Looking for input, good and bad on adding a silencer. Not a brake, a silencer.

It looks like they are legal in Missouri. I know nothing about them so have at it with your opinions and experiences.

Looking to put one on my sporterized Argentine Mauser in .30-06. One question is what modifications must be done? I am assuming the barrel would need to be threaded like a shotgun for chokes?

They offer several advantages including:
1. They limit felt recoil and muzzle flip so that you can both shoot better and see the bullet impact better at range.
2. They are a significant improvement over the screaming muzzle brakes that many currently used.

Disadvantages:

1. They do not eliminate hearing damage unless you shoot subsonic ammo. If you are potting whitetails or hogs from a tree stand/blind, you could go subsonic without much loss. If you are shooting longer ranges then you probably will not be happy with subsonic.
2. They can add up to a 1 pound to your rifle total weight. (usually less)
3. They make traditional hunting hunts a more difficult proposition. You will want to hike with it attached and that adds brush and tree catching length to the rifle. That plus another 8-16 ounces will punish you on a sheep hunt or god forbid a mountain goat hunt. But modern hunting is becoming more and more a bushwack affair. You sit in a blind of some kind and wait until something walks into range then you kill it from a nice stable man made rest. This is where a silencer shines, especially at shorter ranges where you can use subsonic ammo. Example, Popping hogs or deer out from under a feeder at 75 yards would be nearly dead silent with a suppressed 300 BLK shooting subsonic ammo.

I am unfamiliar with 06 subsonic ammo availability. I am also unfamiliar with any potential issues (if any) with redoing an old mauser barrel. Threads would be on the outside of the barrel, opposite of a choke tube.

Nice to see you using the original term "silencer" Just the way Hiram Percy Maxim coined it.

they lower the decibels.
depending on your barrels diameter you may want to have it threaded and then use an adaptor for the actual suppressor.

I would also look for one you can take apart rather than a solid unit.
you will want to clean it, and repair or replace internal parts at some point.

if you want one by hunting season I'd get the paperwork in NOW.

one other thing not mentioned above is they may change the point of impact when off versus on the rifle.

I have a couple friends that won't hardly shoot or hunt without one.

I've shot a couple moderated rifles and they are a joy

I have several rifles with and several rifles without. They greatly reduce recoil and obviously sound. While they are not "hearing safe", neither is a vacuum cleaner. They are quiet, per se.
They definitely do not disturb the game NEARLY as much as unsupressed weapons. I do not shoot any ammo that is subsonic. I basically use the hunting rifle as is, then suppress it.
My favorite can is the Silencerco Harvester. It is an aluminum can with steel guts. This makes it much lighter and it is a direct thread, meaning no flash hider. No flash hider means money and weight saved.
I have several brands; Ops Inc, AAC, Silencerco, Gemtech, home made, ect. All basically work the same to the human ear. The may difference is how they are built and how they install. Most are full auto tated which is a complete waste on hunting rifles. Like I said earlier, I like the Harvester.

Perry

Used a Blaser R8 in 300 Win mag with a silencer in Botswana last Sept. Made a big difference in felt recoil and noise. I liked it...

Of course they also add weight and a lot of length to the rifle too.

ask on the fishnhunt forum in New Zealand or the NZ Australian board here, lots of suppressors there have 2 different makes myself, very good makes a huge difference

They are not silencers but are suppressors. They suppress the noise and the recoil. They do not "silence". I expecially like them on my AR15's. The noise is much lower. I have them on all of my rifles. THey add weight but also stability on the barrel. I love them and use them at every opportunity.

Thanks, so far, guys. I always wear hearing protection even to mow grass. It's really not something for me, so-to-speak but for less disturbance to game and for when I desire to target shoot. I stand hunt as I only have 34 acres. Just wondered if they made a difference in noise. None of my rifles have rough recoil.

If your goal is not to "disturb" game, then you'll definitely need to go to subsonic ammunition. The report from a "silenced" full power .30-06 is plenty loud to put game to flight. However, suppressing a full power hunting rifle will be less disturbing to your neighbors.

Your barrel's muzzle will need to be threaded for whatever (dismountable) suppressor you choose, however, it will be ungainly if you don't cut some length from it first. Suppressors add at least 6 inches and generally more to the barrel length, so I wouldn't want one on a hunting rifle which has a bare length of more than about 20 inches.

Also, get the type of suppressor which simply screws on the threaded muzzle. The suppressor is the controlled item, so you can move it to any rifle you wish if the rifle is threaded for it. Get a threaded muzzle protector for times when you may not wish to use the suppressor.

