I already have a transplant in one ear from a career of loud noise. I am thinking about a silencer for my semi-auto pistol. Any advice i can get from the members? i know they are expensive and so is the ATF fee. Just don't want my hearing to get any worse if i ever have to shoot inside my house or i forget to put my ear protectors on. Do they work? Is it worth the hassle of obtaining one? What should i look for in purchasing one. I have looked in past threads and didn't see much information.

I've shot suppressed 9mm and .40S&W. My take is the 9mm is about like an unsuppressed .22 short and the .40 was like a .22LR. These were rounds loaded to about 1000fps in both cases, further downloading would quiet them a little more.

For me, the extra length of a suppressed pistol negates some of its SD advantages, especially in a tight environment like a house, although for range practice or back yard shooting it might be better. I don't think I'd bother with it for the rare possibility you'd have to defend yourself inside your home; how many times would you expect to need it, for the expense and legal bother involved to get one?

I have suppressors in 9mm and 22.

Obviously, there are a wide variety of suppressors on the market, and they are not all the same. Also, the ammunition will have an effect on sound levels, as Hair Trigger noted above. Subsonic ammunition can be very quiet in a good suppressor out of the right host. Both of my cans are hearing safe with subsonic ammo on my M&P pistols.

A good suppressor will add considerable bulk to most handguns, also as noted above. You will have to take that into consideration for a defensive gun. Not horrible in a house, but pretty much impossible to carry. Also, you'll need proper suppressor height sights, and/or an optic. Recreationally, shooting suppressed is a whole lot of fun, especially .22.

You can get a really good suppressor these days for $400-600, plus the $200 tax stamp, so figure $600-800 all in... and a year wait. Mine actually took ~11 months.

Is it worth the expense? From a practical standpoint, probably not. It would be a lot cheaper and easier to have a nice set of electronic ear muffs by the bedside. Would I do it again? Absolutely.



Edit... missed one of your questions...

One of the best resources I found when researching my suppressors was Silencer Shop's video tests. They do a video for most of the suppressors they sell, and most importantly, they do the test the same way for each one... critical for comparative decibel testing. There are also tons of YT videos out there, but most of them are just anecdotal info.

I wouldn't get a suppressor just to have just in case I had to discharge a gun inside the house to save my life.
I have multiple suppressors. I enjoy using them but I don't keep one screwed on to a gun I keep loaded for self defense.

The quietest to me in a centerfire handgun is .45ACP.
The ones I use the most are .22 rimfire suppressors.

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Straight shootin'
SWCA#2439

I encourage you researching this topic. I actually DO have my suppressor mounted on my home defense weapon...it's my PS90. Here's my video on suppressors. I hope it helps:

The Truth About Silencers: Secrets most gun owners don't know - YouTube

They do work. They do require maintenance. I would be inclined to keep a set of electronic earmuffs with my home defense pistol and let it go at that, but that's just me.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is possible change of point of impact with the suppressor installed. I was asking about this on the rifle range and the reported change of impact was considerable. Now, this may be firearm/range specific, but it does exist. Would it make a difference at home defense range? Don't know, but finding out could be expensive. The handling issue has already been mentioned.

A quality set of electronic muffs with single button on/off would be a much more cost effective choice. I tried several before settling on Peltor's Tactical Pro.

In my experience, this is a non-issue on handguns at normal handgun distances.

On a precision rifle at longer distances it is a consideration.

Okay so there’s a catch with a suppressor. If you ever do use one there can’t be any criminal intent, whether you intended it to be or not won’t be decided by you in the court of law.

Use of a suppressor in a crime of violence is a mandatory 30 year sentence. I would not use one on a home defense or any kind of self defense weapon.

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-Matt

AFAIK, that law only applies to Federal prosecutions, which would be unlikely in a home defense situation.

But, never say never...

Yeah I wasn’t thinking that federal crimes usually involve crossing state lines.

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-Matt

And stick to subsonic ammo they work really well. I have a steel gong hanging outside of my workshop about twenty yards away. When I shoot my H&K Mk-23 with the Silencerco Osprey on it (.45 acp). The sound of the bullet hitting the gong is louder than the round going off.

