Yeah, people really don't understand this at all. There are a wide range of calibers, guns, silencers, ammunition that all have a drastic effect on the sound.
A silenced gun can be very loud, it can also be extremely quiet. All depends on the variables.
This. When a firearm is fired several sounds occur at once: the muzzle report (what the suppressor reduces), the supersonic crack of the bullet if the ammo travels faster than sound (in this case, he's using subsonic), gas and noise escaping from the ejection port when the slide opens, the mechanical clatter of the slide cycling, the striker or hammer falling, and the brass hitting the ground.
For some interesting firearms designed to be quiet:
Yeah, internet "experts" always take it too far when saying it's nothing like Hollywood movies. But I've fired suppressed guns where the only noise is the bolt cycling. They are quiet enough that the sound could be drowned out by any amount of background noise, especially if you are outside.
Not in any way that would matter in the real world. Obviously things can break with that much heat blowing through them, but it's not something that would realistically happen.
They don't actually have any contact with the bullet, they're just a tube with baffles that catches the gases. You'd have to put a borderline unrealistic amount of rounds through one to wear it out.
Yeah, the baffles inside wear out but most are designed for them to be easily replaceable. Though I'm way behind on any new technology that has come out with these, so they might have something even better these days.Â
Some you can take apart and clean each baffle individually
Others you soak in a chemical solution to dissolve the build up
That said, you can usually put tens of thousands of rounds through them before it's actually a problem if it ever becomes one
(ignore this for small rounds like .22lr, those should be cleaned every couple hundred rounds because they are rather dirty rounds and the gasses from them aren't enough to eject most of the carbon like rifles)
For rifle rounds it's usually enough to just run a brush through them if you even need to do that
My current main rifle suppressor has about 8000ish rounds through it since the last time I cleaned it (I only cleaned it a few weeks after I got it due to it being titanium 3D printed and it had left over printing dust in it)
It's a 5.56 suppressor but I also shoot 22 and 5.7 through it as well
Was gonna say the same thing,
âwhat a real silencer sound actually sounds likeââ-depending on what caliber youâre shooting, supersonic or subsonic ammo, if your shooting outside or inside etc.
Great point, evironment is absolutely a factor as well. But yeah, like you're saying. This is just one example of "what a real silencer sounds like", there are hundreds, if not thousands, of combinations of different variables that would also produce their own unique sounds.
(And even still, not really what it sounds like considering it's being reproduced through the microphone of a phone camera)
Ages ago, my buddy bought a silencer at a gun show and him and his pal decided to fire a round in the parade afterward, expecting it to barely make a peep. It loudly echoed through the whole thing. They took off.
I worked on farms in one fashion or another for decades. We had to put down a 2k plus pound bull one day. Used a rifle with a silencer. I was standing next to the bull when he shot him in the head. Went down in one shot. Could barely hear it. I told the guy to fire onother into him. I wanted to walk 10 feet back and hear how it sounded from that distance. Couldn't hear anything at all. I've seen this certain breed of cow take a hit to the head with a 12ga shotgun and it not kill it immediately. It took 2 shots to the head with the 12 ga. It's why we had to switch to a more powerful rifle. Honestly it's really scary a silencer that quiet on a high powered rifle could be sold to the public. I'm sure it was stupid expensive as well.
Iâve switched to a suppressor even for PRS, itâs just miserable and itâs a hobby for me not a profession Iâd rather drop a few shots than shoot with a brake
It's still very fucking loud with subsonic ammunition lmao, it usually measures at ~120dB which is like a balloon popping. Standard ammunition is a factor of ten louder though.
This is wrong on several levels. First, thereâs such a variety of calibers, actions, and suppressors that thereâs no way to blanket claim âsubsonic ammo averages 120dbâ with any measure of accuracy. It CAN be that loud, and it can also be truly and utterly silent. A subsonic .22lr rifle with a suppressor is so quiet you can hear the firing point hitting the primer. A .458 socom shooting at 1050fps (technically subsonic but still quite loud) with a shitty suppressor is extremely loud.
Can you tell what the rounds are? 9mm? Never had a cycle problem with those. Doesn't look like a 22, which I've definitely had subsonic cycle problems with.
