Is there a 'true' .223 silencer available?

T

terrybarb3

New member
Sorry for this missing part. In movies, you simply hear the actions (my guess is only plausible way here would be sub sonic ammo).

Myself, I'm looking for something that does not require hearing protection when shooting my ARs, or doesn't scare all of the coyote's away that are chasing our neighbor's livestock
 
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There are a lot of silencers made for .223 firearms. If you are asking whether any of them will make the firearm silent (or even close to it), the answer is no.
 
OK, completely silent is not possible, What is the quietest available for civilian purchase?
I would assume our special forces have access to silencers that can quiet a weapon to "X" db level. What level are we able to get a silencer/suppressor down to?
 
On average a 5.56 suppressor will drop the report 20-25 decibels. As for how much exactly depends on the barrel length, type of weapon and what kind of ammo you are using.

Also keep in mind that it is best to get one that you can disassemble and clean, as each shot will get a bit louder as the suppressor fills up with carbon from preceding shots.
 
I would assume our special forces have access to silencers that can quiet a weapon to "X" db level. What level are we able to get a silencer/suppressor down to?
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The military has access to the same silencers as civilians do in the USA. It is civilian manufacturers designing and selling to the civilian market that define state of the art in silencer design now. Unless military units are buying the latest silencers on the market, they are lagging behind in what the rest of us are using.

The only small arms that the military can do better than civilians with are machine guns and destructive devices using explosives. Because the military has criteria other than maximum noise reduction or accuracy, they are not always able to choose what is quietest or most accurate.

Forget about what the military is using. Find out what fits your budget then get what you need, whether it is small and light or sturdy, maintainable and high performance. Most of the silencers you will find at this link http://www.silencertests.com/links.htm will make an AR-15 hearing safe as long as it is shot out in the open. None of them will make any firearm quiet enough to keep the coyotes around while you shoot them as they will quickly learn that bullets hitting flesh/fur are a reason to flee.

Look here for noise data from 2005; http://www.silencertests.com/results.htm

Ranb
 
A moderator on a 223 can block out the noise from the muzzle blast but cannot stop the noise from breaking the sound barrier.

Most manufacturers say that a moderator on a 223 will take it down to the noise of an unsuppressed 22lr.

But if you were to reload your own subsonic 223 ammo that will not break the sound barrier then it will be like the movies. But by doing this you will have terrible ballistics from your loads, and have trouble because the case is using about 4grains of powder instead of around 27grains.

You can on the other hand by uppers/barrels designed for a subsonic calibre like the 300whisper, but this wont have terribly great ballistics either.

So yes, you can completely silence a 223 but it may not be what you are wanting.
 
No gun is totally silent. Even my .22 with CCI standard velocity (sub sonic) ammo with my Spectre suppressor, it still makes some noise. It's pretty quiet, but not silent.
 
Willie Lowman said:
No gun is totally silent. Even my .22 with CCI standard velocity (sub sonic) ammo with my Spectre suppressor, it still makes some noise.
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Agreed. Back in the early '80s some of us got to play with a Ruger standard pistol and a big can. Firing regular velocity ammo you'd hear a "pfft" and the recoiling parts of the pistol clicking as the gun cycled. With .22shorts, you'd still hear the clicking as the gun tried to cycle. We had to load them single-shot and the gun would not cycle, but it would try.
 
Subsonic .223 Ammo

I am sure that subsonic .223 ammo would be O.K. for target practice when fired in a gun with a silencer-but dropping the rounds velocity down to the subsonic level would definitely adversely affect its "knock down power."

Back in the 1970's I had a friend that was a Class III Dealer, He had a Ingram SMG in .380 with an attached silencer. Keep in mind that that SMG had a cyclic rate of approximately 1,100 RPM. Anyway, when he fired it, the "clicking" of the bolt reciprocating almost made more noise than the sound of the silenced shots!

If you want something to practice with, then get a semi-auto in .22 LR along with some subsonic ammo and a silencer. You can shoot all week long without disturbing anyone.
 
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I am sure that subsonic .223 ammo would be O.K. for target practice when fired in a gun with a silencer-but dropping the rounds velocity down to the subsonic level would definitely adversely affect its "knock down power."
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"Knock down power"?

I'll assume you mean kinetic energy of the projectile ......

Look into 300 Blackout for an AR cartridge capable of subsonic ammo with decent energy on target. It still aint stellar, but it is subsonic.
 
Trying to "silence" gas operated high powered rifle cartridge in a semi-auto is a stupid idea. Anyone truly interested in maximizing silence will use a bolt action rifle to start with, probably go with an integrally suppressed barrel and maybe an attached silencer in addition.

Silencers make more sense for pistol cartridges, and even then if I were going to use it on a semi-auto, personally, I'd want to try to modify the weapon to make be able to stop it from automatically cycling after a shot is fired. I don't know if that's been done or not.

These are just my thoughts.
 
Slide locks have been put on semi-auto pistols to keep them from cycling, the work by stoping the movement of the slide after the shot. Downside being that you have to push down on the lock and manually cycle the action again for every shot. Very very quiet but still not anything close to "movie" quiet.
 
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