Suppressors for home defense?

[Member 24198]

lol, I did.

You're a little fired up. Easy there tiger.

 

[1911Fanatic]

That way when the neighbors say they didn't hear any shots you're in the clear! brilliant

Now you just need to dispose of the body. Problems solved. No need to even phone anybody.

 

[Hanhoon]

I've heard folks say, use one at home unless you wanna lose your hearing. I've also heard not to use one because you wanna warn the other bad guys, should there be multiple degenerates trying to do you harm.

If you are worried about getting in trouble for using a silencer, take it off after you've defended yourself and before the cops arrive.

If I'm gonna use my 10.5" AR15 pistol in 5.56, you best bet I'm going to use a silencer inside my house. My Beretta 92fs silenced with 147 gr 9mm is very nice and quiet for what it is.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Every firearm is silent.....after it is fired.....
One could say that the firearm is also suppressed since it stopped / suppressed a threat...
If firearms had emotions....it might even be depressed...
Andy

 

[Member 24198]

Every firearm is silent.....after it is fired.....
One could say that the firearm is also suppressed since it stopped / suppressed a threat...
If firearms had emotions....it might even be depressed...
Andy

Except for the loud fart that precedes the silence.

 

[lucusloc]

I've heard folks say, use one at home unless you wanna lose your hearing. I've also heard not to use one because you wanna warn the other bad guys, should there be multiple degenerates trying to do you harm.

If you are worried about getting in trouble for using a silencer, take it off after you've defended yourself and before the cops arrive.

If I'm gonna use my 10.5" AR15 pistol in 5.56, you best bet I'm going to use a silencer inside my house. My Beretta 92fs silenced with 147 gr 9mm is very nice and quiet for what it is.

Suppressors are not that silent without a lot of work. And I would argue that any suppressor setup that is too quiet to "warn" any other bad guys is probably not a suitable setup for self defense; Huge can, manual or single shot action, low power sub rounds in a small caliber. Those kinds of setups are for things like varmint hunting, not self defense.

I have a number of cans on setups that are far more appropriate for self defense. They are used on much more powerful cartridges in semi-auto actions. The key defining feature of all of them is that they are all barely "hearing safe" for a few shots. That meaning they are not going to ring your ears. I am sure OSHA would have a serious problem with long term exposure, and I will still advise hearing protection if you are using them at the range, at least with stuff I would consider suitable for defensive loads. The bad guy's buddy will definitely know there are gunshots going off. The only difference is that no one near the shot is going to be bleeding from the ears from one of two shots indoors.

Yes, I can get these setups much quieter, but I really have to download the ammo to do that, and I would not really trust that ammo for self defense. Even the quietest "full power" sub loads I have are still only as quiet as someone shouting at you.

And I will say it again because it bears repeating; I would not change the configuration of any firearm used in a self defense shooting. If the case undergoes any kind of forensic investigation that may be considered "tampering with evidence." Suppressors will change things like gunshot residue, and if that becomes an important factor of the investigation you could be in hot water for obscuring that physical evidence. Even if you "come clean" early on in an investigation you really don't want some PA to be asking questions that make you look really bad in front of the jury over the topic. Leave the suppressor on the gun and consider it part of the cost of defending your life. Yes, this applies to anything about the firearm, not just a suppressor. You never know what will become relevant in a forensic investigation, just leave it be.

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

Suppressors are not that silent without a lot of work.

They are all "hearing safe" if you shoot them enough times without ear pro

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Most suppressors for pistol reduce around 30db give or take using subs. That's an 87.5% reduction in perceived noise which is very significant but still loud and nowhere close to "silent" imo. 22 can be much more and the only thing approaching "silent". Mag dumping a .22 would be around 2500-3000 ft lb of energy and can be done silently if your into that sort of thing I guess.

 

[lucusloc]

Most suppressors for pistol reduce around 30db give or take using subs. That's an 87.5% reduction in perceived noise which is very significant but still loud and nowhere close to "silent" imo. 22 can be much more and the only thing approaching "silent". Mag dumping a .22 would be around 2500-3000 ft lb of energy and can be done silently if your into that sort of thing I guess.

