Good resources for suppressor design?

[Will_White]

I'm wanting to build a suppressed 300BO bolt action
and I would like to build the suppressor myself. Are there any good books, or other resources I should look at and read through?

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[MrNatural]

Modern suppressor design and construction is half science, half art and half black magic. Only about three books in print I'd recommend. All by Al Paulson.

https://www.amazon.com/Silencer-Per...lson"&refinements=p_n_availability:2245265011

https://www.amazon.com/Assault-Tech...lson"&refinements=p_n_availability:2245265011

https://www.amazon.com/United-State...lson"&refinements=p_n_availability:2245265011

There are others, but if you're serious about designing your own suppressor, these are the ones you want.

Al Paulson was something of a unicorn in the gun writer biz - both technically competent in an extremely esoteric field and also truthful. His writings on suppressors were so good he got published in spite of his being honest, which is traditionally a trait recognized in gun writers only by its complete absence.

However all three of these works are a couple decades old. With the rise of the internet most all cutting-edge suppressor info is on various web sites these days. Suppressor design has advanced somewhat in the last 20 years. Mostly in making cans smaller and lighter. Usually by going to trick (i.e. expensive) materials and highly sophisticated (i.e. expensive) construction techniques. Especially for hypersonic rifle caliber suppressors. But if you're going to shoot strictly subsonic and/or don't demand a James-Bond-movie-quiet can the size of a tie-tac, then that technology hasn't changed nearly as much and is well within the reach of the serious amateur.

But start with Al's books. They will give you the grounding so that you can ask the right questions to learn more.