Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Who has a 5.56 Suppressor

Just like most AR goodies, you can spend little or a lot, several manufactures, several opinions.

Hopefully, I will never have to use my Colt for home defense, but if I had too, I have wondered what the noise would be like in my home, down a hallway.

I feel a suppressor might be a good investment. Besides the first time some loser out there shoots up and he/she has a suppressor, the anti's will scream to remove these off our streets.

Opinions on suppressor's?
What model do you have?

extra length and all, if I was worried about a home gun, I would not have a can on it.... Just me.

Lots of other uses for them though and thats why I"m in line for a couple right now.

16" AR inside a hallway is freaking LOUD. AR with a suppressor inside a hallway is still loud, nowhere near as loud as without, but the muzzle flash is gone.

Elite Iron is what I have, local for me and a very good can.

Basically if you want quiet, you have to shoot subsonic ammo. Even with a can a .223 is loud. I don't like shooting it without hearing protection as you still have a super sonic crack.

The problem with putting it on a home defense gun is that it makes your 16" barrel a 22" barrel. Not so handy in the home. So then you need to get a SBR (short barreled rifle), say a 10.5 inch which finishes to 16" with a can. Then you really should get it chambered in .300 Blackout so it will be totally quiet and some knock down power (forget about .223). But now you have a $200 stamp on your SBR and a $200 stamp on your can, plus two sets of passport photos, two sets of finger prints and a 9 month wait. Your gonna be into it $500 just in stamps, background check and paperwork fees to do it right.

.223 cans are nice especially on .22 rimfires. Just blow them out on a .223 after you are done shooting .22. They add 6" to a barrel though and makes a .223 cumbersome.

Cans aren't a "investment" like Class III firearms. More can be made, and there isn't a cap on how many can be made, so prices stay about the same. If the .gov comes in they are going to shut them all down, no grandfathering IMHO.

If you want investments think Holland and Holland or Class III firearms. If you want a .223 can then Gemtech makes a nice one. If you want a home defense can, then go .300 Blackout on a SBR upper and get a can to match.

Use Walker Game Ears. I keep a set with my guns. They increase your useful hearing plus eliminates the noise should it come.

as i understand we are asking about use inside the house....

Which will likely, we pray, never happen.

Last thing I"m going to worry about or notice in that instance is noise. I'd be more worried about using a low flash powder myself...

FWIW we just run a shotgun in the house, it ain't gonna be quiet either, but will be along the lines of recoil and noise... when shooting a deer, you realize neither most of the time becasue you are worried about something besides that at the moment....

Dont' think I could remember to turn my electronic muffs on in time in a home invasion or even that they were by the bed...

+1

I maybe wrong but with everything else going on at a time like that I doubt you'd even notice the sound.

I've got a .223 can and really don't care much for it. The rifle is still loud and it adds a pound of weight to the worst possible place on the gun.

I use a 308 can on my 223. Quiets it down well enough. The 300 blk recommendation with subsonics allows you to use a 9mm can which will give good performance and versatility. A 9mm carbine with a can will work well too.

If you are going to get a 308 can, I would recommend a Ti can.

My .223 can only adds about 4" and is QD. It makes my 18" sound like a 22LR.

My noise concern in a HD scenario is that I don't want to add trauma to my daughter, much less my wife.

A suppressed pistol has much less sound signature and you'll be able to hear after the shooting.

It'd be questionable whether you could hear much after shooting even a suppressed .223. They quieter, but not quiet.

So in an instance where you have to fire, and you don't want to scare the wife or daughter... WTF do you do about the other guys guns? Ask em please don't shooot? And then are you justified in shooting...

In a shooting scenario all the crap that you think you need to worry about is out the window. I'm more worried about mentally ready to shoot if I have to, and then a plan B, C etc... when A doesn't pan out...

In my state, if they're in my house at 3am, or kicked the door in, I'm justified in shooting. I'm not waiting until they have a finger on the trigger to protect myself. I was in danger when they forced their way in.

Worry about the things you can control and don't hinder yourself with things you can't control. I can control shooting a quiet gun. I can control being prepared to shoot first.

Often when I hear a bump in the night and investigate, my family is in bed. If my wife wakes, she is prepared for protecting the kids while I investigate. No need to wake the kids up if it can be handled and them never know.

I'm mentally past handling the intrusion. There's secondary actions that will need to be dealt with. If the kids are woke up, there's an issue to deal with in explaining the event, debriefing them and putting their minds right so they can sleep again without fear. There's cleaning up the blood and patching bullet holes and "erasing" as much of the event as possible.

If you can take care of the event without involving the whole family, you should.

I'm not saying there's nothing else to deal with, or that I have always taken the time to screw my can on, but if I can, I will.

Sounds good, but when shooting starts, its often more than one firearm....

Last thing I"d worry about is noise when you can't control the complete situation.

Our states laws fairly the same as yours in regards to night... yet it is possible that I won't be able to shoot first, because I'll risk target identification.

Sounds like you have the rest totally covered.

@rost495, Your words are exactly what a close friend and shooter told me. I can't argue the fact that in a home invasion, the last thing I should worry about is my hearing...

@SB45, How cool would a 10.5" .300 blackout would be! I already looked into it after reading a fantastic article a while ago. It always comes down to money and that option is too far out there for this pocket. Great advice though. Thank you.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I think I will research other options at this point. I like the 9mm option too.

Lots of good reasons for a muffler but in a home defense situation the disadvantages are as pointed out above - length, weight, adverse affect on balance and handling.

Not in line for any yet but am considering one for both my .223/5.56 and .300BLK.

$1000+ for a good can, $200 for a stamp, and it's still loud. Complete waste of money on a .556 semi auto imo.

There was a time I would have agreed with you. Once I started shooting cans for a living I changed my mind. There are lots of reasons for cans to include sound and flash (no matter whether in combat or home defense). Guns are uncomfortable indoors (noise and pressure) and a good can makes a huge difference.

I have a can on a 10.5" AR and while it is not Hollywood quite by any stretch of the imagination it's quite enough so that you don't need hearing protection. But for home defense I would prefer the shorter length over the reduced noise. But let me tell you that little 10.5" 223 is LOUD without the can!!!

Here's my thoughts on self defense, both in the house and out, and the reasoning behind it.

A couple of years ago, there was a case in AZ (I think) where a guy shot a hiker (supposedly in self defense) with a 1911 in 10mm. The prosecution convinced the jury that it was "overkill" and the guy ended up getting convicted. Personally, I think it's BS, but in the minds of that particular jury, it wasn't.

With that in mind, I'm not going to use a NFA weapon, or any other "gun nut" type stuff. Keep it simple, firearms and ammunition that won't catch a jury's attention if, God forbid, you end up in a courtroom. My carry pistols are all stuff you can buy over the counter...1911s, Glocks, S&W revolvers. All in "normal" calibers with store-bought ammo. I also have a suppressed SBR AR in 300 Blackout that would be a great home defense weapon. I just see no reason to carry/use supercharged reloads or "exotic" firearms when there are plenty of factory offerings that will get the job done while not raising the eyebrows of the unknowing at the same time.

As to not having a suppressor when firing in the house, hell yes it's going to be loud, and hell yes it's going to be traumatic! But it would be loud and traumatic to everyone involved with or without a suppressor. Get a nice high-cap pistol like a Glock 17 or 21, or if you prefer a shotgun, and just hope you never have to use it.

Peltor Tac 6s here but same idea and a lot cheaper than a can.