I dunno, I never thought of semi-auto .22lr as "silent." The action noise is still decently loud. Not shouting-in-your-ear loud, but "raised voice" for sure. The only truly quite firearms I have heard have all be manual/single shot actions. They stay closed so all the sound has to go through the suppressor. Couple that with a big can and under-powered ammo and you have to ask if your buddy just let off a round if you back was turned. Those are truly quite setups.

You can even do this with larger cartridges if you try. I have a buddy with a bolt action 9mm that is maybe as loud as a hand clap with his downloaded plinking ammo. Of course when you run it that way all it is good for is putting holes in paper, and I personally am paranoid about squibs due to how weak the rounds are, but damn it is super quiet. Use more standard ammo, like factory subs, and it is a bit louder than that though. Even out of that gun anything that I would consider suitable for self defense would unmistakably be a gunshot, just a quiet one. A bolt action 9mm would not be my first choice for a self defense situation, even if you got extendy mags for it.

Maybe someone got things sooooo dialed in on a semi-auto that the action only just barely cycles after all the noise is gone, but I would be skeptical and would need to see it for myself to really believe.

 

[wired]

I dunno, I never thought of semi-auto .22lr as "silent." The action noise is still decently loud. Not shouting-in-your-ear loud, but "raised voice" for sure. The only truly quite firearms I have heard have all be manual/single shot actions. They stay closed so all the sound has to go through the suppressor. Couple that with a big can and under-powered ammo and you have to ask if your buddy just let off a round if you back was turned. Those are truly quite setups.

You can even do this with larger cartridges if you try. I have a buddy with a bolt action 9mm that is maybe as loud as a hand clap with his downloaded plinking ammo. Of course when you run it that way all it is good for is putting holes in paper, and I personally am paranoid about squibs due to how weak the rounds are, but damn it is super quiet. Use more standard ammo, like factory subs, and it is a bit louder than that though. Even out of that gun anything that I would consider suitable for self defense would unmistakably be a gunshot, just a quiet one. A bolt action 9mm would not be my first choice for a self defense situation, even if you got extendy mags for it.

Maybe someone got things sooooo dialed in on a semi-auto that the action only just barely cycles after all the noise is gone, but I would be skeptical and would need to see it for myself to really believe.

300 grain 338 spectre from an AR with a really good 9mm PCC can. 44 mag power and as quiet as you'll get from any centerfire.

 

[lucusloc]

300 grain 338 spectre from an AR with a really good 9mm PCC can. 44 mag power and as quiet as you'll get from any centerfire.

About how loud is it? I have heard 300BO subs through a big 30 cal can, and that is pretty quiet, but still loud enough to hear for a little ways off. I would say maybe loud talking levels? The only issues I would have with that setup is the action was tuned to the low power rounds and really did not like anything even approaching full power stuff. It does not seem like the most practical or versatile setup to me, but it was about the quietest thing I had heard in a semi-auto centerfire round.

I hear 8.6 is even quieter with a big can, but I have not seen that in person yet. It also seems a bit more practical, at least as far as energy goes. Even if you download it to ~800fps for maximum shush 300grns is going to hurt.

 

[wired]

About how loud is it? I have heard 300BO subs through a big 30 cal can, and that is pretty quiet, but still loud enough to hear for a little ways off. I would say maybe loud talking levels? The only issues I would have with that setup is the action was tuned to the low power rounds and really did not like anything even approaching full power stuff. It does not seem like the most practical or versatile setup to me, but it was about the quietest thing I had heard in a semi-auto centerfire round.

I hear 8.6 is even quieter with a big can, but I have not seen that in person yet. It also seems a bit more practical, at least as far as energy goes. Even if you download it to ~800fps for maximum shush 300grns is going to hurt.

