"Silencer" made from old car tyres?

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The Scandinavian

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(or "auto tires" I suppose, if you're from the US)

Somewhere I read that shooting through the hole up the middle a line of old car tyres makes a useable silencer of sorts.

This sounds interesting to me because I'd like to be able to chronograph loads and so on in the back garden. The "back garden" is 12 acres but there are other folks living nearby and I don't want to disturb anybody.

Has anybody tried this? How effective is it? How many tyres should I use?

Thanks!

T.S.
 
I know what you're talking about... it's not illegal, because it's not attached to the gun (and can't be)... you set up a long cylinder of tires and shoot through the center . The sidewalls of the tires act as the baffles.

I don't know how effective it is, but I heard that it works pretty well. If you try it and it's effective, let me know. I was thinking about doing the same thing when I set up my own range.
 
No biggie, but this isn't a silencer in the legal sense. It's not attached to the firearm. Sorta like when I was a kid; I found a glasspack muffler and set it on a table in front of my rifle as a "silencer". (Fine for a .22; not so good for an '06.) Think of it as a "target with a hole in it." :) The deal is just a more elaborate version of the pipe that gunsmiths shoot into when function-testing a firearm, inside the workshop.

No idea how many tires would be needed. I'd go ahead and figure eight or ten, anyhow. I'd tell the nearby neighbors what I was up to. Test it during working hours during the week; around noon, when the stay-at-homes are involved with their soap operas.

Shooting table; a rack to support the tires; then the skyscreen unit of the chronograph.

I'm just guessing that six inches to one foot of the rifle barrel oughta be inside the cylinder of tires. Or, a thin sheet of plywood attached to the first of the tires, with a slotted hole in it for the muzzle to stick through.

Look at the area you have to play with. Do some measuring and drawing. I'd guess that two "X" of 2x4s for the ends; 1x4s between them to support the tires. Triangulate the base of each X with a piece of 1X4, and triangulate the length, as well.

Tire stores probably would be happy to give away some "dead" tires.

I love thinking up ways for other people to work...

Art
 
Make sure to have holes in the bottome of the tires so that rain water doesn't collect in the bottom and become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and scum.
 
Put your back stop in, back off however many yards you have available, go to a welding shop, you will need a 15' pole supported by at least three "X" support braces welded so the tires will hang on it low enough for whatever position you will be shooting from. Before you hang the tires pack them full of whatever is available, cotton is great, hay also. Next is to build a wood frame around it with a standard roof, colored metal or fiberglass corrugated works, but extend the shooting end far enough to cover where you will be shooting. Build a bench, insert rifle barrel into tires and have at it. What will also help is to hang a tarp or other heavy layered material over the exit end with a hole cut out about 18" to shoot through.

rk
 
One other thing I'd be careful of is collection of unburned powder in the tires. Eventually, a spark could ignite the powder, which would be interesting, to put it mildly.
 
I think it might be a reference to a silencer for blasting.
The road crews have been doing a lot of trench blasting here lately and before they detonate the charges they spread a 50'X20' "carpet" of tire peices connected by cables to muffle it. It kind of looks like tire chain mail.
 
There is a gun club near here that has such things for rifle shooting. I never bothered to join because...well... truth be told, I don't like condoms, either.

Tim
 
Years ago, Shooting Times had an article about building such a "muffler" for a backyard range. I believe Rick Jameson built one and wrote it up.

It won't silence the report, but it should greatly reduce the noise, hopefully to where the neighbors can easily ignore it.
 
Handloader magazine had a story about building such a muffler, some years ago. They build a plywood box and lined it with fiberglass batts. Supposedly worked pretty well.
 
"...if you're from the US..." It's actually pronounced 'tars' if you're from the States. You don't have a silencer. You have a suppressor. The sound is kept inside the tunnel and bounced back and forth around the multitude of rough surfaces until they dissipate. Carpets hung on the walls (not flat though. wavy works better) of an indoor range also deaden the sound of gun shots.
 
Technically speaking, even a 'silencer' that you got the tax stamp for, that attaches to the end of your pistol/rifle/whatever, is STILL a suppressor. A SOUND SUPPRESSOR, just like that nifty thing on the end of an M16A2 is a FLASH SUPPRESSOR, not a flash 'hider'. You want to hide the muzzle flash, wrap a blanket around the end.

