Suppressors/Silencers: Who's Got 'Em?!

I know I've mentioned this in a thread quite a while back, but some young dude, mid twenties-30 YO, had a tactical pistol at the range; don't know the caliber, but bigger than 9mm. He was pretty excited, as he finally got his silencer after the long wait. He got the attention of a few of us to witness his initial trial run of it. First without the muffler, then, after 1 1/2 years, he put it on. If there was any difference one would need a pretty accurate decibel meter. Dang, I wanted to cry for him, because I'm sure if he were alone he'd have cried, beet red faced & all.
Now, custom car exhaust manufacturers have a system that will simulate the exhaust sound for your engine and their available choices of exhaust. Does Silencerco or any other companies have anything like this?

Toyman said:

My son and I bought this Silencerco Maxium 9MM and it took 18 months due to it being registered in a trust.

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That sure does look unusual....

I guess it must deflect gas/blast back towards the rear of the gun.... Does it work well?

If he was running supersonic ammo, then yes the supersonic crack is still quite loud. With subsonic ammo in a semi auto some noise also escapes through the ejection port. Subsonic ammo in a semi auto pistol is very much quieter than unsuppressed to my ears. No ear pro necessary unless there is a range-wide rule or unsuppressed guns nearby. Some cartridges that are normally subsonic (without paying for special loads) are 45 ACP 230gr, 45 LC, and 180gr 40 S&W. In a 3” barrel pistol most 22LR stays subsonic. Great for teaching new shooters without ear pro muffling the conversation.

jeffrefrig said:

I know I've mentioned this in a thread quite a while back, but some young dude, mid twenties-30 YO, had a tactical pistol at the range; don't know the caliber, but bigger than 9mm. He was pretty excited, as he finally got his silencer after the long wait. He got the attention of a few of us to witness his initial trial run of it. First without the muffler, then, after 1 1/2 years, he put it on. If there was any difference one would need a pretty accurate decibel meter. Dang, I wanted to cry for him, because I'm sure if he were alone he'd have cried, beet red faced & all.
Now, custom car exhaust manufacturers have a system that will simulate the exhaust sound for your engine and their available choices of exhaust. Does Silencerco or any other companies have anything like this?

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Dan Zulu said:

... Some cartridges that are normally subsonic (without paying for special loads) are 45 ACP 230gr, 45 LC, and 180gr 40 S&W. In a 3” barrel pistol most 22LR stays subsonic...

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That's great info, Dan. Have not seen that anywhere before. Thanks!

I'm intrigued by the 3" pistol option. Two questions re "most 22LR stays subsonic": Does the subsonic result depend on the LR ammo brand or the pistol type/model, or is it the combination of the two? Could you give examples of 3" pistols and LR ammo resulting in subsonic speeds?

Edited to add: I'm a revolver guy, so not familiar with semis. I did find a bunch of Ruger .22 pistols with 3.5" bbls, but not 3"...

As far as I know all of the standard velocity 22LR will stay subsonic in a 3” barrel. At higher elevations that might change. I would avoid anything labeled HV. The S&W 2214, 422 and similar pistols are great candidates for cans because the low bore allows you to use the stock sights. Also on those models the barrel nut can be replaced by a threaded one without paying for a whole new barrel.

Just paid for a Rugged Obsidian 45 at the LGS and they have a Silencer Shop kiosk that's like an ATM for ATF paperwork. Easy way to blow a grand. I just cofirmed my signatures via email and printed out my copy.

Also in play is adapters and such that the LGS sells at cost if you buy the silencer from them.

22 lr subsonics from 16 inch bolt rifle with a decent suppressor is what i would term hollywood quiet, depending on first round pop. After that the loudest noise is firing pin/bullet hitting. IMO, quieter than a pumped air rifle.

20 in 308 bolt rifles can be amazingly quiet with heavy sub sonic rounds.

This is not from reading the internet.

Our private range lets me shoot outside of standard operating hours suppressed.

Using subsonic ammo in the Maxium 9MM is quite a bit quieter than no silencer at all. 9mm standard ammo is somewhat quieter in the Maxium than in a gun without. The baffles can be shortened which will allow more noise.
The gun is front heavy and absorbs recoil well.
The internal parts and the magazines are Glock.