Quieter than the best 300 BO. 338 and 8.6 at the subsonic level are essentially the same thing. None of them are SILENT but silence is relative

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Loud talking is 80db. Nothing at all is even close to 80db, even bolt long barrel .22 with subs.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

...None of them are SILENT but silence is relative

100%

You can even have full auto .22 that people can't distinguish it as gunshots cuz it sounds nothing like gunshots. Fe

FullSizeRender.mov

• ilikegunspdx
• Nov 26, 2021

 

[lucusloc]

Loud talking is 80db. Nothing at all is even close to 80db, even bolt long barrel .22 with subs.

Yeah, I don't have any equipment to measure with so I have to go with how far away and roughly what it sound like. This is hard because it is just a single shot, not a constant noise. I would love to get a DB meter one day and put some quantitative numbers on the subjective levels. The 300BO sounded quieter than our yelling at each other from a few dozen yards down the road. The 9mm bolt gun was quiet enough I legit had to ask him if he just let off a shot from the other side of the car because it sounded like he just threw a rock downrange. The impact was so much louder than the shot, and it was not even that loud. But then he is obsessed with getting the quietest gun he can, and puts the biggest cans he can find on the most downloaded cartridges he can get to reliably function, so I kinda expect that from his setups. I don't think most of them are much use for anything else.

I want to do a bolt action .22 build because I know those are about as quiet as suppressed airguns (and those are quiet). The bullet impact is louder than the shot, similar to the bolt action 9 (with, granted, really underpowered ammo).

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Yeah, I don't have any equipment to measure with so I have to go with how far away and roughly what it sound like. This is hard because it is just a single shot, not a constant noise. I would love to get a DB meter one day and put some quantitative numbers on the subjective levels. The 300BO sounded quieter than our yelling at each other from a few dozen yards down the road. The 9mm bolt gun was quiet enough I legit had to ask him if he just let off a shot from the other side of the car because it sounded like he just threw a rock downrange. The impact was so much louder than the shot, and it was not even that loud. But then he is obsessed with getting the quietest gun he can, and puts the biggest cans he can find on the most downloaded cartridges he can get to reliably function, so I kinda expect that from his setups. I don't think most of them are much use for anything else.

I want to do a bolt action .22 build because I know those are about as quiet as suppressed airguns (and those are quiet). The bullet impact is louder than the shot, similar to the bolt action 9 (with, granted, really underpowered ammo).

The meters are spendy. But if you look long enough you can get a fast rise time impulse meter used for reasonable. Not gonna have any fancy digital logging or anything though but they work well. Make sure to get a calibrator with it.

Friend has backyard "range" where we can shoot .22 semi auto out of small not soundproof enclosure and people walking by 15 feet away take no notice. About same sound level as dropping something on the floor.

 

[wired]

Loud talking is 80db. Nothing at all is even close to 80db, even bolt long barrel .22 with subs.

It's the impulse time that makes it seem quiet

 

[lucusloc]

It's the impulse time that makes it seem quiet

Yeah, that full-auto video really presses that point home. A single shot from that would be so quick it would barely get your attention, but the full burst was much more noticeably "loudish." Would be interesting to experience in person to get the full effect, not just from the video.

 

[wired]

Yeah, that full-auto video really presses that point home. A single shot from that would be so quick it would barely get your attention, but the full burst was much more noticeably "loudish." Would be interesting to experience in person to get the full effect, not just from the video.

Pretty quiet

View: https://youtu.be/EonXyAbmKNA?si=ShCkmY3aTOlLtWAa

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Yeah, that full-auto video really presses that point home. A single shot from that would be so quick it would barely get your attention, but the full burst was much more noticeably "loudish." Would be interesting to experience in person to get the full effect, not just from the video.

The point I was trying to make is we relate what we hear to something we recognize. ie our brain processes what we sense into something that we can identify. Many sounds are just indistinguishable background noise that we take no notice of, much less perceive as something threatening.

In the HD example the guy who got shot gonna make noises that the other perps would instantly recognize even if the shot(s) themselves were 100% silent so the idea of not alerting other perps I don't think is realistic.

The full auto suppressed 2200 rpm example on the video the only recognizable sound I can think of that comes close would be an impact driver or even a car going across a cattle guard far away. Doesn't compute as "gunshots".