Schapman,
Just wanted to make sure you had your ducks in line. Every now and then we get questions that raise a flag that someone may be doing/contiplating some that is not within the letter of the law. Your use of "assembling" raised that flag for me. Just wanted to cover all the bases.
While I don't have a
dedicated .22LR suppressor I do have an AWC Optima for my AR. I also have a .22LR conversion for it. Putting them both on the AR is
.
While the Optima is designed for a .223 you can use it with a .22LR. With the conversion in and can on the loudest sound when shooting Supersonic ammo is the bullet crack. This occures approx 3 foot from the end of the can (I know this cause I've shot the gun directly at the ground in front of me and worked my way ot till heard the crack). While you don't need hearing protection it is fairly loud.
However, keep in mind that the sonic crack travels 90 degrees from the bullet path. If someone was standing down range at 100 yards (and given that the bullet is still traveling supersonic) he would hear the sonic crack when the bullet passes him and it would sound like the shot came from right there (100 yards from the gun). This is the real benefit of a suppressor. It suppresses the "blast" from the gun. Even with .223s you can't tell where the shot came from... all you hear is the sonic crack as the bullet passes.
Now, with subsonic .22s the only sound is the cycling of the action and the slap as the bullet hits the target. With my .22 Conversion I can insert a "wedge" in the action to stop it from cycling... then the only sound is the slap on the target.
With .22 subsonic I've shot frogs in a friends pond (approx 75 yards) from his porch without any of the neighbors even having a clue.
Frogs... man those things can multiply, so there is never a shortage of targets.