Can anyone list the suppressed decibel levels for different calibers, starting with the 22 LR ? I know much depends on the suppressor, the ammo, barrel length etc.
I would just like to hear from you members with suppressors, and what you all think are the "average" acceptable decibel levels for a few different calibers.
In articles I read regarding suppressors, as well as ads for suppressors in different gun magazines, I've never seen or read anything about decibel level results.

I have two rimfire suppressors. A Quest and a Gemtech Outback II.

Teufelhund6468 said:

Can anyone list the suppressed decibel levels for different calibers, starting with the 22 LR ?

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Here are a few:

Kurac said:

Find a class 3 dealer in Oregon and they can walk you through it, besides the $200 tax stamp per NFA item and 10-12 month wait, you will also need to submit fingerprints and mugshots. The paperwork is about three times as much as buying a gun from a dealer. I don't know where in Oregon you live but if there is a Northwest Armory near you, check them out.

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My 1st suppressor was done with fingerprints and signed by the Police Chief of the City I live in and I also retired from the same PD.
My 2nd suppressor was done through a Trust and required no finger prints or signing by a Law Enforcement Official. Much easier to do it that way.

The law changed. You no longer need the CLEO to sign anything. You send them notice of the application and if they have an objection they tell the ATF. (At least at the federal level).

I have a silencerco hybrid 46. I wanted kind of a do it all large caliber suppressor for my first one but the main requirement was I wanted to shoot suppressed 45-70. When I stuck it in jail no one was making threaded lever actions yet but marlin had been talking about it. I wanted a dark series 45-70 but those never fully hit the shelves. Luckily I did snag the only 1894 CST my LGS got in. It was more than I wanted to spend but it’s a nice gun and it shoots great. I run a subsonic 180gr jacketed load under some unique. It’s pretty quiet but in a rifle it’s also quiet without the can.

Then last year I really lucked out. I won a Henry lever action rifle off a gun ticket. When I went to the LGS to see what they had it turns out they had a Model X 45-70 in stock! This is Henry’s new lever action with the side gate and a threaded barrel. I paid the difference in price which was like $30.

I worked a subsonic load with a 400gr Speer JSP and unique. This load is really quiet for how powerful it is. I also bought some Hornady sub-x but it is not as quiet or as accurate as the unique load.

I've been thinking about subsonic loads out of my Ruger American .450 Bushmaster (threaded barrel) but they're more than my Osprey 45 would handle unless they were absolute wimp loads. I too want 400gr at 1000fps.

Suppressors are indeed interesting. Depending on what you're shooting you may still want ear protection. One thing people don't think about is other shooters on the line with you. Unless they're shooting suppressed, you'll need ear protection. Only when your gun is quiet enough and there are no other unsuppressed shooters nearby are you able to go without hearing protection.

I have a can for a .22, a full barrel suppressor for a 10-22, and another .30 caliber can for a Blackout. They work well and according to reports, help with accuracy. They're excellent and while I've shot a lot of rounds thru the two .22s, they're still quiet. Can't take them apart because they're sealed.

A movie that realistically shows the use of a silencer is Dinner Rush, looks like on a Walther/S&w P 22.

I love it for hunting! I have 2 brothers that hunt with me and I can tell you every time they shoot their unsuppressed guns, unless they are miles away. They don't hear me when I shoot at a blind 700 yds. away through brush.

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I have heard that European hunters think that hunting without a suppressor is rude. I can't prove it.....

Have you considered doing this using a trust? If not, you might check the advantages of having one.

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Actually, there are no advantages. This is why:

The law changed. You no longer need the CLEO to sign anything. You send them notice of the application and if they have an objection they tell the ATF. (At least at the federal level).

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ATF used to not require a CLEO sign-off for "entities". Not requiring them for individuals makes the use of an entity somewhat academic.

Maybe one advantage - the trust needs trustees and beneficiaries and trustees can be added, with this result:

The Trust was necessary as the only way I could pass it on to my son when the time comes...

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Not entirely true, offspring can pay another tax and so forth but the trust alleviates that problem.

