SUPPRESSORS - Waddaya know?

[MarkT]

Got a pal asked me about, what's the best suppressor to put on a Springfield M1A .308.  I said I don't know much about them but I'll put the question in front of friends that do.  He's asking which have good performance in dBa reduction, easy maintenance, reasonable in cost and may also be used on a .22LR with the same barrel thread with good effect.  Wants to pay the tax for just one - not to mention, suppressors are pretty pricey.

Got any advise / experience on this subject?

[solo1]

There is a good article on suppressors in this month's American Rifleman.

A personal opinion.  I might be wrong.  The cost does not equal the benefits.  A suppressor cost around a thousand bucks, give or take, plus 200 tax stamp and paperwork.  One benefit, however. A larger suppressor , like for 30 cal, can be used on smaller calibers, like .22s (but not conversely).

Average db suppression runs from 22 to about 30 db, from what I understand.

[fudgie]

Look up oil filter suppressors. 

[PAVALKER]

Look up oil filter suppressors.  

You mean sediment traps right?  LOL

They kinda muck up the view when trying to use the sights.

[Serk]

I've got a SilencerCo Omega rifle can, and I love it. It's not the cheapest by a long stretch, but it's light weight, full auto rated and rated for very high caliber use (All the way up to 300 WM).

One big caveat though - most cans that are rifle rated are sealed, I.E. you can't take 'em apart to clean 'em. And you do NOT want to shoot .22 (Or any lead only bullet) through a sealed can, the lead blowoff will build up and fill the can up, ruining it.

.22 cans are generally specifically for .22 so that they're much smaller, lighter and most importantly, built to be taken apart to have the lead cleaned out. (I've got a pair of SilencerCo Sparrows for .22 usage, love 'em)

The only "Swiss Army Knife" can I know of that's for rifle, pistol and .22 is the Liberty Suppressors Mystic-X, but it's only rated up to 7.62x39, can't use it on 7.62x51/.308.

Be careful though, once you've shot with a suppressor, it's hard to shoot without one. It feels so... uncivilized... to shoot without a can now. Not only is the noise level drastically reduced (No, they're not silent, but I can shoot .308 comfortably and safely with no hearing protection) but also the felt recoil is cut WAY back, and the muzzle flash is virtually eliminated.

I was sighting in my new Tavor (5.56) at an indoor rifle range a few weeks back, and first shot it a few times without a can for a basic functionality check, then put the can on and shot the rest of my session, and the difference really blew me away.

Yeah, there's a lot of paperwork, money, and waiting (I'm still waiting to get my 2nd batch of cans out of NFA jail that I bought back in August) but if you can handle those things, it's an investment well worth it.

But yeah, short version - a single can appropriate for .308 AND .22 is gonna be difficult to find, I would highly recommend he split that up into 2 different cans.


One other point to be aware of - A quality modern suppressor will not cause inaccuracy, however they WILL shift your point of impact. So you need to be sure to zero the rifle in the configuration you will use it in. At 50 yards my Tavor's POI was 2 inches up and to the right with the can on from where it was shooting unsuppressed.

Sorry, I got a bit long winded I see, but it's a topic I've recently gotten kind of in to. Feel free to ask me anything, I'm no expert by a long stretch but been looking into this area a lot lately. Getting me to talk about it is easy, getting me to shut up about it is the trick.

The upper right target is the with a can/without a can comparison.

[Serk]

Oh yeah, one more thing. Depending on his situation on how he plans on transferring an NFA item (Individual, Trust or Corporation) he might want to move sooner rather than later. ATF rule 41p is rumored to be going into effect early in 2016 (One of Obama (PBUH)'s latest "I have a pen and a phone" edicts) which will make trust and corporation transfers obtain a CLEO signature like an individual one does. And if you're like me, where your CLEO is a liberal Mexican lesbian Democrat woman (Sheriff of Dallas County Lupe Valdez) getting that CLEO signature could be very difficult or impossible to obtain.)

Supposedly any trust or corporation transfers already in process would be grandfathered in without a CLEO signature requirement.

[Jess from VA]

Regarding the M1A specifically:

http://www.ammoland.com/2015/04/suppressing-springfield-armory-m1a-rifle/#axzz3umvsZhGB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwA-5aypuME

[solo1]

Also a minor note.  Keep in mind, putting a 'can' on a pistol might block the sights.


Cans will probably allow a range to stay open in urban areas so that's a plus.

[Serk]

Also a minor note.  Keep in mind, putting a 'can' on a pistol might block the sights.


Cans will probably allow a range to stay open in urban areas so that's a plus.

Speaking in generalities you don't use a rifle suppressor on a pistol, pistol suppressors need a piston action to offset the cycling of a semi-auto pistol and are built differently to accommodate this. And yes, good chance you'll either need taller sights, or use a special suppressor that's asymmetrical like the SilencerCo Osprey that's built with most of it's mass below the barrel for this reason.



(Oh, and other than a few very odd cases (Russian Nagant revolver with the camming cylinder) because of the gap between the cylinder and the barrel you can't suppress a revolver.)

[Serk]

...and now I'm just showing off...

This is my 13 year old daughter (Who was conceived thanks to the VRCC, true story) shooting one of my 7.62x39 AR15s with my SilencerCo Omega can on it...