With the ability to now hunt game in Texas I am more interested in getting a suppressor. Since it is mostly a fun project I am starting with a .22 as my "learner".

Other than a mild knowledge of how they work and shooting a few over the years I know almost nothing about the day to day use of suppressors. Any particular problems, cleaning, replacing parts etc for general or specific suppressors?

I prefer to shoot bolt actions, even in .22s, but am thinking the suppressor might be more fun on something like a 10/22???

Any suggestions for a total rig and, especially, for brand/type of suppressor would be appreciated.

The 22lr is a good one to start with when buying a silencer. I can personally recommend the 10/22 and Savage MKii. I make my silencers instead of buying them, but I would buy any silencer that can be taken apart and has a lower price. They all work rather well as the 22lr is easy to suppress. If you buy a sealed can, it should be all stainless so you can clean it with dip.

Ranb

the SSS ammo is verboten by some makers, due to potential baffle strikes.

stay with subsonic ammo for best results..

if you have a 22 that can be rebarreled, have shilen do it in a quick twist and threaded for a can, and chambered for SSS ... the SSS hits HARD and is hollywood quite

bolt gun, or nylon buffer in a 10/22

Fatcat,
I have a 10/22 with the nylon buffer and a threaded barrel from Yankee Hill Machine. The suppressor is also from yhm, and with sub-sonic loads it is very quiet. I wouldn't spend the money to get a barrel with a faster twist rate just to shoot the 60 grain SSS loads. Any of the 40 gr sub-sonic loads work great in my gun. I bought the 10/22 target, and the thicker barrel (.920) matches the size of the suppressor, and makes it much less noticeable.

I would buy a suppressor such as a "pilot" or any take down model suppressor. Cleaning and care is much easier.

I have a 10/22 that works well. If I had it to do over again I'd never buy a .22. I have a .300 Whisper that is just as quiet but shoots a 240 grain bullet.

I personally think a 22 LR is a great place to start! You will use it heavily I think.

(I do have a suppressed 300 BLK too and do enjoy it. Is indeed VERY quiet ... just not so cheap to shoot.)

A bolt gun will be much quieter than a Semi, but a semi is more fun IMHO. Hold the bolt closed for best of both world action!!! I have a Umarex HK 416 clone with a Gemtech Outback II and its a Hoot! Uses a P22 to 1/2 X28 adapter and works flawlessly with subsonic RWS or Gemtech subsonic rounds. Accuracy is < 1 inch at 50 yards. Very quiet and cool especially with the 37mm Grenade launcher on it. Puts a BIG SMILE on my face!
Nearly as cool as my FA HK416 with Halo and 40mm replica Osama Ben Laden smack down gun.-Rob

Despite the UK's otherwise difficult gun laws, moderators are easily obtained here - indeed to it is getting to the point where you are deemed as being anti-social if you DON'T put a can on the end of your rifle! Most of the full bore moderators we use here are built in Finland by companies such as Ase Utra, A-tec, BR Tuote etc, or in New Zealand, e.g. PES and Hardy.

Both of my .22LRs are moderated using SAK strippable muzzle-mounted mods. Using subsonic ammunition, I can hear the firing pin strike the head, usually followed by the 'whump-crunch' of a 40gn Winchester hollow point striking a rabbi's head. Having experimented with various mods over the years, for the .22LR there is little link between cost and effectiveness, as the £30 SAK works just as well as the £100 Whisper. I don't really see the point of using a moderated semi-auto .22LR for hunting as the noise of the action clattering back and forth is so damn noisy, it negates the point of the mod' and subs. I shoot 2,500 to 3,000 rabbits a year with my little CZ rimfire in this way, usually at night (with a Lightforce lamp) and at ranges out to 100 yards.

To achieve the same result in a full bore rifle, you'd need to be using sub-sonic ammunition and be restricted to a trajectory like throwing a bowling ball. Using hypersonic ammunition, most moderators do a very good job at reducing the report by 25-30db, reducing felt recoil by 40-50%, cutting down the travelling distance of the sound and making it very difficult to directionally locate the muzzle report (making second shots on deer much easier). Despite all the hype about different types of moderators being more effective, they all do roughly the same, although I have found that (to the MkI ear) that a calibre specific mod' appears to work slighly better than a smaller calibre exiting via a larger calibre aperture. For hunting, I tend to favour the A-tec CMM4 aluminium mod' - it will wear faster than a steel can on my .270 but at 8oz it makes no difference to the rifle's handling, whereas the presence of a 30oz+ PES moderator at the end of the barrel most certainly does.

I test fire my rifles in a small valley around 800 yards from the house. The sound of unmoderated rifles is clear from the house, whereas it is often difficult to hear moderated rifles being fired, and the sound is completely inaudible if there is other ambient sound such as farm machinery or if the wind is blowing directly away from the house.

The other interesting thing about moderators is how much more pleasant it is to fire larger calibres with a mod in place, and how you can then improve accuracy. I have a light 7mm RM which is a pig to shoot accurately unmoderated but becomes like a well mannered tack-driving .223 with the can screwed on.

Adam.