Daily Defense 3-17: The "How" & "Why" of Silencers

Описание: A silencer is basically a tube that fits over the muzzle of a firearm and suppresses (absorbs) the sound of the muzzle blast to reduce noise pollution and prevent hearing loss. There's no way around it: gunshots are loud. Even while wearing hearing protection, the sound of a gun going off can be pretty startling to new shooters. New and "old" shooters need to preserve their hearing, too. With 21st century urban sprawl, many shooting ranges are no longer way out in the middle of nowhere. ALL of these factors explain why the sound suppressor or silencer was developed in the early 20th century. A gun with a sound suppressor makes the new shooter experience more positive, encouraging the student to stick with their training. It's not only much quieter than an unsuppressed gun, but it's more comfortable to shoot because the suppressor also reduces felt recoil and muzzle rise. Training a new shooter with a suppressed gun helps them develop the basics of marksmanship BFORE learning to handle the loud bang of the muzzle blast. Even for experienced shooters, silencers help reduce the fatigue induced by the roar of constant gunfire during lengthy range sessions.

Silencers don't make the noise go away completely (unlike what you see in Hollywood movies). But they do reduce the blast of gunshots to a safe, manageable 40 dB. The terms "silencer" and "suppressor" tend to be used interchangeably, but Jeff explains the difference between the two.