We got a Mannlicher 223 with a silencer installed on it.

I have developed quite a few loads for rifles with silencer before, which were very accurate.

But, we have never compared t5he same load in the same rifle, with and without a silencer.

So we have decided to try it.

Any guess what the results might be?


Results of our silenced 223

Different points of impact without a doubt

More or less accurate.....I don't know

I can almost guarantee that the P O I will be different but the accuracy should not be effected or at least it hasn't been with my heavy barrelled 20 VarTarg or light sporter barrelled 6.5 Grendel-Max

Silencers are very popular in NZ, quite a few gunsmiths making and fitting them at good prices.

Some shooters do report improvements in accuracy although to be fair this could be contributed to the lack of noise and 'perceived' recoil. I recently shot a Weatherby Vanguard in 7mm-08 fitted with a silencer, a first time for me using a silencer. On the range it was very accurate and very quiet. With grade 5 earmuffs and the silencer there was hardly any noise at all. Although I am used to recoil and noise having used magnums and my light weight 404 Jeffery, I will admit that the silencer made the rifle very easy to shoot and all expectations of noise and recoil every time you touched off a shot disappeared. Was virtually like shooting a 22RF and I guess 'easier' to shoot accurately.

Rifle is a Steyer Mannlicher Pro Varmint, 23 inch barrel and a Leupold 6.5-20X scope.

Red is with a silencer on, black without.

Saaed,
Think of the silencer as a great big tuner.
All I did to re-tighten those groups that opened up a bit with the suppressor was play a bit with seating depth and/or tweaked a few tenths up or down on the powder.

Without getting into wake turbulence possibilities at the muzzle affecting the bullet at launching, I cannot think of anything aside from the extra weight hanging on the end of the tube that could affect harmonics that could ever so slightly open up (or tighten) groupings.

Just an educated guess tempered by a very little bit of experience.

Gary

Interesting! I wonder what would happen if you dropped the velocity subsonic?

quote:

Originally posted by M16:
Interesting! I wonder what would happen if you dropped the velocity subsonic?

Funny thing is everyone using a silencer is asking for velocities around 1800-2000 fps.

They tell me shooting those loads outside hardly makes any noise, and they would rather have the energy and accuracy for hunting.

I'm going to guess that it will depend on the barrel and silencer. Based on Calfee's writing about tuners on rimfires, if the silencer has the right mass and doesn't mess up the pattern of escaping gases, it should be more accurate.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by M16:
Interesting! I wonder what would happen if you dropped the velocity subsonic?

Funny thing is everyone using a silencer is asking for velocities around 1800-2000 fps.

They tell me shooting those loads outside hardly makes any noise, and they would rather have the energy and accuracy for hunting.

I was just wondering about the turbulence when a bullet breaks the sound barrier. Like with standard and high velocity .22's.

I have posted our results.

I hope you find them of interest.

Yes I do find it interesting. And it mirrors my unofficial observations in just some regular informal shooting.

While I don't yet have a suppressor, I am putting in the paperwork for 1 or 3. Texas has finally allowed them for hunting too.

One of my friends up North has quite a number of precision rifles and all with suppressors. They all are very accurate. Until we shot some of the bigger calibers like 416, I did not know what I was missing. Not only was it accurate, it was tame too. Without the suppressor, and using the muzzle brake, the blast just about blew our tarp away.

I also got to shoot a 308 target rifle at our range one day. The guy had made it from a Mauser no less and a precision barrel with a big Nightforce scope on it with a suppressor . I got in the scope and popped one and it had very little recoil and almost no report in my ears which of course I had the shooting muffs on too. I fired a few more and started cutting some Xs with it.

As a old schooler I wasn't sold on this originally. But there are truly some good suppressors out there now.

Thank you for all your efforts and work Saeed. Plus for sharing your results too. And for all the other courtesy's you have extended to all AR members and guests.

Glad you find this interesting.

One thing I forgot to mention.

The silencer gets extremely hot after5-10 rounds of full power loads.

With reduced loads, this is not a problem.