Anyone regularly use suppressors?

[pugslyyy]

I've recently become interested in adding a suppressor to my varmint rifle - the concept of being able to fire it without putting in ear plugs or making my ears ring is very appealing.

Oh, and I plan to make my own so if any of you do that as well I'd be interested in chatting. I know this isn't a gunsmith forum but thought I would mention nonetheless.

 

[ober27]

What are the legalities of manufacturing your own suppressor's? I would love to see how you plan on making yours.

 

[pugslyyy]

What are the legalities of manufacturing your own suppressor's? I would love to see how you plan on making yours.

Sames a buying one - has to have a $200 tax stamp that takes 6 months to get from BATFE. In other than a couple of states (the usual suspects like CA, IL, NY, etc) it is legal to own if you have the Federal tax stamp.

I'm probably going to start out with a mag-lite / freeze plug type design. One nice thing about rolling your own is you can tweak it and repair it yourself.

 

[robert]

Not trying to sound like a smartass but you know they're not like on tv and the movies right? subsonic .22s, subsonic (147gr) 9mm, .38special, .45ACP, 300blk, and a few others, can be hearing safe but you still need to wear hearing protection with most other rounds including rifle rounds.

There are plenty of forums that have good info including Silencertalk (you have to sign up) and ar15.com build your own forum https://www.ar15.com/forums/f_6/55_Suppressors___Build_It_Yourself.html

 

[pugslyyy]

Not trying to sound like a smartass but you know they're not like on tv and the movies right? subsonic .22s, subsonic (147gr) 9mm, .38special, .45ACP, 300blk, and a few others, can be hearing safe but you still need to wear hearing protection with most other rounds including rifle rounds.

There are plenty of forums that have good info including Silencertalk (you have to sign up) and ar15.com build your own forum https://www.ar15.com/forums/f_6/55_Suppressors___Build_It_Yourself.html

Thanks, I know it's not like the movies, but the 30db reduction you can get with 223 still takes you out of hearing damage territory, which for a varmint gun is my biggest concern.

Long term I would like to play around with 300blk but at the moment .223 is what I have a lot of so it makes the most sense for me to use as a platform for experimentation right now.

 

[jon c]

I shoot suppressed almost exclusively with rifles. I'm trying to preserve what hearing I have left, and I am around guns daily (have been for 16 years...)

If your varmint gun is a bolt gun, you may be OK. If it's a gas gun, most specs measure at/near the muzzle but port noise can actually be louder than the muzzle and not hearing safe. To me, most centerfire cartridges are still loud enough that I wear plugs at a minimum, regardless of level of suppression. .300BLK subs being a notable exception.

You can make pistol/rimfire cans out of maglites and similar tubing fairly easily, but for a rifle I would recommend buying a 6"-ish .30 cal can. There are decent cans out there you can shoot any rifle cartridge under .300WM out there safely so you get a lot of versatility for one stamp.

 

[Scott Brady]

We use a few

 

[robert]

I have an SDN-6 I use on my ARs including 5.56 and 6.8. Admitedly it's an older can and it's a .30cal can but both rounds still sound about like hypervelocity .22s (MiniMags, Velocitors, etc.) so I wear hearing protection except when hunting. Newer suppresors and subsonic ammo will help but as I've gotten older I've noticed that I have some high frequency hearing loss (which amazingly is in the range of the ambulance sirens but not work related- funny how that works ) so I've taken to trying to protect what I have. There are some really nice newer designs which should work better but .223/5.56 still has a really bad crack which is apparently hard to quiet. I'll be interested in whatever you go with and how it works as I'd like to get quieter still.

 

[pugslyyy]

I have an SDN-6 I use on my ARs including 5.56 and 6.8. Admitedly it's an older can and it's a .30cal can but both rounds still sound about like hypervelocity .22s (MiniMags, Velocitors, etc.) so I wear hearing protection except when hunting. Newer suppresors and subsonic ammo will help but as I've gotten older I've noticed that I have some high frequency hearing loss (which amazingly is in the range of the ambulance sirens but not work related- funny how that works ) so I've taken to trying to protect what I have. There are some really nice newer designs which should work better but .223/5.56 still has a really bad crack which is apparently hard to quiet. I'll be interested in whatever you go with and how it works as I'd like to get quieter still.

I regularly wear hearing protection around my shop and on the range, just not while hiking or hanging around camp. If I do decide to plonk from my campsite I'd rather minimize the noise to any neighbors.

