Silencers for local at home target practice?

Overview of how suppressors work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suppressor

Section of THR dealing with suppressors: http://www.thehighroad.org/forumdisplay.php?f=58


They will not literally silence the sound of the gunshot, but will greatly attenuate it. There will also be the sound of the sonic boom (unless you use subsonic ammo, typically with 147-grain bullets) and the action cycling. This should still be sufficient to not bother the neighbors. It would also be of great benefit for home defense, as the sound of a gunshot is amplified indoors. For other questions (federal and state paperwork, finding a threaded barrel, possible gun functioning problems and such), there are people in the above section far more knowledgeable than I.

You can own silencers in colorado. The basics you want to consider:
1. CALIBER:
Are you only going to shoot 9mm or do you want to shoot other calibers with your suppressor? (Consider getting a .45 caliber suppressor and you can shoot .45, .40, 9mm through it.)
Do you want to shoot any .22LR through it? (Consider a user serviceable or cleanable suppressor like the Liberty Mystic)
2. HOST:
Are you going to use it with your Ruger SR9C, or do you plan on getting a dedicated host? For the SR9C: You would have to have to either get a threaded barrel for your Ruger, or perhaps have the barrel threaded and a thread protector made for it for use when not using a suppressor that can be removed when you want to put your silencer on it. (If Ruger doesn't offer a threaded barrel.)

For a 9mm, there should be plenty of room on the barrel for threads and an adapter. You can have that work done by a good gunsmith, but I prefer to use ADCO FIREARMS for my barrel threading. They charge $155 for that service at the bottom of THIS PAGE.

To buy a dedicated host would be just buying a gun with a threaded barrel from the factory. Think: HK USP Tactical or FN Tactical.

3) YOURS FOR LIFE:
Typically, when you buy a suppressor it's "yours for life." The fact that it is required to pay a $200 Transfer tax essentially means that no one is going to want your used suppressor unless you dump it at a really cut rate price. Do your homework and get a suppressor that fits your needs.
4) Realistic Expactations:
As The Lone Haranguer stated, 9mm is typically supersonic at 115gr and 124gr bullet weights. The 147gr and (if you can find it) 158gr loads will be subsonic. Subsonic 9mm is A LOT of fun to shoot. You need to realize that a good suppressor will decrease noise by about 30db give or take. That's about the same amount as a pair of ear plugs. You need to have realistic expectations.

Feel free to ask about specifics when you have had a chance to look around and do some reading. This board is filled with friendly folk who would be glad to help you make the most of your choice(s).

I live next door to a horse ranch. I shoot on my property with suppressed firearms and the horses don't care at all. Therefore, my neighbors don't care and all is good in the country neighborhood.

As much as I like suppressors and own them if ya have the land for a safe backstop and if it's not against the law the sherrif kin pound salt! I have had them try to encourage friends to not shoot on their property inferring illegality but when pushed they just mumble because it is not illegal where we are shooting. Keep the shooting within reasonable hours and there should not be an issue. The horse folk n such need to train their horses to not spook.... I mean you have much right to use your property legally as they do.

Now having said that I just don't like the idea of folk knowing what I got etc so suppressors help keep the neighbors ignorant. If they do not know they can't blab to the crooks.

I want to know why a horse ranch trumps a shootin range in most folks eyes? I mean not everyone likes horses or their crap flowing downhill onto their property etc...


Btw get a good set up for rimfire, especially if for practice, I waited 20 some years ta get my rimfire suppressor n kick myself for not getting one quicker every day!

Heck, why not just build an acoustically insulated shooting station? How near are your neighbors? With a little creative construction (baffles deflect & insulation absorbs) you'll have a very quiet 9mm. Combine that with sub-sonic ammo, a little distance & (poof!) a nice stereo system is considerably louder! But do put a roof on it...it's fun to shoot in the rain.

The most difficult part of this scenario is finding someone who makes a barrel for this gun. After that, it's all cake.

...finding someone who makes a barrel

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I would check to see how close the SR9c barrel configuration is to the full size SR9. It might be surprisingly easy to find a "longer" barrel that fits the compact. Could be a simple chop & thread.

CoRoMo said:

The most difficult part of this scenario is finding someone who makes a barrel for this gun. After that, it's all cake.

