Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters What is allure of suppressors?

Pop'n Flop has its place.

Hog Whisperer

I think of military style firearms as being "tactical" as opposed to "sporting". Just so that you don't think I'm "anti" anything, I have a couple of ARs, one at home and one in the car, and a couple of cases of Norinco SKSs in my storage unit.

I think of all the guys who are pretend snipers and special ops warriors as being pretend tactical shooters. You know, the guys who wear an SPCS with a full load of pull-tabbed 30-round magazines, and a 9mm in a cross-draw holster, just to go to the range.

They're almost as good at recoil reduction as a good brake, plus they're SO much nicer to be around, whether you're the shooter or just somewhere nearby. If I'm self-centered, that's enough reason to use one. If I'm at all polite, there's an additional reason.

I'd like it if my rifle was a lot quieter.

I'd like to keep what's left of my hearing. To me, it's a public and personal health issue. The restriction of suppressors endangers every shooter with unnecessary loss of hearing, and impacts everyone around them because of it.

Recoil reduction!

Game does not get spooked


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeluX399ACg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gwI-2qxTmg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOast__5V24

Like nearly everything else, the restrictions on suppressors are based on a mountain of lies and the lies and benefits are beginning to be exposed to the light of truth.

This is why I would like one.

If it was the workplace OSHA would require suppressors and fine us if we didn't use them.

That is not to say I want them on every, or even most, of my rifles

Personal hearing protection, minimal disturbance to non-targeted game, courtesy to neighboring landholders.....

I can kill more hogs out of a group with a Supressor before they wise up and haul ass.

one should probably ask, what is the fear of suppressors?

upsides have been mentioned, downside is..... they cost some money.

I bought 2 cans last month for a good chunk of cash. for me the upside is when I teach my kids to shoot they won't be afraid of the boom, or recoil. not to mention the hours of family fun we will have plinking at the range. in addition to all the advantages to hunting with them. I think if more people used them, we could actually do something to get them to drop the silly "tax stamp" that scares everyone away.

I guess the downside is anyone who buys one is automatically an assassin for the mob or something.

They are quiet. Duh.

I guess that "quiet" is a more important consideration for some folks than it is for me.

They are all the rage over here and I hate them.
In the UK they use them because they are shooting on smaller private properties a lot of the time, and dont want to upset the neighbours.
Over here there is no justification for them, they are just fashionable; something else for gun guys to fiddle with.

They ruin the balance of a rifle and so every fool that gets one
makes sure his barrel is cut down to 16 inches, wrecking perfectly good brand new rifles.
The used rifle market is going to suck in ten years.

Oh, and deer don't suddenly go stone deaf just because someone screwed a suppressor on.

I've never found LOUD to be an advantage to QUIET whilst hunting/shooting. If there is a reason that LOUD is better, I'm all ears.

Our politics are so half assed backwards over here in regards to suppressors.

In England where you've got to jump through hoops to legally own a gun you can buy cans over the counter. They essentially look at rifles as being a health risk (hearing) when you don't use one and are highly recommended.

On long range rigs they're wonderful. Still a loud report, but not deafining and as mentioned also very good for recoil reduction.

I took a Roe deer in Scotland with a suppressed .243 as well as a Stag with a suppressed 7mm Rem Mag and spotted the impact both times.

I never said that I thought that "loud" was better, it just isn't an issue that I've ever considered a problem. Loud is certainly not good when doing urban herd reduction shoots that happen in people's backyards and in neighborhood streets in the middle of the night. That is my only experience with suppressors and using them allowed us to do a job that couldn't have been done if the residents had been aware that we were there.

I think that a hunter generally needs to be quiet while hunting, but once he/she squeezes the trigger, the bullet will reach the target before the sound of the muzzle blast. Unless you hunt in an area that is thick with hunters, which I don't, I think that deer, for example, are more sensitive to people moving about in areas where they normally don't encounter people and that is more disruptive than the muzzle blast of a firearm. There have been deer hunting seasons when I've never heard the muzzle blast from another hunter. I've also shot deer from as close as 30' while in a tree stand and believe that the other deer were spooked by the erratic behavior of their mortally wounded companion, rather than the muzzle blast. After all, game animals live in the wild and they hear the crack of lightening and the boom of thunder all of their lives.

I also like a well balanced firearm and for me, screwing several inches of weight onto the muzzle of a firearm would throw it out of "normal" balance. I don't find suppressors alluring based on my experience and my situation, but everybody has different experiences and different situations and must tailor his kit to meet those needs.

You do know that people hunt critters other than deer, right?

At my gun club, all the officers are older retired military guys. The first meeting I went to, I thought they really didn't like each other. Because they were all yelling.

Likely a little of both..