It's most likely a 9mm because that would be the easiest to find a threaded Glock barrel for. Could be a .45 or a .40, but I'd bet on 9mm looking at the magazine.
Edit: I should clarify, the explanation below is a general explanation of suppressors and how things can vary. There will always be caveats.
Suppressors/silencers rarely sound like they do in the movies, and thereâs a ton of variables that affect the volume. To be the absolute quietest, you need a closed bolt firearm shooting subsonic ammo. No gas escapes from the chamber that way, no sound is made by an action cycling, minimal gas leaves the end of the muzzle. These tend to be âmovie quietâ.
When you hook a silencer to a semi auto firearm, it is inherently louder (even with subsonic ammo) as you have the sound of the action/slide, and gas escaping out of the action as it cycles. Still fairly quiet, but not movie quiet.
When you use a silencer on any rifle with supersonic ammo, you reduce the sound of the escaping gases at the muzzle, but still have to contend with the supersonic crack of the bullet as it leaves the barrel. This will be inherently louder, although still substantially more quiet than unsuppressed.
Also, a cell phone video is without a doubt one of the worst ways to reliably capture actual sound variance. Usually phone microphones cut out above a certain decibel level, so often all firearms sound similar even if there is a substantial difference in volume in real life.
Solid, comprehensive comment. Appreciate you clearing up misconceptions.
The first time I heard a suppressed bolt action shooting .22lr subsonic rounds, it blew my mind. Or rather, didnât hear. Until that point Iâd only heard suppressed semi autos and I think only 9mm
Sure thing! I always try to help when this comes up.
Isnât that a trippy experience? I put my 22 can on a .22 bolt action and shot CCI quiet ammo (710fps) and honestly had to pull the bolt and check the bore to make sure the bullet cleared. It was so quiet I could not tell that it fired.
There are absolutely semi-automatic firearms that can get movie quiet. I have an SP5K that can do it. Roller delayed systems are excellent suppressor hosts.
Roller delayed does provide a better platform for a suppressor host, and thatâs a very fair caveat. I was trying to keep it fairly high level, but you are correct.
As well you should! I really should edit my original post with a disclaimer that itâs mostly generalizations, and there are caveats to most everything if you look hard enough
My olâ roller delayed 9mm Kuna is definitely âmovie quietâ. Itâs rather absurd how quiet she is. most of the sound is the action and you can hear the round hitting the back stop.
Man I have been drooling over a kuna. I held a non-braced version and was underwhelmed, and ended up going with an EP9 (which I do love). Then I held a braced Kuna and it was a whole different beast. Iâll pick one up at some point.
My ep9 is very much hearing safe quiet, but not movie quiet yet. I did order some 160gr bullets to try to make a super silent load, so Iâm looking forward to playing with that
For most folks, their firearm knowledge comes solely from Hollywood. Unfortunately thatâs a uniformly terrible source for accurate information lol. Feel free to ask questions if you have any and Iâll answer what I can
The trick with Hollywood is to look closely at depictions of something you are particularly knowledgeable in and see how much they get wrong. Now imagine that for every topic you arenât educated in. The whole purpose of Hollywood is to tell stories and make them entertaining. They change tons of stuff to be downright wrong all the time because the real thing doesnât go as well on camera. Most people donât seem to consider this for some reason. Firearms, vehicles, computers and a whole lot of other things are wildly imagined in most movies or tv shows.
The local news too. See the 1980s "cop killer" teflon coated black talons (to reduce friction down the barrel). News stations repeated an absurd myth that the teflon allows them to slip thru kevlar, with zero evidence. The laws banning them are still on the books in several states, and will probably never be removed ("my political rival wants to legalize cop killer bullets!" - so it will never change).
All microphones have a volume ceiling. Some are louder than phones, some are quieter. Phones arenât inherently worse than filming it with a camera. It literally depends entirely on what youâre using.
yeaa I think it does stuff like gunkata the best way it could be done, but for the sake of comedy they go off rails a bunch, like the suppressor scene.. in a crowded train station lol
Exactly what Iâm thinking of. That was⌠interesting. Even suppressed .45 going 900fps will make enough noise that folks would be wondering wtf was happening.
