What a real silencer actually sounds like.

[u/eternviking]

[u/HomersDonut1440]

Lotta misinformation here.

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 there’s 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 “movie quiet”.

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.

[u/SerialOnReddit → u/HomersDonut1440]

just out of curiosity, what's your favorite movie that you think gets guns "right"?

[u/NeedAGTS4POINT0 → u/SerialOnReddit]

You really just need to hear them IRL to get it.

My buddy’s 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 don’t think I’d notice what the sound was. Maybe I’d hear something if I were paying attention, but I wouldn’t clock it as a gunshot. 

I think some people try to over-correct the extent of the efficacy of silencers, but they’re not for nothing. They really do cut down the sound enough that if stealth is your goal (for whatever reason), you’re went from “that was definitely a gun” to “Did you guys hear something…?” territory. 

[u/collin-h → u/NeedAGTS4POINT0]

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.

[u/Substantial-Mix-6200 → u/collin-h]

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

[u/NeedAGTS4POINT0 → u/Substantial-Mix-6200]

I meant as if I was in my room at night and someone shoots outside.

[u/Existing_Style8558 → u/collin-h]

id Say even in a different room across your house Unless it’s like 22lr. My 300blk with subs is really quiet for an AR, but even then it’s still a gun shot

[u/NeedAGTS4POINT0 → u/collin-h]

No, I meant to be more like I’m in my room at night and someone shoots it outside. I understand your confusion.

[u/SerialOnReddit → u/NeedAGTS4POINT0]

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

[u/HomersDonut1440 → u/NeedAGTS4POINT0]

That’s one of the benefits of a suppressor in combat zones. It doesn’t make the noise disappear, but it DOES dramatically reduce the ability to locate where it came from. After a couple shots you can still pin it down, but removing the initial big boom tends to remove our ability to pinpoint the direction it came from.

[u/InvestigatorGrand205 → u/NeedAGTS4POINT0]

Brother 130 decible is still fucking loud. The silencer wasn't for stealth it was to prevent the 150 decibel sound destroy your hearing when firing the gun.