Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Just how quiet do "silencers" make guns?

Still as loud as chain saws.  Ammunition To Go has an excellent article where they tested sound levels.

The takeaway is that I would still want ear protection even when shooting suppressed.  Highly recommended, information rich article.

Thanks to Dave who emailed me the link.

6 comments:

Jess said...

Even an air rifle has a distinct sound; and it can shatter the silence of a still morning.

Gorges Smythe said...

I used to read that silencers are only effective on sub-sonic rounds. Don't know if it's true.

Sherm said...

I'm deaf on one side and because science I tested shooting with only me good ear protected. It HURT. Even if sound wasn't an issue the sound wave still had quite an impact. I protect both ears and often double up on the ear that works.

SiGraybeard said...

I looked into those numbers a while back and came to the conclusion I'd never give up my hearing protection. Maybe you might be safe with a .22 rifle that's silenced but nothing bigger. No .30 caliber anything, and the same goes for handguns. So you knock a .45 from about 165 dBA down to 135 dBA. Still too dangerous.

Ken said...

I've always doubled up (plugs and cans) at the range.

Borepatch said...

Gorges, the article has a good discussion on this.

Graybeard and Ken, yeah. Even suppressed is really loud.