Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles How loud is a suppressed center fire?

I've only ever heard a suppressed .22 pistol in real life and the sound of the action was louder than the report of the pistol. I know that you can't suppress the crack of a high speed bullet, but what would you compare the sound of a suppressed mid range center fire to? A hand clap? A door slamming? a bicycle tube popping? Car back firing? What? We can use suppressors here for hunting, but as I understand it the Europeans are way ahead of us in this technology. A UK Government hunter from another forum a few years back used a suppressed 6.5x55 and it read like the suppressor threaded on to the end of the barrel, but the suppressor came back over the top of the barrel instead of out in front of it. I've yet to see one like that advertised.

That's called a reflex design as I found in my research. It has chambers that come back from the muzzle over the barrel to make the total suppressor and rifle shorter. The front sight has to be farther behind the muzzle to account for the length of the suppressor. Hope that is more clear then mud. Someone have a link to that Swedish design? Might be more clear. I haven't found a US made one and don't know of an importer for those devices. Likely illegal to import or prohibitively expensive. Someone like Silencerco might consider making one. You will have to inquire. Rusty

Most that I've seen/heard are not really "hearing safe".......as in, you wouldn't want to sit down at the bench and fire 20 rounds without ear protection.

Noise over 140 decibels is said to cause instant nerve damage and hearing damage does occur at much lower levels, depending on exposure......there is plenty of suppressor test data available with a quick search......

The level of noise reduction provided is dependent on many factors, including size, design, materials, atmospheric conditions, firearm type and ammunition used with that said the few Ive heard sounded like a 22 rim fire magnum.

ime, a rifle with a suppressor, shooting sub-sonic ammo (22lr), is quite tame and not to a level requiring hearing protection. however, a center fire rifle, equipped with a suppressor and shooting super-sonic ammunition (factory 308 for example) absolutely requires hearing protection. ymmv.

That’s exactly what my supressed 308 sounds like, maybe a bit less.

I just got done shooting 50 rds of 7-08 and 50 rds of .308 suppressed with no ear protection.
That was the whole point in investing in a couple cans. It's not quiet but the noise is away from you.

.243 win, 6.5 cm, and .308 win sound similar to a 16.5” barreled .22lr shooting CCI Stingers to my ears when using a SilencerCo Omega.

I have a 7 mm remington that has a silencerco supressor. It reduces the noise, and recoil by about 75%. I still wear ear protection. Remember, unless shooting subsonic, the bullet is still going to make a pretty audible crack.

Hurry up BATFE! Sounds (pun) fun....

Honest question, so don't take it the wrong way, why go to the trouble of getting/using the suppressor if your using ear protection anyway?

This rifle has a night vision scope used to kill wolves, bears, and the occasional lion or coyote. Used mainly for sitting over livestock kills. As such, I wear hearing protection while practicing with it. While sitting at night, I don't use hearing protection. Always trying to save my ears while practicing.

I also might add that the suppressor eliminates the flame out of the barrel that will damage a night vision scope. They don't like sudden bright lights.

If you look at suppressor test results you will find that nearly all suppressed centerfire rifles still produce 130+ decibels......hearing damage is cumulative and 130 decibels will damage your hearing.

+3 ...

Which is what 30 dB ear protection provides, if worn properly.

OSHA hearing safe level for impulse sounds is 140 dB. Most suppressed centerfire rifles fall below that number.

As I recall, the maximum safe exposure time for 130-140 dB per 24 hours is something like one second. In other words, a few shots are fine - say in a big game hunting scenario. If you're going to sit on a prairie dog town and rattle off 500 rounds in a day, you'll want hearing protection. But then again, it's not hard to wear hearing protection in a static environment, like on a dog town or at a range.

For the OP, I'd best describe a suppressed, supersonic centerfire as sounding like a high pressure air hose being disconnected.

I sure don't know what kind of cans you've been around....but not having to wear ear pro is one of the primary reasons I like them.