What's the truth: Revolvers and suppressors?

[8shot]

I remember watching old black and white TV shows where the mob hitman pulls out a snub nose revolver and screws on a silencer before the puffs ring out and the good guys fall down Thinking to myself what good is the suppressor when dealing with cylinder gaps! In the real world could a revolver be suppressed?

 

[OutAtTheEdge]

It certainly could be suppressed, however the efficacy would be diminished.

I'll leave it to others to mention the M1895 Nagant revolver.

 

[Glenn R. McMannly]

The M1895 Nagant revolver utilizes a unique gas seal mechanism and elongated cartridge that allows them to be suppressed.

Nagants are pretty crude and frankly lousy fighting handguns, though. Most useful for shooting political dissenters of the party in the back of the head and not much else.

Comrade Tokarev’s automatic was a decidedly better fighting tool.

 

[Inkgardener]

I am wondering this as well. We suppress semi autos which open the breach during the cycling of the action. Some suppression is better than none. Why not the same mentality with revolvers?

 

[Warren Sear]

Revolvers can be effectively suppressed.

 

[kwill1911]

It was not effective. The Army experimented with the revolver and suppressor above. S&W made the cylinder longer to try to help with the gas and noise coming from the gap but it did not work. It's failure is what led to the development of the QSPR, which also wasn't effective.

 

[Alpo]

It seems to me, that if you shoot a standard 38 special in a 2 inch model 10, and compare the sound of it from a standard 38 special fired in an 8 and 3/8 inch 38 special revolver. The longer barrel is going to be quieter. Right?

That says to me that even though sound is going out the flash gap, sound is also going down the barrel.

So if they put a can on the end of the barrel it's going to quiet the sound that's going down the barrel.

Will a silenced six and a half inch 25-2 firing standard 45 ball be as quiet as a silenced 1911 firing standard 45 ball?

I doubt it.

But will the silenced 25-2 be quieter than an unsilenced 25-2?

I think it will.

 

[kwill1911]

The longer barrel is going to be quieter. Right?

Not enough that you can tell it with a human ear.

So if they put a can on the end of the barrel it's going to quiet the sound that's going down the barrel.

Actually, it makes it louder. The back pressure from the suppressor forces more gas, and noise, out the cylinder gap.

There are lots of sources, tests and data online if you really want to look at real results. One source: https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2024/01/17/wheelgun-wednesday-silencing-gap-1/

 

[rwsmith]

I am wondering this as well. We suppress semi autos which open the breach during the cycling of the action. Some suppression is better than none. Why not the same mentality with revolvers?

But the opening action is delayed on most semis, and even blowbacks use mass or rollers to delay opening. Nearly all of the smoke/gas goes out the barrel.

 

[Alpo]

Actually, it makes it louder. The back pressure from the suppressor forces more gas, and noise, out the cylinder gap.

That makes sense. I had not considered that.

I was hoping that your link would take me to some place where they did something as simple as fire a revolver in front of a sound meter. Note the dB. Install a can on that revolver. Fire the same revolver with the same ammunition in front of the same sound meter and see the dB now.

No theories. Actual physical test.

But that wasn't what they did in your link. It was a good article. I enjoyed reading it. But it was not what I was hoping for.

 

[Greyman50]

Tv and movies have ruined “views” about firearms, the truth hurts.

 

[8shot]

Tv and movies have ruined “views” about firearms, the truth hurts.

But they sure have encouraged the misuse of firearms and contribute to firearm violence.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

I'm still looking for one of those left-handed Mauser M1893s the Spanish troops use in "Rough Riders".
IMHO the most effective suppressed handgun would be a single shot breechloader.

 

[Greyman50]

Only sounds when fired from these was the bolt moving. SEAL guns that old friend got to do some tests. He brought them and some others to our MG shoot several years ago.

 

[kwill1911]

But that wasn't what they did in your link.

It is easy to find such comparative data on all kinds of suppressors being test on pistols, rifles, shotguns and SMGs. Why not revolvers? Because it would be pointless for two reasons: 1.) they don't work; 2.) there is no need. In other words, suppressors work well on pistols but those than use guns professionally don't use revolvers. I know this won't make me popular but revolvers are almost purely recreational firearms now. Police forces and militaries use pistols.

There have been exotic designs, e.g. a big clamshell device that fit around the cylinder and barrel to "catch" the gas escaping from the gap but there just really isn't a need. Reed Knight once made a sniper rifle with a revolver as a base but it needed highly specialized telescoping ammunition to work.

 

[WardenRoss]

Take this with a grain of salt...

 

[gwpercle]

A beer can sized supressor makes my J-Frame revolver too hard to conceal carry ... I will pass on the mufflers .

I ran straight pipes on my 1968 Chevelle for 25 years ...
That big V-8 sounded good ... the wife and kids all knew when I came home ... could hear me a block away !
Gary

 

[DT75]

I enjoyed Kentucky Ballistics' earlier videos more, for example his pineboard tests.
Nowadays it's more of a clown show, still skips through some of the newer vids though, if it seems somewhat interesting enough for some reason.

It would've been a better comparison, and more interesting to see the the results, if he had shot the same ammo in both guns.
A subsonic 350 grain 500 Mag is not really a 500 Magnum , even if it's loaded in Mag cases.

 

[smithman 10]

It is easy to find such comparative data on all kinds of suppressors being test on pistols, rifles, shotguns and SMGs. Why not revolvers? Because it would be pointless for two reasons: 1.) they don't work; 2.) there is no need. In other words, suppressors work well on pistols but those than use guns professionally don't use revolvers. I know this won't make me popular but revolvers are almost purely recreational firearms now. Police forces and militaries use pistols.

I don't carry my Model 36 for recreation - it's too heavy. Of course I am not a professional, just a citizen with a carry permit!

 

[unspellable]

I wondered for a long time about the suppressor on a revolver thing. Everybody said it doesn't work, but nobody had any real answers.
So, I did it myself. Dan Wesson 22 with user adjustable cylinder gap. Set the gap as tight as I could get away with. The can quiets it down some but not a lot.
High speed recordings of centerfire revolvers show the cylinder gap sound occurs slightly before the muzzle sound and is almost as loud.