A suppressed .22 pistol is so quiet (so is a suppressed Ruger 10-22) that all you really notice is the sound of the slide reciprocating and if you're shooting over cement you'll hear the brass hit the ground. The pop of the report of the pistol is quite nothing but for 9mms and .45s it's not quite so simple - they still sound like too much firecrackers as far as I'm concerned. Not so much the existence of a bang but the report can still be disturbing to others nearby. YMMV

Walther P-22 with Gemtech suppressor:



I have trust forms if anyone wants one. My two Class III items are in a trust - I've had them both a long time.

The Trust became popular for one main reason and it had nothing to do with when you die. When it was a requirement for the local law enforcement to sign the forms many people had problems because the local LEO refused to sign. Many did not believe you should own items like these.
People found out the the Trust route did not require the LEO sign off. The Trust route did not require pictures or finger prints either.

Around 2 or 3 years ago they changed the law. They got rid of the requirement for you to get the LEO sign off which made it easier for the individual transferor. They then started to require the responsible person on the trust to submit a picture and finger print cards for the transfer so they could do the same type of background check as a non trust transfer.

The transfer of a NFA item upon your death has not changed in years, I don't know if it has ever changed. If you as an individual dies your heir will be permitted to inherit your item tax free. The problem comes when you do not leave the item to a specific person. For example, a man dies and his will says everything goes to his wife, or he has no will at all. If the wife gets it and wants the son to get it it is not as clear cut for the tax free transfer. If you die and wanted your buddy to get your $25,000 machinegun upon death he most likely will not get it tax free unless he is listed in the will.

I have been doing NFA paperwork for myself since 1991. I have done it as a gun store employee for about 3 years. It is a PITA. Trusts are the ones I hate the most because it requires more forms and I have yet to find a step by step guide that covers every question I have. When you call the NFA branch you get different answers on different days. For example, if you buy a machine gun and silencer at the same time do you need two or four finger print cards? It seems like it depends on the examiner, some will some won't.

The NFA branch has a way that you can go online to transfer items from dealer to dealer with online forms. When I was trying to do one last month I could not get one part to work, I found out that it does not work on Wednesdays. They could have put that on the screen but noooo, that would be too easy. Tried it thursday and still no go. Turns out that you have to answer one of the questions wrong for it to go forward. Not every time but sometimes it has to be wrong. They know there is a bug in the system but they can't fix it or don't have the will/money to.

Working in a store you see some of the things that can happen with NFA things. A common one it the person dies and years later the family wants to get rid of the item. First question, do you have the paperwork?
It can be done without it but it is so much easier with it. Sometimes the machine gun is a war bringback, never registered, sometimes it was but no papers can be found. To top it off the NFA does not keep track of records very well. They have told people that a machine gun was not registered which means it has to be turned in to the govt, but then the family finds the forms that prove it was registered. Another alternative to turning in a unregistered machine gun is to find a museum that will take it. They still have to do forms but it is a shame to destroy history.

Sorry for going off topic.
To the OP I recommend a .22 silencer that you can move from one host to another for your first one. With the 22 silencer you will see the biggest/most impressive results. Most of them are close in sound reduction performance to one another. One of the biggest things to consider is the maker, have they been around a while? Is their customer service top notch? How easy is it to clean? I just got a Dead Air Mask that I have not tried yet. After much research I got that one because it has been around a while and many people use it as a standard when evaluating new suppressors.
It's kind of like when you look at a semi auto 22 rifle, you ask how is it compared to a Ruger 10/22.

A word on 22 ammo. When I shoot high velocity in a pistol it will stay below the speed of sound with a 4.5 inch barrel most of the time. If I use standard velocity, barrel length normally does not matter as it stays below supersonic. Most standard velocity I have seen is solid point, if you need an expanding bullet most ammo labeled subsonic for 22 has a hollow point. They do have specialty ammo as others have mentioned such as Quiet by CCI, they have two types, Quiet and Quiet for semi autos. The first ones did not have the power to cycle the action on some semis.

I'm no expert on this stuff, I may have gotten something backwards, always verify, sometimes it is hard to catch the changes to the rules and regs.

Thanks, wrhk33. That's quite comprehensive.

I appreciate all the comments, guys. Learning a lot here.