Which is easier to suppress? 9mm or .45

[flking]

I'm looking to get another suppressor and I would like to suppress a handgun, a 9mm or a 45.

From what little I know about the inner workings of the suppressor it would seem to me the 45 would respond best to being suppressed as the projectile is rarely supersonic.

So I went out reading on the internet (you know, *the* source for all that is true) and found that some people complained about the effectiveness of a .45 suppressor and credited the less-than-expected performance to the size of the hole in the baffles.
Any ideas? thoughts? me-toos?

The 9mm seems like it might be a waste to suppress when fired from a handgun. The round goes supersonic (right?) and would still pop, thus not being hearing safe. Or can you shoot a 9mm subsonic? If so, does it just bounce off of the beer cans and toasters at the 'range'?

 

[wally]

I think the 147gr 9mm is difficult to make supersonic and while higher pressure than .45ACP the total volume of gas is lower for the 9mm (3.9 gr Unique vs 6.0gr in my reloads) combined with the smaller exit hole is probably the reason 9mm is a little bit quieter on average.

You don't give up a lot suppression shooting 9mm through a .45ACP suppressor vs. 9mm through a 9mm suppressor and can save a lot of money as opposed to buying two cans and two tax stamps at the cost of a slightly larger .45ACP can over the 9mm can.

I'm getting a .45ACP Osprey as my first suppressor, about 11 weeks on the stamp wait

Search Silencerco on YouTube they have some videos with noise measurements comparing multi-caliber use vs. dedicated caliber suppressors.

 

[kozak6]

I have the "Frankford Arsenal: Silencers - Principles and Evaluations" book.

I can't find it right now, but I remember correctly, it mentions that smaller calibers are more easily suppressed since less gas is able to escape through the smaller hole a smaller caliber requires.

The 9mm doesn't have to be supersonic. Some integral suppressors have barrel ports designed to drop velocity to subsonic levels, or subsonic 9mm loads can be used.

 

[Ironman]

147 or 158grn 9mm is subsonic and readily available. It hits at 1000fps and is no slouch. 9mm suppressed is quieter than 45 suppressed.