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The original barrel can be turned down and threaded with an adapter fitted to maintain good lockup while allowing suppressor use. This Link bottom of the page.

Nice!

Or you can try Mike Stannard at Tornado Technologies...

http://www.tornado-technologies.com/services.html

Good fellow and great work.

Thats the sole reason I got into silencers. And now i'm just addicted to anything NFA related.

Its legal to shoot in my backyard in my county(lucky) but I wouldnt want to blast all day and piss everyone off. And with the right silencer you can shoot 22/9/45 and the neighbors wont be the wiser. Those who say that 9/45 is too loud for the backyard havent shot a quality silencer.

Most of the sound you'll get is from the projectile hitting the target. Since this video I've added a mix of dirt/rubber multch/wood mulch to lessen the impact sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKta1Ny-vSA

To own a silencer you will need a Federal stamp witch is 200.00 dollars if they have not gone up. It will take about 6 to 9 months to get one if you are approved.

You can just click back. Your information should still be available in the window.

And, if you use wording like that in the future, you'll be banned for good. Back off or lose your chance to be here. This isn't like other forums you may go to.

I'd STRONGLY suggest you go back and delete/edit your post.

Heck, why not just build an acoustically insulated shooting station?

Click to expand...

Does anyone have any experience with insulated shooting stations? I have been interested in this approach since Illinois won't allow suppressors at all. I don't like interfering with the enjoyment of fishermen who have to make some effort to get to the lake I live by.

I have not had much luck finding info on effective construction designs.

Mike

This came from some European forum. Neat idea.

The V Shapes are a chronograph?
Cool design:
It actually looks like a suppressor baffle design that popped in my head a few days ago.

Saakee said:

The V Shapes are a chronograph?
Cool design:
It actually looks like a suppressor baffle design that popped in my head a few days ago.

Click to expand...

Yes-he mounted his chrono on front of it all. I always intended to try this but never got around to it.
Like the OP, the main reason I bought my suppressor was to help my status with all the neighbors. Running a couple hundred rounds through my ARs got old really quick I'm sure. I bet this apparatus would help a lot, and you could adapt/design one for shooting pistols as well. Probably lining the tires with a layer of fiberglass insulation would absorb the sound even more.
I was reading a forum somewhere and there was a link that took me to a European shooting forum where I found the pics. In some countries over there it's considered rude to fire weapons without a "moderator". Here's the one pic I chose not to include before.

There is nothing to understand other than it is a tax! The tax in today's dollars is cheap, I hear back in the day it was like 3000.00 now... It was and is a tool to restrict ownership and generate revenue....

To do so without the paperwork can and will likely lead to a felony conviction, jail time and a several hundred thousand dollar fine.... Ya can buy a nice legal suppressor and pay the tacos for less than the initial consults with your lawyers if ya get caught with an illegal one.... You make the choice! For me it is simple...

The tire device looks like it's geared toward a scoped rifle looking through the oblong hole. If one made such for pistol shooting, I would think the hole would have to be a bit larger, and therefore require more tires/length to adequately contain the noise. It would probably have to be a permanent fixture limiting you to a single target area. OK for testing reloads (and I still may build one for my un-suppressed arms) but for just fun shooting it wouldn't really be much fun.

The $200 tax is a holdover from the National Firearms Act of 1934. If somebody wanted legal NFA stuff then they were gonna have to pay a huge amount of money for that priviledge. It was a huge amount during the '30's. Now it's just a PITA we have to put up with and still have to wait 6 months for Big Brother to say it's OK to put a muffler on our extremely loud toys. Cuz you know only spies and mob hit men use them evil old silencers.

The ONLY upside to all this I can see, and I'm sure it was un-intended, is that most any commercially available suppressor in the US will be of very high quality and carry a good warranty. This due to the fact that anyone willing to pay the high price, wait the long wait, and jump through all the hoops will expect it to be a lifetime purchase and it better be good. Oh yeah, you CAN build your own, but you got to pay that same $200 on a "form 1" instead of a "form 4", and you have to wait for approval before you even carve out the first piece.

The gubment requires you to have mufflers on your vehicles, workplaces must conform to certain noise guidelines and provide hearing protection to employees, etc etc. It is however a Fed offense to muffle a firearm without all the necessary paperwork. Such is the world we live in and it's steadily getting worse at an alarming rate.