sha wrote:The suppressor makes the gun dirtier?
Never heard that before. Does it stop more fouling escaping or something?
Oh, oh yes. I've noticed it most with ARs/M16s (which are DI operated) and open bolt blowback guns. Now, those are the guns I have suppressed the most, but it seems to make sense to me. With an AR, whatever doesn't get out of the barrel quick enough goes back in the receiver. The weapons cycle faster as well. With open bolt blowback, I assume that the suppressor holds an extremely large volume of combustion products (which is how it works) compared to what a 9mm or .45 caliber tube would be. I'm assuming it is still pressurized to some extent when the casing extracts and the gas runs back. Matter of fact, in both types of weapons you often get gas in the face coming out of the receiver when shooting suppressed. I've never had it with the AR but many people complain about it.
In the US, I would say a very high percentage of AR piston operated rifles are bought by silencer owners for these exact reasons. It's a common conversation in the US. "Why do you want a piston?" "Because I plan to use a can."
The effect with short recoil operation (Glock, 1911, etc.) and piston guns seems less.
bigfellascott wrote:on_one_wheel wrote:And as for Centrefires - well you can still well and truly hear them and again so can the animals - only real advantage to using them is to help reduce ones chances of hearing damage.
Depends what you mean by centerfires. I could fire subsonic 9mm or .45 out of an SMG in the bedroom next to yours and you probably wouldn't wake up. If you did, you wouldn't think you heard a 30 gunshots. For .300 Black, it can be almost as quiet as .22 out of an AR. I shoot .22 suppressed (CCI Standard Velocity which is subsonic) full auto out of an M16 and you you were standing next to me you would not know if I fired a single shot. The first time I fired it I was not sure the gun went off. The loudest noise is the hammer cocking after the shot, not even the bolt. Which happens to be louder in auto than semi for some reason. The first time I thought I just heard the hammer drop on an empty chamber.
They are indeed very cool. And, yes, the usefulness for normal people peters off with supersonic rifle ammo.