, and a motorcycle engine running is about 95 dB. Noise above 70 dB over a prolonged period of time may start to damage your hearing. Loud noise above 120 dB can cause immediate harm to your ears. - CDC

I have that suppressor and with subsonic ammo it is crazy quiet for it's size. I bought it for home defense thinking it would be perfect since it is so small you don't need suppressor sights or a booster to run it.

But, you cannot use hollowpoint ammunition in it or any type of expanding ammo in it at all. It uses "wipes" that are packed in petroleum jelly to help with the sound suppression. Those wipes and jelly can cause an expanding round to expand while still in the tube.

You can get about 15 rounds out of it before the wipes are shot out and the decibels start creeping back up. In order to "legally" have the suppressor repacked, you have to send it back to Gemtech.

It's a cool novelty but, if I had known all that before buying it, I probably would have passed on it. Or, I would have bought another suppressor for home defense at the same time.

 

[inkd]

Do you use the clear electrical lube or the yellow stuff? I have been using spray grease which works well but doesn't clean as easily as a water based fluid.

Try ultrasound gel.

 

[John from MD]

Try ultrasound gel.

Where do I buy that?

 

[Ecestu]

I only own 14 of them. Far from an expert, but I’ve built several on form 1’s too.

Lol. Hate to break it to you, but you're an expert.

 

[woodline]

I have a gemtech Aurora II. They come with some serious downsides, but there aren’t a ton of more compact options on the market. I think we are just a few years away from hearing safe suppressors that don’t require a Nielsen device for the gun to function. I know HUXWRX just put one out that is super light, and I think CGS has one coming out too.

 

[teratos]

Try ultrasound gel.

Oh, I will....

 

[lazarus]

I have a gemtech Aurora II. They come with some serious downsides, but there aren’t a ton of more compact options on the market. I think we are just a few years away from hearing safe suppressors that don’t require a Nielsen device for the gun to function. I know HUXWRX just put one out that is super light, and I think CGS has one coming out too.

I doubt we will get there unless you specially set up the handgun to operate. It isn't just that you need a reduction in the weight hanging off the muzzle, it is that you are also reducing the impulse of the expanding gas on the reciprocating parts by hanging a suppressor out there. Something ultralight, and cutting the recoil spring to maybe something like a 11-12# range might operate without a Nielson device if you can be running a 4-5oz can. But you might also have reliability issues chambering rounds.

For OP, IMHO, just get a regular pistol can and be happy. There are some options out there that are reasonably compact and work reasonably well. You aren't going to find anything really tiny and light that works well. Simple physics. Can designs are continuing to find novel ways to get better. I don't discount that suppressors will continue to work better and get lighter, but you are still highly limited by physics. You need volume to slow down the expanding gases and also allow the gases to expanding and cool somewhere. I highly doubt anyone is going to develop a can design that is going to quiet the report by 10dB and be half the size. Volume is a cube function. So if you the can is half of all of the dimensions, it has 1/8th of the volume...

The generally accepted limit where hearing damage is immediate is 140dB. 120dB is the SPL where hearing damage occurs overtime. For instance, a few minutes at 120dB will cause hearing damage. Instantaneous 120dB will generally not. In an adult. Of note, young children's hearing is much more sensitive and a young child instantaneous hearing damage threshold is about 128dB.

I would not want to do much shooting with a SPL over 120dB though, because you are getting in to accumulated high volume levels over a period of short time. A shot. Or a few shots fine, a lot of shots not so good. In a hallway or room the sound level will be higher because of echoing. So a 138dB report might be 3-8dB higher. So you'd really want to look for something at about 130dB or under if shooting indoors and staying within the bounds of hearing safe (for a shot or two anyway). But no matter what, quieter is quieter. 150dB is a lot better than 165dB.

 

[rbird7282]

Oh, I will....

You say that like you haven’t already tried it…..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[inkd]

Where do I buy that?

Pretty sure you can get it from Amazon? I'll have to look later and post a link when I am not at work.

I get mine from work so I never really shopped for it.

 

[inkd]

Oh, I will....

I figured you would have already had that notch on your belt.

 

[woodline]

I actually don’t recommend anyone get a pistol can as a way of dipping their toes in the suppressor market. I think I have somewhere around 20 suppressors at this point, and only three of them are centerfire pistol cans. The Aurora II, which sometimes goes on a pistol when I’m hiking, I especially do not recommend to inexperienced users. But it is the only pistol can that I actually carry. The other two either get used on rifles/PCCs or only get pulled out on specific range days to let other people try them.

 

[inkd]

Where do I buy that?

Amazon product ASIN B07CX17646

 

[teratos]

I figured you would have already had that notch on your belt.

Never even thought about it!