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I don't own one, but I stood next to a guy shooting 147gr subsonic 9mm thru a Glock 19 and a silencer, and I could not believe how quiet it was. As I recall, most of the sound it generated came from the slide cycling.

Ranger SXT 147gr out of my 5" M&P suppressed is darn near 'hollywood quiet'.

MY silencer is very large by today's standards it is a MAC-10 9mm from the end of production, so S. W. Daniels is the official manufacture, I've had it since 1983. With subsonic 9mm it is quiet enough, that when firing it you can hear the empties hitting the grass. With supersonic ammo, the 22 short comment is close but louder than my set up.

The explosion noise is in the gases. The supersonic "crack" continues to be made as long as the bullet is flying faster the the speed of sound.

To control the explosion noise, you use volume to expand the gas and a spiral or baffles to slow it down (silencers get HOT, just like the barrel!)

On rifles, the old (1970's) school of thumb was accuracy was 1.5 times the naked barrel at best. Some current rifle silencers reduce groups to 3/4 the size of the barrel and increase velocity enough the gain an additional few hundred yards of maximum distance! (The wonders of fluid dynamics!)

On my AR-15, I get 1 MOA or better with the silencer installed but 1/4 MOA without, POI is around 15 MOA low and 2 MOA right; easy scope adjustments! Very repeatable, but you will need alignment marks to work with. Super sonic rifle discharges will still do lots of damage to your unprotected hearing even if silenced! (but only to bystanders, you are safe behind the gun!)

Hope this helps some

Ivan

I rented a can and a SiG P226 at an indoor range. I used sub-sonic ammo, and wore my usual ear muffs.

Other than reducing the sound level it slowed down the velocity of the slide and greatly reduced the blast. The noise of the blast sounded like it was about 10 feet in front of the muzzle. I switched to my non-suppressed 9mm 1911 and was surprised at how I could feel the blast.

Yes, my understanding is the the "noise" of a shot is a combination of the blast of the gases and the speed of the bullet breaking the sound barrier. With a suppressor (the gases) and subsonic ammo (about less than 1050 fps) is your best bet for quiet. I am waiting for mine, but just for the fun of shooting one on my S&W M&P 15-22. Ease of getting one, check out Silencer Central. They e-mail you the paperwork for e-signing, they send you a self do finger print card and they will do it all in a trust if you want and no fee for the trust filing. I will be out the door for about $1000 for the silencer, trust fund paperwork, and tax stamp. And they can ship it directly to your home in the 42 states they have a presence in.

I have three suppressors: a 22LR/22 Magnum, a dedicated 9mm, and a Hybrid that will handle rifle and handgun up to .46 caliber. I keep the 9mm suppressor attached to my Glock 9mm inside the home for the same reason you are considering it.

Any 147 grain 9mm is going to be subsonic whether or not labeled as such. A dedicated 9mm is not as bulky as many other suppressors. Having the Glock set up to "grab & go" is much more convenient than ear protectors. I also use the 9mm suppressor on my AR-9 with the same ammo. The 9mm suppressor on the handgun is very quiet and definitely hearing safe. The extra barrel length of the AR raises the velocity and makes the suppressor less effective but still a major improvement.

If I could only have one, I'd get the 9mm and use it on my 22s as well.

I hope this info helps in your decision making.

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SWCA 3417 HF 642 NRA-TC

The short answer is save your money, I bought the two that I had because I thought they were "super cool". Believe me if you need to use a firearm in your house there are more important things to worry about than your hearing loss. A suppressor adds unnecessary length to your firearm also. About the only thing they are good for in a home defense situation is if you are trying to hide the fact that you just shot someone in your house, then you have to clean up the mess and get rid of the body, problems you don't need either.
For less than the tax stamp which used to $200 you can get a set of super cool electronic hearing muffs that will allow you to hear better with them on and then block out any harmful decibels, I love mine I can hear the rapids on the river a good 300 yds away which I can't without them. Granted they are uncomfortable in the summer, I use molded plugs in the summer most of the time but still like the muffs for the added benefit of superior hearing.