There's no such thing as a 'silencer'. Thats just anohter handy-dandy term that people came up with because they were ignorant or it sounded cooler.

Kind of like the dolts that call a 1911 mag a 'clip'. They either dont know better, or think it sounds cooler.

Oh, and its only pronounced 'tars' if you're from the South, esp. Texas.

:D
 
We have them at my range ant they are made out of 3' dia black drain pipe, lined with fiberglass batts held in place with chicken wire. No Muzzle loaders allowed and the unburnt powder would only be a problem in a indoor range outside would be to damp.
 
I like how a bunch of folks instantly started talking about US law when "The Scandinavian", who seems quite likely not a US citizen, posts this question. ;-P

Actually, a real-deal suppressor may be legal in your country. I think they're legal in Finland and Sweden, not sure about Norway. Or I could be totally wrong.
 
Hey, No Fair!

Preacherman deleted his response that first commented on legality! :D

Oh well, even though the original question is likely from Europe, it's sure to be read by plenty of people here in the states.
 
Backyard muffler

Hi again

Yeah, I shouldn't have used the "S" word really should I? :)

Treylis you are absolutely right, real surpressors are legal here (Finland) provided that you don't hunt game with them.

The down side is that I'd need a new threaded barrel for my USP and I don't have the finances for that at present.

I was testing some very light 9mm handloads at the local range last weekend. I'd really forgotten what an impressive noise 9mm makes. I usually shoot .40 these days and somehow the report of the .40 seems softer.

Anyway, whatever I cobble together, I shall take it to the range first and try it there!

Thanks for all the replies

T.S.
 
Make sure to report on how it goes!

I'd post "ear witnesses" at least 100 yards off to the sides to report on the degree of sound abatement.
 
Yes, of course! But, I have to cut some horse fodder first.

If my 'other half' catches me playing with duct tape, fibreglass insulation and old tyres when I have real work to do....... ;)

T.S.
 
we actually made something like this in high school physics. The idea was to see what we could use to lessen the noise from a siren or loudspeaker. What we ended up building was basically a larger glasspack muffler. The contraption was about 5'6" (a bit under 2 meters) and was one 2.5" PVC pipe (with holes drilled all over it) inside a 4"PVC pipe. The space between was stuffed with pillow stuffing (you may want to wet this if you plan to shoot guns through it) and capped at both ends. We used standard sewer caps and cut the square parts off. it deadened the sound of a loudspeaker really well. A gun might work the same way. Just stuff it full of wet cloth and see how it does. Crumbled Styrofoam might work as well.

-edit- sprayed insulation (cellulose type) or fiberglass would also work well. Didn't think about it before.
 
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The tires work well. Make certain that you compress them together so that there are NO air leaks between the tire walls. We just used some light cable and turnbuckles to compress them at 5 points equally distant around the outside of the tires, in a loop around the outside and back through the inside.

It is also a good idea to cover them with a tarp, heavy plastic, etc. The one I've used was about 20 feet long and did an excellent job.... almost NO sound except some almost staight out towards the target area and some behind the shooter. The end of the barrel should be as far inside the tire tunnel as possible.

The KEY is to treat the sound like water in a swimming pool. Even a small hole to the outside will leak a LOT more than you expect.

I will be building another one next year with my shooting buddy on his new farm. We will make a frame to hold the tires, form the inside with scrap plywood, several sheets thick, and just slightly larger than the tires. We will then blow cellulose insulation, used for homes, into the frame to surround the tires, under maximum pressure available from the home insulation machine.

Fortunately we have one of the best sound engineers in the country as consultant, who works with Nassa, DuPont, and all the car manufacturers - in the area of sound attenuation. He says... don't let any sound out of the structure, just like you would pay attention to holes in a swimming pool.

You WILL also gain a LOT of attenuation if you make the opening and exit holes smaller.

NOTE: you will not be able to see what is coming across the line of fire so PROTECT YOUR LINE OF SHOOTING with a secure fence, etc. One of the people using our old tire tunnel made that finding when a neighbor wandered into his yard to see what was making all the noise... it was the bullets slapping the target. He did not hear the gun shots until he was VERY close to the line of fire. :eek:eek:
 
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