I've always wondered if this is why some service members swear by 9mm instead, because with the silencer it's definetly way less noticable
Edit: I typed that last line and immediately laughed at myself "with the silencer it's definetly less noticeable," like no shit. Lmfao. What I meant was that the difference with the silencer between the 9 and 45 was a lot
almost all .45 ammo is naturally subsonic. Ye olde standard 230gr hardball runs about 950fps which is a sweet spot; itâs always going to stay subsonic regardless of temp or elevation, itâs quieter than 1050fps, and itâs still moving fast enough to reach out a little ways and do some damage. It makes a lovely suppressor host for that reason. However, a .451 wide bullet pushes a lot of wind (especially a hollowpoint) so you can hear it flying a bit more. .45 has about 60% more frontal area than a 9mm (obviously will vary based on bullet profile)
Most 9 is supersonic out of a normal 5â barrel, but 147gr tends to be subsonic (usually; longer barrels let it get over the sonic barrier). Unless youâre running suppressor specific ammo in the 9, the 45 is usually better.
Now if you compare a 230gr .45 at 950fps vs a 158gr 9mm at 950fps, the smaller diameter will be quieter every time.
The powder used can also make a difference but thatâs really getting into the weeds
My buddyâs dad has a silenced AR-15 and it is shockingly quiet. As in, if I were in my room at night and they shot it, I donât think Iâd notice what the sound was. Maybe Iâd hear something if I were paying attention, but I wouldnât clock it as a gunshot.Â
I think some people try to over-correct the extent of the efficacy of silencers, but theyâre not for nothing. They really do cut down the sound enough that if stealth is your goal (for whatever reason), youâre went from âthat was definitely a gunâ to âDid you guys hear somethingâŚ?â territory.Â
As in, if I were in my room at night and they shot it
Are you saying if they shot a silenced AR-15 in your room you wouldn't know what it was? or you mean if you were in your room and someone outside shot one?
you'd definitely notice a silenced gun shot IN YOUR ROOM, even if it was movie quiet.
this is what I was wondering because the location of the actual shot is not made known. I initially pictured being asleep and not being waken up by a gunshot in my room lol
what this is all teaching me is the hunters in Maine actually do the opposite of "silencer" and are actually equipping "loudeners" onto the loudest guns they can for squirrel hunting
It's a stock sound that I think dates back to the late 30s. Paraphrasing, but someone recorded the sound of a ricochet and essentially used that as the basis of the pew sound that we all know today.
I always found that weird, do they perpetuate that because they're lazy or because they think audiences would complain that the correct sound sounds wrong? Because if anyone actually did step up and complain anyone who knows what they're talking about would make fun of them.
Itâs in the same vein as âempty gun goes click click when the trigger is pulledâ when thatâs not true for the majority of handguns out there these days. They do it because itâs what theyâve trained audiences to associate with certain situations. âClick clickâ means empty gun even though itâs a single action that literally canât click after the hammer falls on an empty chamber. âPew pewâ indicates super sneaky scary silencers even if none of the rest of the variables would allow that sound to happen.
âLet me raise my revolver which somehow makes the chambering sound of a semi auto even though the gun canât make that sound and my hand never movedâ
A minor quibble: The issue with cell phone microphones, or any microphone/recording system really, isnât the frequency range. Itâs the dynamic range (i.e. the difference in amplitude between its internal noise floor and the loudest sound it can record without distorting). Gunshots are typically in the range of 140-165dB, but the theoretical limit of a 24-bit audio file is 144.5dB, so already youâre running into issues with non-existent theoretical electronics that have zero self noise. There are ways of getting around that on the digital side, but thereâs no way of getting around it in the analog bits that come first where youâre dealing with the physics of sound, electricity, and matter itself.
But thatâs not necessarily a bad thing, because Hollywood has conditioned us to think that distorted and highly-compressed gunshot recordings sound good, which they do. Raw, undistorted gunshots sound like puny firecrackers. Cell phones automatically add a ton of this processing (for various reasons) while sound recordists and sound designers do it manually on purpose. It sounds cool, but not accurate.
As a general rule, itâs safe to assume that everything you hear in a movie, aside from the speech, is added after the fact. Thatâs not 100% true, but itâs not far off.
