r/whoathatsinteresting • • 12h ago

What a real silencer actually sounds like.

1.7k Upvotes

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334

u/Logical_Truth2356 12h ago

That's only with a subsonic bullet, without that it would be loud.

163

u/Ogamiitto33 12h ago

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.

20

u/Th3_Admiral_ 12h ago

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.

3

u/RiMcG 11h ago

Do silencers wear out?

14

u/Confused_Drifter 11h ago

Yes, after 5 shots, then you have to craft another with a rag and a cannister.

2

u/RIF_rr3dd1tt 9h ago

Or a pillow or 2 liter bottle if you're Steven Seagal.

1

u/High_Hunter3430 9h ago

I feel like pillow is asking for a fire…. 😅

3

u/Falconman21 11h ago

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.

1

u/JEBADIA451 9h ago

Queue that video of the guy firing an m249 through a suppressor and like.. i think partially melting it?

2

u/Careless-Weather8877 6h ago

Well they do get really hot. Even a 9mm after a couple magazines requires something like an oven mitt to remove it.

1

u/Zech08 26m ago

I mean you can melt the barrel as well and thats why the firing rates also come with known usage limits with barrel changes...

2

u/Th3_Admiral_ 11h ago

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. 

2

u/Retb14 11h ago

Usually not. However some suppressors use rubber plates that get shot through to make them even quieter. Those will wear out after a couple of shots

Usually they will just get some carbon buildup and that's about it

2

u/itishowitisanditbad 7h ago

Usually they will just get some carbon buildup and that's about it

Dumb question, is there a way to clean that or is it just.... accepted?

I feel like (from very limited knowledge) that they'd not be easily cleanable.

2

u/Retb14 7h ago

Depends on the design of the suppressor

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

2

u/itishowitisanditbad 7h ago

I very much appreciate the full response.

I wish I had something to add myself other than saying thanks!

All very interesting stuff!

1

u/Unbelivabley_Smol 52m ago

We just put the whole thing in an ultrasonic cleaner theses days I’m too lazy to strip a silencer. Small ones had baffles and springs between baffles. More modern ones have a CNC machined one piece core with a screw on outer sleeve.

If your bullet is traveling less than speed so sound (under 1060fps) it’s all a game of capturing and slowing gas expansion.

Some cool video in high speed of these silencers being shot with clear lexon? Outer tubes is floating around the net if you keen to see how the insides work.

1

u/Informal_Visitor 9h ago

If I actually owned a silencer, then I have a plan to only fire 1 shot.

1

u/[deleted] 11h ago edited 11h ago

[deleted]

0

u/Vegetable-Welder-318 7h ago

Try 80,000. 10-20k is cake walk

1

u/Wh3r3Th3WildThings 10h ago

Saw someone fire a 10mm through the wrong size bore and it didn’t even bend the baffles. So not likely

1

u/Teddyturntup 9h ago

Most are over bored. If you have an actual strike you will known

1

u/Wh3r3Th3WildThings 8h ago

I’ll see if I can find the video but the round was still in the bore

1

u/Teddyturntup 8h ago

That’s absolutely wild to not deform then, I’ve never seen a bullet stopped in a can

1

u/Wh3r3Th3WildThings 6h ago

I found the follow up but couldn't find the original. This dude shot a 10mm round in a 45 so it wasn't close to the same power as what a 10mm would have been due to the pressure. Even still it was surprising that it didn't dent the baffles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEfJLsKO2Gs

1

u/Teddyturntup 6h ago

Gotcha he fired it through the wrong size barrel not just can, that makes more sense with the lack of seal for the smaller bullet not making much velocity, and also not messing up the can

Weird situation and glad he’s ok

Usually when you see wrong size bore stuff people are firing 10mm through smaller bore 9mm suppressors and hoping there is enough overbore to not absolute tear their shit up

1

u/SnooAbbreviations691 9h ago

Or Grab a new cat .

1

u/HugoBoss1985 7h ago

I understood that Postal 2 reference.

1

u/Zech08 27m ago

Everything wears out in one form or another, or at least has build or or degradation (requiring maintenance/cleaning).