I have a bolt action .223 that I want to try suppressing. I also have an AR pistol with a very short barrel on that I want to play around with - not expecting much of a difference but it is definitely worst case. (I'll build a 10 inch upper for it because anything shorter will blow the suppressor out.) A 10 inch barrel + 6 inch suppressor will take it out of SBR territory as well so I can actually take it with me on trips.

 

[robert]

I regularly wear hearing protection around my shop and on the range, just not while hiking or hanging around camp. If I do decide to plonk from my campsite I'd rather minimize the noise to any neighbors.

I have a bolt action .223 that I want to try suppressing. I also have an AR pistol with a very short barrel on that I want to play around with - not expecting much of a difference but it is definitely worst case. (I'll build a 10 inch upper for it because anything shorter will blow the suppressor out.) A 10 inch barrel + 6 inch suppressor will take it out of SBR territory as well so I can actually take it with me on trips.

The bolt gun should do better but .223 still has a really bad crack; one of my buddies tried my can on his Remington 700 in .223 and it was noticeably quieter than on my ARs but still not what I would want to shoot without ears for more than a couple of shots max.

Whichever suppressor you decide on look at what the manufacturer warranties them for as far as barrel length. Most these days seem to use Inconel or some variant thereof for the first baffle and will rate them for use on 10.5” barrels but some specify 11.5” or even 12.5”. Using a brake instead of a flash hider supposedly helps reduce baffle wear by acting as a sacrificial baffle but holy cow is a 10.5” gun with a brake and no suppressor loud. :yikes:

It's got an Aimpoint Micro and a Bravo Company Gunfighter grip on it now. The charging handle is a BCM Gunfighter medium that has a ridge molded on the top to help with gas blowback but it's still a good idea to wear eye protection and run a small strip or RTV or silicon along where the charging handle and the receiver meet.

 

[BBsound]

I have several cans, 5.56 and .30 cal.
Outside in an open area (where you would be varmint hunting) it is perfectly comfortable to shoot both those calibers without earpro. Yes even with gas guns.
I have a .300blackout 12.5" SBR AR (125 grain) only for hunting whitetail since .223 caliber is not legal here.
Indoor ranges are a different story, the sonic crack reflected back is loud enough earpro is required.

About your comment on SBR legality, the can would have to be welded on (not removable) for it to not be an SBR.

I would not put silicone around the charging handle, a gas buster style handle and an adjustable gas block takes care of most of the gas in face issues.

 

[robert]

<snip>
About your comment on SBR legality, the can would have to be welded on (not removable) for it to not be an SBR.

I would not put silicone around the charging handle, a gas buster style handle and an adjustable gas block takes care of most of the gas in face issues.

Either permanently attached (welded, pinned and welded or high temp solder) or a permanently attached barrel shroud to bring OAL of the barrel itself up to 16" like they use on some of the .22s. Suppressors can cross state lines without an ATF Form 20 (although some lawyers recommend getting them just to be on the safe side) but SBRs require the form https://www.guntrustlawyer.com/form20. One way around this is to build the gun as a pistol first before building it into a rifle of any flavor then it can be converted back to a pistol with a brace, provided they are legal in whatever state you are going to.

The RTV was the old school fix from before gas buster style charging handles. It goes in top of the charging handle as in the photos in these pictures: https://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=3&f=118&t=599219 A newer style charging handle with a built in shield/gasbuster is certainly preferable, especially given that they are typically stiffer and allow a one handed style charging, etc. I've still got one in my parts box from before I started using the BCMs which I like much better.

 

[bigskypylot]

Homebrew AR with SilencerCO can



Homebrew 7.62 and SilencerCo can

 

[Ray_G]

One way around this is to build the gun as a pistol first before building it into a rifle of any flavor then it can be converted back to a pistol with a brace, provided they are legal in whatever state you are going to.

Prob would be easiest to have two lowers, one in pistol config with a brace and the SBR with the stock-changing out the buffer tube on a single dual use lower would be a PITA (assuming someone was using the sig or shockwave brace).

The whole form 20 thing is why I just make pistols for the moment and foreseeable future. I'm def keen on suppressing at some point but the ergonomics with a shockwave aren't bad for the ranges I consider a 10.5" or shorter barrel anyway...but boy do they need some suppression given the noise!.
r-
Ray

 

[zimm]

once i put the SBR tax stamp on a pistol, i'd always treat it like an SBR. being right, and the cost of defending yourself to be right, are two different things, and theres always a cop or DA with chip.

i like vermont but i gotta zip thru NY and pass 1000 cops and DA's. i know a couple have to be *******s, and i'm rare earth ******* magnet.