How do Silencers Work, and How Silent Do They Actually Make Guns?

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Sources:

Dear, Ian, Sabotage and Subversion: The SOE and OSS at War, Cassell Military Paperbacks, 1996

[TheWarmotor]

I'm a 'gun guy', I have experience building and using suppressors (legally, with the associated tax stamps) and this is the first 'non-gun' channel video I've seen on the subject that correctly touches on all of the pertinent points. VERY well done!

[kelleymcclure]

My fiancé is a design engineer for a firearm manufacturer. He was one of the engineers that was part of the “suppressor project” for the company. I showed him this video with the expectation that he would pick it apart and tell me all the little things Simon got wrong. Instead, he said it was the most accurate, in-depth, unbiased video on suppressors he’d seen from a channel that wasn’t focused completely on firearms. Great video Simon!!

[spartan]

As a gunsmith……. I’m particularly impressed with the amount of effort put into the accuracy of this video, even to mention the bag at revolver. Well done!

[DJWyre]

I'd also like to point out that the decibel scale is an exponential one: An increase in 10db is a 10-fold increase in power. Reducing a gunshot by 50db is therefore a reduction in acoustic power in the order of 100, 000. Suppressors then are actually highly effective from a physics perspective, but that's not how hearing works. It is however key to hearing loss, and as you mentioned, very important for indoor civilian use - not to remain unheard, but so you don't deafen you, your friends, bystanders or even the people you're trying to subdue.

[DangrMouSe]

Much respect for giving an accurate breakdown of suppressors. Hopefully enough ppl who aren't familiar w/ their actual real world effects will see this & understand they are not some magical silencer of assassin rounds seen in Hollywood but instead just dampen the noise a bit so you don't blow your ears out, especially indoors.

[KittenMcSnugglet]

I appreciate seeing someone outside of the gun community helping to dispel the irrational fear of 80's and 90's hollywood notions of firearms. Keep up the good work!

[Maistro]

US Marine here… this is amazingly well done and accurate. I only found one subtle mistake which I think is a slip of terms and doesn’t really matter much. A 99.9% accurate suppressor vid is rare… I’ve almost never seen a single video or paper that goes so far into detail and history for them. Even touching on suppressing fire being mitigated by using suppressors (ironic I know). Even on dedicated gun channels and pages I can only think of maybe one or two that are equal to this video. Bravo. Well done.

[VSO_Gun_Channel]

Hey man. As someone with extensive hands-on, professional experience with suppressors- this was a pretty decent video and I can tell you tried. I give it a 9.5/10 on correctness and can only dock points in a few nitpicky areas that really don’t matter. As always, solid presenter makes the video. Keep up the good work and if you are ever passing through Ohio, open invite to get on the real deal.

[Big_Tex]

I live about 2000 feet from an outdoor gun range. I fully support suppressors. In fact the suppressors should have suppressors.

[JasonJones-znos]

First off: I love your content and presentation. This applies to many of your videos, across multiple channels.

As a licensed firearms dealer, suppressor owner (5) and maker of ammunition (some tailored specifically for suppressed use) I clicked on this video expecting to lol at all the usual inaccurate nonsense usually spouted in similar titles.

I was pleased to be mistaken.

A few minor nit picks notwithstanding, I found your video (mostly) accurate, interesting, and entertaining.

[The_Privateer]

I find it interesting that in many countries with exceedingly restrictive firearms laws encourage silencer use for safety and public health/nuisance reasons.
While the "home of the free" regulates these devices so stringently as to make them (effectively) minimally available because the are scary in movies.

[SilverlingVirtualStudio]

As someone who uses suppressors on all of my range guns, I really appreciate the accurate information here. 99% of “silencer” videos are hack garbage—this is great! Well done!

[joelhall]

Even with suppressors on the range, we use ear protection for centrefire calibres. Not worth the ear damage over time.