One thing I've enjoyed about hunting with suppressors is that you're much more likely to get a second shot if you miss, especially at long range. With conventional supersonic ammo, there's a sonic boom that comes off the bullet, but the muzzle blast is knocked down enough that it isn't really noticed by the game. They notice the crack of the bullet passing by them, but they can't figure out where it came from and often are visibly puzzled about which way to run. This is particularly helpful when trying to shoot multiple hogs out of a group.

I do think game calms down faster after a shot with a suppressor. The supersonic crack is nowhere near as disturbing as the crack accompanied by a massive boom from the muzzle.

Note that subsonic ammo is generally unimpressive on game, though Lehigh Defense makes some subsonic .300 BLK load that actually expand, and now Hornady is offering some stuff that works. The most common subsonic .300 BLK loads use a Sierra Match King hollowpoint and don't expand well at all. In any case, you're largely giving up on the concept of hydrostatic shock. A friend who regularly uses the Lehigh ammo likened it to shooting a deer with a crossbow--similar range and similar effect on the animal: deadly but not dramatic.

Thanks guys! I have never heard of subsonic ammo. That will be something to look into for sure.

I don't know what it would cost to modify your .30-06, but I would be inclined to look at purchasing a dedicated rifle to wear the suppressor. A full power .30-06 round is still going to go BANG loudly with supersonic ammo, and aside from the benefits of a heavier rifle and resultant recoil reduction - doesn't take advantage of the obvious noise reduction capabilities. I haven't seen any factory .30-06 subsonic loads, so it would probably require handloading - and I suspect that the results would be less efficient than a round with smaller case capacity.

I bought a Rem 700 "Tactical" in .300 Blackout for about $325 a couple of years ago, and I just leave the suppressor on it full time and even with supersonic ammo, it is pretty quiet. And a subsonic 220 grain .30 caliber bullet going 1050 fps does the same damage whether it comes out of a .30-06 or a .30 carbine...

... and you wouldn't have to ugly up your Mauser!

I love mine
308 with can on it sounds like mild 22, no kick with regular ammo

First of all, we need to STOP using the term "SILENCER" THERE IS NO SUCH THING, and the term falls fright into the Anti's agenda..

The correct term that WE ALL SHOULD BE USING is SUPPRESSOR...

The very best supressors will only dampen approx 40 db, so if your shooting a 160db rifle, there is still 120 db of noise to contend with.

If we are ever going to get these gadgets de-listed off of the NFA list, we need to start calling it by the correct name.

Advantages- Much quieter to your ears and animals take much less notice. Shooting is flat out more fun with a suppressor. I shoot better suppressed due to less recoil and the "boom" is greatly reduced. The crack is still there, but the boom is gone. Will save your hearing over the long haul if you shoot without earplugs in a hunting situation.

Disadvantages-Cost. The suppressor will throw the balance of a rifle off if you don't shorten. I ended up having several inches cut off my barrels to bring the balance back and shorten the length.

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
Thanks guys! I have never heard of subsonic ammo. That will be something to look into for sure.

You do not need to go subsonic for a substantial reduction in noise

We build quite a few rifles with silencers, and having loads of around 1500-1800 fps works great.

I would say that virtually every new rifle sold in NZ now has a suppressor fitted, is factory threaded for a suppressor, or the purchaser has one fitted soon after purchase.

They are now well accepted as the norm rather than the exception. Only thing I don't like is they do make the rifle less balanced but the younger guys don't seem to mind that. Same as for bipods, now the norm here.
In fact if you don't have a suppressor and bipod on your rifle you are not dressed for hunting

Oh by the way they do work and it is much more pleasant recoil and noise wise to shoot any rifle with a suppressor.

Ann, here where I live, supressors are used by most of the guys and gals hunting red-and roe deer from high seats / blinds.

As others have pointed out, they reduce recoil, which means you can se the bullet impact on the deer.
They reduce, and often eliminates muzzle flash, a great pro hunting dusk and dawn.
And they reduce the sharp report from the shot, disturbing less both folks and animals.

They are easy to damage if you bump into something as the threaded part are not that big or robust.

They need to be taken apart and cleaned now and then.
Weight might be an issue.


I don`t use them, as a moose hunter I do a lot of walking in partly rough and remote areas, and both weight and risk of damaging the depressor with a missed shot as a result, counts a lot.


But as a said, deer hunters simply love them.

