Gun silencer

num hutz · Dec 6, 2008

I have seen in many movies years ago when poeple would put a potato on the end of a gun to silence it. Is this possible ? or B.s.

Walt Davies · Dec 6, 2008

Sure you can do anything just don't shoot it.
Besides any type of gun silencer is prohibited by the US gun laws.
Walt

lucas boy · Dec 6, 2008

yep,gotta get a federal permit for a silencer to be legal. a not to bright freind saw a movie where a guy used a 2 liter plastic coke bottle for a silencer on a rifle. the freind put one on his gun and it exploded like a m80 when he shot it.hey ,if you want to have some fun,build a potato gun.they are legal to make . lucas

van robinson · Dec 6, 2008

silencers are not illegal, you just have to get the proper permits to have one. the silencer is registered to a specific gun and specific person. It cannnot be put on any other gun, legally.

Stockdale Dave · Dec 6, 2008

Last I checked you had to have a class 1 license and pay the $200 fee. Buddy has one on a Browning Hi-Power. Pretty cool. P.S. the soda bottle packed with tissue paper on the end of a .22 does NOT WORK.

phillipd · Dec 6, 2008

Lol,the things some people will actually try lol.

Mr. Bob · Dec 6, 2008

This is pure male bovine fecal matter. I've tried it; doesn't work.
Mr. bob

Anonymous-0 · Dec 6, 2008

When I was young and foolish, I made a silencer out of a small engine muffler, it worked good, but ya don't want to be caught with it,

RayP(MI) · Dec 6, 2008

Neither does a baby bottle nipple!

bill mart · Dec 6, 2008

an other thing is the bullet has to be sub-sonic or you will hear the crack when it breaks the sound barrier. bill m.

Gun guru · Dec 6, 2008

The way I understand it is that the bullet has to have the speed reduced to reduce the sound. What you see in the movies with a silencer on a handgun and the bullet leaving the gun sounds like a thuupp into a pillow is not close to real. I saw a video of the IMI company firing a modified Uzi and the sound reduction was impressive for an automatic weapon. (IMI is Isreali military industries)

RossIL · Dec 6, 2008

I think you're partially right. A silencer reduces sound by slowing the release of the spent gases through numerous baffles built into the silencer. The bullet's speed is reduced by using a sub-sonic round thus less gasses (and velocity)to dissapate.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 6, 2008

Mythbusters did a show on this very topic, assuming asonic ammo, potato didn't do much, but what worked best was a 2 liter soda bottle, filled with styrofoam packing peanuts, taped to the end of the barrel.

greenbeanman in Kansas · Dec 6, 2008

Potatoes, soda bottles, etc.

The homemade unit I heard of was made out of a spin on oil filter.

By the way, how does it happen that the good guys and bad guys in movies can shoot 100 rounds at each other in an enclosed space and can still hear a feather fall to the floor? After just one shot my ears would ring for a half hour and I wouldn't be able to hear squat during that time.

Scott in IN · Dec 6, 2008

A couple of the posters were off a bit on their information.

That being said, generally silencers are illegal UNLESS the owner has an approved $200 Tax Stamp from the ATF. It"s not a license, it"s simply a tax on the transfer of the the controlled item (silencers, machine guns, short barreled rifles, short barreled shotguns and destructive devices). The silencer is not registered to a specific gun, only a specific owner. It is correct that they work by slowing down and cooling the combustion gases by various types of baffles. The speed of sound is around 1260 feet per second and is true that the bullet need to stay sub sonic (less than the speed of sound) to be quiet (or else you get a ballistic "crack"). What you see on TV is simply that, TV and real life performance is way different.

If you are interested in learning about them, spend some time over at www.subguns.com.

Sidekick · Dec 7, 2008

I saw a suppressor on a .308 once. It sounded a lot like really loud air brakes.

big hunter · Dec 8, 2008

I think I read once in a gun magazine about the guys that go hunting in Africa with big gun...Weatherby 378, 460 so on and so forth and have a muzzle brake on their rifles. If I remember right they said that it helps suppress the sound and recoil for the shooter but the guide and or other hunter that were standing to the side of the shooter sued the shooter because of ear damage from the blast directed toward them. (I don't know if a muzzle brake and a silencer are the same beast)

Sidekick · Dec 8, 2008

Muzzle brakes and silencers or suppressors are not the same thing. A muzzle brake is simply a series of holes drilled into the end of the barrel. The idea is that some of the gas pressure behind the bullet is vented upwards and to the side to slow the rearward motion of the gun. It works but it is awfully loud. The shooter and anyone beside him will hear as much muzzle blast as if they were standing in front of it. The blast will almost take your hat off it it's a big rifle. Ear protection is an absolute must. I wouldn't have one.

Gun silencer

num hutz

Member

Walt Davies

Well-known Member

lucas boy

Member

van robinson

Member

Stockdale Dave

Member

phillipd

Member

Mr. Bob

Member

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

RayP(MI)

Well-known Member

bill mart

Well-known Member

Gun guru

Well-known Member

RossIL

Member

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

greenbeanman in Kansas

Well-known Member

Scott in IN

New User

Sidekick

Member

big hunter

Member

Sidekick

Member

Similar threads