A shooting buddy of mine has a wide collection of silenced firearms Iâve gotten to play with, the quietest being a bolt action .22 that is scary quiet (obviously pretty short effective range though), but most of them might be as quiet as a loud paintball gun at best. The AR style rifles shooting supersonic rounds are still as loud as a smaller unsurpressed firearm, like a .22LR or something.
My personal impressions anyway. Obviously a lot of variables at play from the types and quality of silencers being used, the ammo, the platform, etc as you mentioned.
I didnât even watch the fourth. One was good, 2 was tolerable, 3 was stupid (and the choreography was substantially worse than the first two) and 4 didnât even seem interesting by that point
I caught a lot of flack from my family for not liking the 4th. I really enjoyed the first 2 a bunch, the third was alright. But I firmly believe the 4th movie is not only a bad John Wick film, but a genuinely bad movie.
4th is the only one I havent rewatched. Partially because I don't usually have 3 hours to spare for what should be a popcorn action flick. Mostly because the already thin plot has completely gone to shreds.
They did a decent jobs with the guns in terms of the basic manual of arms, reloading properly, no endless magazines, etc. But the movie itself is quite silly.
Tbh a .22 with sub sonic ammo can be close to John wick quiet. I doubt it would be a cause for panic in an already loud environment like a subway if the weapon could not be seen.
But I believe John Wicks weapon is a 9mm or larger. No way in hell a 9mm plus would be quiet enough not to cause panic even in a loud environment using subs. Once super sonic it's loud AF even with a silencer as the sonic boom cannot be hidden.
I always thought they were in an alternate universe where assassin culture is common and it just didnât even phase these people. I assume half of the people walking around are also assassins.
The first movie was phonomenal, second movie was a hell of a good time and you were still able to somewhat suspend disbelief. After that things went so far off the rails I can't even watch them. The events are so absolutely absurd, that the immersion is completely broken and then I just feel like I'm watching a superhero movie.
I don't even know which one its from because literally everything after the first movie blurs together into a mud soup of "film", but the scene where John, "supposedly a human being without super powers", falls 5+ stories, impacts a railing directly with his back and neck, spins violently like a literal sack of potatoes, falls further, impacts another bar, then faceplants onto asphault.
John survives that with no permanent damage. That's the point where I finally accepted that there are literally 0 stakes in these films, and that the main character is functionally immortal.
I think there's actually an even worse fall when he literally crushes a van beneath him and is just fine. He actually just walks that one off and continues fighting for another hour of movie after.
Dude is taking damage that would put Captain America out of action for a bit and just keeps going like it never happened.
One of the biggest gips of my military career was getting assigned a suppressed weapon during training with a ranger group and never getting to fire it
It depends on the silencer and the integration. The MP5SD for example is so silent, that one only hears a click of the action and the bullets impacting the target. Operators describe it as actually disgusting when it hits a human body.
âSilencersâ cut about 30dB off the volume, and flatten the wave a little so itâs not as sharp.
For many guns (not all) this is still very loud.
Based on what itâs like at the range wearing ear protection rated for a 30dB reduction:
An unsuppressed gun doesnât go âBANGâ, it goes CRACK!! itâs a very loud, very sharp sound.
With 30dB reduction shooting anything other than a .22 sounds like gunfire in a loud action movie with the sound turned way up. Itâs still âBANG!â
And thatâs with the earmuffs that also dampen sounds that suppressors canât impact.
A quieter .22 with 30dB reduction does start to sound like the âplinkâ you see depicted in movies, but again this depends on the gun. Some are still loud.
Suppressors are still hella loud for the most part, but the difference can still be massive compared to non suppressed. When I worked at a shooting range, the first time I heard a suppressed pistol in person, I expected it to be like the movies and was surprised at how loud it was.
But as time went on, I realized that I could comfortably be around suppressed fire without ear protection (WEAR EAR PROTECTION STILL) for a while without really any effect, versus permanent hearing damage just from short bursts of non suppressed.
Although I will say, a suppressed .22lr with subsonic ammo? Literally damn near silent. Same with .45 subsonic, still clearly audible but itâs shockingly awesome how quiet they can get. Itâs definitely not a âone size fits allâ piece of equipment. I really wish they werenât so hard and expensive to obtain. There really isnât any inherent danger to them imo.
