There were some discussions about silenced revolver in other sections of this forum. But what this has to do with reloading? Bear with me, it does.

Usually I use soft muzzleloading lead balls to slug barrels of my revolvers. It works well but this time around I decided to try brand new hard cast lead bullets which I just got from Jesse. Knocked a wadcutter into the barrel and... it got stuck there. No matter how much I'd hit it with a wooden rod, the slug just would not move. Problem...

Decided to try getting the slug out by shooting an empty primer-only round. Loaded one, fired... Something's wrong, what is it? Ahh, there was no sound! First I thought it was a light strike but the primer looked spent. Loaded another one - same story. Hammer falls, there is no sound of a primer going off, but anvil is black. What a heck?!

Loaded yet another one, magnum, shut the lights, fired. I see sparks, lots of sparks coming out of the bc gap, but I don't hear nothing! Nothing at all... It's very weared. It's spooky.

So, is silenced revolver a reality after all? Just have to knock a hard cast bullet into the barrel and fire away.

BTW, eventually, I got the slug out with a metal rod. In the future I think I'll stick to soft lead for slugging...

Mike

And to think, that before reading this post I thought the only silent revolver was the one not being fired.

For slugging it is good idea to grease the bullet or slug. Use a close fitting rod or dowel.

No Mike it is not wise to shoot the slug and rod out

The only revolver I know of that is capable of being silenced is the old Mosin Nagant 7.62 revolver. This is because the cylinder moves forward onto the back of the barrel forming a seal. With any normal revolver the gas escapes through the B/C gap and makes noise.

But I'm certain I've seen silenced revolvers in several Hollywood movies! Those guys are never wrong!

(sarcasm off...)

Calling the Mythbusters for tests.

Reed Knight made a "silent" revolver on a Ruger platform (GP 100 IIRC). I think it used a telescoping cartridge case that contained all the products of combustion (like the "silent shotgun shell") and "bumped" the bullet out of the barrel.

The French (believe it or not) built an effectively silent .44 revolver, essentially by building a silencer around the gun. It looks like an oatmeal can with a handle on it. Does work.

Also during the unpleasantness in Vietnam the Army built silent ammunition. Called .44 QSP rounds (quiet special purpose). They were a buckshot in a .44 case with what amounted to a rubber built into the case between the buckshot and the poweder charge. The barrel was a stub cut off just in front of the frame. The rotation of the cylinder cut off the "rubber" if necessary to advance to the next round. Strictly short range, but effective. Developed for the tunnel rats. Interesting concept, silent ammuntion as opposed to a silenced weapon. Interesting legal angle there.

There were production silenced revolvers made for US and for Russian military and special forces. Some used telescopic cartridges like Russian OT-38 and I believe Vietnam era "tunnel rat" S&W. Back in 1930's or 40's there was also a BRAMIT device manufactured for Nagant. It's a prototype of basic silencer.

All of these devices assume that one has to deal with bc gap to silence a revolver. Thought that my little accident with a stuck slug suggests that bc gap may not be a problem.

Liked the idea of calling Mythbusters but this one is easy to check out at home. (Yes, you guessed it, at your own risk.) Just plug the barrel with a soft lead slug and try to shoot it out with a primer only round. While pointing gun in a safe direction .

On Jes' point about this not being exactly a prudent thing to do. I don't disagree but... I was getting really frustrated with that stubborn slug. After I could not move it with several primers, I decided to try a little powder. So I threw in about 1 gr. of TG and fired. I did not hear the shot but I did hear hissing sound when gases were escaping the barrel and chamber.

Mike

P.S Just saw your post, Robert. Good info and good point about the legal angle. Paging the pro's.

Mike, I've played around with subsonic and squib loads and I'm afraid you didn't discover anything new at all. The expanding gases from the primer were contained in the barrel and cylinder. If you had more pressure you would have had more noise and more of it would escape from the B/C gap.

By the way, there is an official S&W "solution" for emergency clearing of a round jammed in a forcing cone, assuming you are under fire and you need the gun RIGHT NOW. YOu hold the cylinder latch forward and beat the cylinder on the right side against something hard, like a car bumper or cement curb. That will shear off the bullet lodged in the forcing cone and allow the cylinder to rotate. You then close the gun back up and fire. The next cartridge up will blow the remainder of the stuck bullet out of the forcing cone and the new bullet and old one will exit the weapon with lethal force. It will absolutely damage the gun, but is unlikely to damage the shooter. Shooting obstructions out of weapons, even with primers only, is almost certainly not recommended.