I've never used sub-sonic loads as it's counterproductive out here in the west.
I have use one on several hunts and don't find the 11 oz, added length objectionable when compared to the wonderful noise reduction.
They're nicer than sliced bread for all but the roughest, toughest hunting.

Zeke

I have one. Does it reduce noise? Yes, absolutely. The quietest is clearly the subsonic ammo.

I have noticed some weird things. I shot a big boar hog right over 2 bucks with a 300 Win Mag using the suppressor and full loads. The bucks didn't even stop feeding. This has happened several times.

After owning mine for more than a year, I have decided to use it only in limited circumstances. For certain guns, particularly those with long barrels, the suppressor totally throws the balance of the gun out of whack.

I largely use it in a tree stand only. Stalking hogs, for example, it is just too awkward. I hate it.

I have a 300 Blackout with a short barrel. It feel perfectly natural on it. I have shot a lot of hogs with it.

Ann:

Owning currently over 20 suppressors.
(.22 to.50, and one shotgun can and having been involved in suppressor manufacturing in the past.

There are more good products to choose from than ever before.

Almost everything I shoot is suppressed-\-(with the exception of my double rifles and collectible rifles.)

Frankly I love them.
(as I do night vision and thermal optics)

Some of the best on the market currently are the Thunder Beasts and the OSS's.
(Not that other brands aren't good-- truly, most are)

Generally if someone is advertising below 135 DB with supersonic ammunition be very skeptical.
As well, advertising under 108 with subsonics -be equally skeptical.


Generally, shorter barrels are best.
Not just for overall length but also barrel stiffness.

Generally long thin barrels do not handle suppressors well (even the ultra light Titanium ones).
While you can adapt an up-sized threaded flanged to a thin barrel,
it typically is neither visually appealing,nor mechanically efficient.

My typical advise to a first time suppressor buyer
for a hunting rifle is:
.30 magnum Thunder Beast Ultra 5, or ULTRA 7 (titanium)

With this you can reasonably suppress (by hunting standards) anything from a 300RUM down to a 22 Hornet.

They are lightweight , durable and as quiet as anything in their general size/weight class.

The "NEW" OSS products are very hard to beat on AR (excuse me --Modern Sporting Rifle) configurations

(currently my 308 wears an OSS, my 6.8spcII a GemTech QuickSand. my 5.56 SBR a TBAC full auto can.
Etc, etc-

A word on the media darling 300 blackout-
JD Jones developed the 300 Whisper in the early 1990s.
(JD would not license the name--so we now have the Blackout--not exactly the same - but it takes a micrometer to tell them apart)

We experimented with the 300 back then with as a suppressed entry gun and anti guard dog gun.
(Will leave those discussions for another time.)

Additionally, I found it very effective inside of 100 yds for culling operation.
(we were raising Blackbucks back then)

The projectiles in those days were 240gr Sierra Match Kings or 250 grain Barnes running 1050ish.

Essentially, it was a hyper accurate shoulder fired 45acp (+P) with a more aerodynamic bullet.

Todays hunters are mostly using 110-130 supersonics and 190-220 Subsonics

Think of the Supersonics as perhaps a more accurate AK- and the subsonics as a slightly more accurate (in most hands) .45 acp.

Choose your targets accordingly-
and with those bullet energy /velocities in mind and shoot animals appropriate to those parameters --things generally work out.

Try to stretch the range on subsonics -- bad things star to happen (as with a 45 acp)

Hope that helps

After 40+ years of suppressor use-
I for one can never go back for most of my shooting,
nor would I desire too

Thanks for your input!

Can you put a suppressor on a rifle that has a bull barrel?

Yes
Either by threading it down to smaller diameter
or building a custom suppressor with large threads
or building an over the barrel integral suppressor

Forgot to mention above--
a nearly "all-in-one" suppressor

For someone that only wants ONE can

The SilencerCo Hybrid

silencerco.com/silencers/hybrid/

I'll throw the Liberty Mystic X in there with the SilencerCo Hybrid for a one can solution.
It is has a 35 caliber bore, and will handle up to the 300 Win Mag level of powder/pressure.

I shoot mine on a 358 Norma Mag rifle, a 300 SAUM, a 357 Max Contender, and a 9mm Glock.
I got it for under with the 357 Max, but it found its way onto other cartridges.

It is a great option for building a 18-20" barrel suppressed 35 Whelen or 350 Rem Mag if someone wanted one.

Id have buy new saddle scabbards!!
besides after 70 plus years of shooting old fashion guns I can't hear for shit anyway!! all guns are silenced since about 1950 with me!