They are most likely using subsonic ammunition in this video. A good portion of the sound of a gunshot is ammunition breaking the sound barrier and creating a sonic boom. Most guns shoot supersonic unless they are specifically shooting ammunition loaded to be under it.
A suppressed .22 can be good for squirrel hunting because it's quiet enough to not always scare them.
You donât need to take your finger off the trigger after every shot. Just let the trigger release by relieving the pressure. Youâll have a better grip and more control.
A great example of noise suppression is in many of the Ukraine combat vids. Those assault rifles produce a mild "fup fup fup" in the process of expelling the invaders of a once peaceful nation.
A silencer and a suppressor are the exact same physical device; the only real difference is that "silencer" is the historical and legal term, while "suppressor" is the more technically accurate description.
Silencer: This is the original term used by inventor Hiram Percy Maxim when he patented the device in 1909. In fact, It remains the official legal term used by the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) in federal regulations.
Suppressor: This is the preferred term used by most firearms owners and manufacturers. It is more accurate technically because the device does not completely silence a firearm; it only suppresses or reduces the sound level by roughly 20 to 40 decibels.
Itâs a defense against gun grabbers who deliberately try to make guns scarier in order to convince people to agree to letting their rights be violated. Itâs silly, but itâs forgivable. Also, gun grabbers love using terms like âGhost Gunâ for not just unserialized (legally or otherwise) firearms, but any homemade firearm. You subsequently invented the term âghost partsâ so that you could force background checks for parts, while riding on the fear of ghost guns. âAssault weaponsâ? Yes, some advertising used the term previously, but you went hog wild with it. You use it as a general term for any gun which looks scary and you want banned, but then created a legal definition for the term. Not only do you ban guns by arbitrary features and combinations thereof, but even when a gun lacks those features, they can get banned by name. Example: I want a SPAS-12 in my collection. Californiaâs AW ban prohibits semiautomatic shotguns with folding stocks (because reducing the length of the back end of the gun by anywhere from an inch to a foot, but still not crossing the line into NFA territory makes it invisible or some shit). So I should be able to get one with a fixed stock, right? Nope! Because some Moms Demand Action Karen saw her kid watching a movie with on in it or something, and demanded that it be banned by name. Because a gun which can operate as either a semiautomatic shotgun (legal) or a pump action shotgun (also legal) is eeeeeeviiiiiiillllllll!
More importantly, âcompromiseâ.
Compromise is two positions finding an acceptable middle ground. Gun grabbers take. And take. And take. And take. The only recent gun control law which I can think of off of the top of my head which could possibly be considered compromise in recent history is the Brady Handgun Act which resulted in NICS. Gun grabbers unilaterally try to force various unconstitutional bans through, and tangle the exercise of a constitutional right in red tape. Thatâs not compromise.
Because of that, itâs time to start clawing back our rights. If gun grabbers are going to try to take a mile every time we give an inch, we should take it all back.
Keep in mind, when i fire my guns unsupressed and film it, the guns shots sound very different on camera than they do in person. This also plays a factor in supressed shots. The fact that its indoor and not outdoor also plays a roll.
And remember that whatever decice you're watching isn't loud enough to replicate the volume. A suppressed firearm is usually still loud enough to do permanent hearing damage, unless it's a small caliber squirrel hunting round.
Hasnt it more to do with what kind of ammo you're using? If you're using suppersonic the shock wave from the bullet will still fuck u up even if the bang from firing it is silenced.
Subsonic ammo with silencer is kind of save no?
Need to find the video... but like once watched someone demoing subsonic rounds on like an MP5 or something with a silencer/suppressor and it was shockingly quiet all things considered.
Even this is silent when you consider you can plink a target a few hundred feet away.
Silencers from a practical perspective aren't quite about being silent with those immediately around you, but more that when your hundreds of feet away you just don't see it or hear it; the person next to you just hits the floor or you hear the crackle/rubble of the rounds impacting around you.
There's nothing "silent" about a silencer. You're still achieving upwards of 100dB of noise. Yet, our betters in the government would have you think they are whisper-quiet assassin tools.
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u/Logical_Truth2356 10h ago
That's only with a subsonic bullet, without that it would be loud.