[itsapittie]

A small correction... The sale and/or possession of suppressors has never been banned in the US. The 1934 NFA made them a restricted item requiring special licensing and payment of a fee similar to machine guns. Unlike machine guns, the manufacture of suppressors has never been banned. If you aren't a criminal or otherwise prohibited by law, it's perfectly legal to buy or make a suppressor after you pay the $200 fee and wait for approval from the ATF. However, like almost everything in the US, the states have individual laws on the subject and some jurisdictions don't permit citizens to own suppressors.

The inclusion of suppressors in the NFA was based entirely upon hysteria and not reality. There's no evidence that suppressors are or ever have been used to any significant degree in crime. I'm aware of only one instance in which a shooter used a suppressor and it didn't keep anyone from immediately identifying the shots. The only noticeable changes that would result from removing the restriction on suppressors are that people would be less likely to lose their hearing and at a distance you'd be less likely to hear the shots of hunters.

[rayne]

I used Suppressers in Afghanistan on my Sniper rifle purely to hide the location i was firing from as it eliminated the muzzle flash and by making the weapon retort quieter it made it almost impossible to tell which direction the shot was from. it worked very well in built up areas as we could be on a rooftop and the sound would not echo the same as an unsuppressed weapon.

[eljefeamericano]

I am absolutely impressed by how accurate and thorough this video was! I'm very well familiar with firearms, suppressors, and all of their myriad real-world uses. This is one of the only videos I've seen on YouTube that didn't leave me shaking my head. This was really very good work! I don't have anything I really want to critique about it, but I would like to include some additional information in case anybody with the interest to read it comes across my comment!

Oh, and thank you so much for not discussing the trend of using oil filters as suppressors. Yes, sure, it can work a little, for a bit. Good luck getting a proper sight picture, though.

The suppressed cartridges invented by the Russians were also used in a knife. The idea, I suppose, being that if a soldier was attempting to neutralize a sentry with the knife, but their target turned around, they could then dispatch them with a silent bullet, instead. No idea how well this worked in practice. Another interesting note about those cartridges, and the ridiculousness of our ATF over here in America, is that here, every round would have to be registered as its own suppressor. And to legally own them as a civilian, you would have to pay a $200 tax on every single cartridge.

The MP5SD is a sub-machine gun that I really expected to be in this video! It wasn't really needed to explain the potential of an integral suppressor on a firearm, though, since there were other adequate examples. I will say this, though. That particular weapon was known to produce such a quiet report that the cycling of its mechanical components was noticeably louder than the shot itself. Also, while it did still make a sound, it wasn't easily recognized as a gunshot, even at relatively close ranges. Both of these things were discussed in the video regarding other weapons, but hey, if you're new to the subject, and interested in it, the MP5SD is definitely an icon of the suppressed tactical firearm world.

Finally... there is even a suppressor out there that fits the minigun. Yeah. The rotating-barrel, ridiculously high rate-of-fire minigun. No idea how well it works, because I can't afford to own either!

If you actually read all of this, you're awesome. Here's another bit of suppressor-related trivia for ya, since you're so dang dedicated to the subject! Suppressors tend to push a lot of combustion gases back into the barrel of a firearms. In semi-autos, this can mean increased fouling, increased operating forces within the action, and, maybe happily, in a full-auto it usually causes an increase in the rate-of-fire. This also leads to the user of said firearm breathing in more toxic substances, like lead particles, so suppressors as a means of keeping the shooter healthy aren't exactly perfect!

[FellsApprentice]

It's literally a gun muffler, and they should be available over the counter to literally anyone just like any other accessory.

[BaleFieldAce]

As someone who is permanently annoyed with silencers depiction, I've gotta say that this is one of best most thorough videos I've ever seen on this subject. Simon's other videos on guns have also been very accurate.

[justinkey]

When I was more into hunting in my youth, I really wanted a suppressor to protect the hearing of our gun dogs. To me, that is the biggest benefit of hunters using them. But of course, Hollywood is reality to some people; particularly to legislators who aren't up to speed on what they are legislating.

[mdcclxxviepluribusunum]

I like the people arguing about what they’re called. Simple fact, when silencer is on the patent it’s called a silencer not a suppressor. You can call them quieters or whatever you want but that doesn’t change what the patent says or even what the inventor called it.