At great looking infographic that provides interesting facts about silencers - Devices that suppress the blast created when a gun is discharged.

  • Rhynoplaz
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    910 months ago

    So a silenced 9mm is slightly louder than THUNDER?

    I won’t say they are wrong, but that sure doesn’t feel right.

    • @orclev
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      1910 months ago

      Silencers are very badly named honestly. A “silenced” gun is still very loud, it’s just moderately quieter than an unsilenced one. People watch movies and TV shows and play videogames that make it seem like a silenced gun barely makes any noise at all and think that’s reality. That is very much not reality, it just makes for a more entertaining story.

      • @Plopp
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        810 months ago

        Are you telling me a silenced gun doesn’t make a sneaky zipping sound? It can’t be true.

      • @shalafi
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        310 months ago

        Subsonic rounds though! I’ve seen videos of subsonic 9mm and .22LR where all you heard was the action cycling.

        I don’t have a suppressor, but I got some subsonic .22LR to play with. Couldn’t tell any difference.

        • @agent_flounder
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          10 months ago

          I could be full of it… but I think that’s because those rounds are intended to travel below the sonic boom threshold resulting in less noise when using a suppressor.

    • SSTF
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      10 months ago

      A unsilenced 9mm out of a handgun is normally around 160db (assuming common ammunition and a common type of handgun). A reduction to 125db with a silencer seems about right.

      Edit: Here’s a silencer talk link that goes very in detail. For their chart, 125 db is actually very close to the low end, with many suppressed shots being louder.

      https://www.silencertalk.com/results.htm

      FWIW I believe those measurements are right at the silencer while the thunder measurement I find is “within a few hundred feet”. There can be quite a significant drop in perceived noise from silenced guns with a moderate amount of distance making them sound like a distinct but not overly loud“thwack”.

        • @agent_flounder
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          210 months ago

          Absolutely. To add perspective, typical firearm hearing protection reduces sound by 25-35dB.

          I’m sure the full story is more complicated when taking into account frequencies, duration of the spike in sound, etc.

    • @Adulated_Aspersion
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      1210 months ago

      I always try to go with “suppressed” rather than “silenced”.