Noise and Quiet
American airgunners seem to have this fascination with silencers. Honestly, I think the root cause is Biblical in origin. What was the one thing that Adam and Eve just had to have? You got it: the Forbidden Fruit. Likewise, silencers are Forbidden Fruit to American airgunners.
Here’s why: Federal law requires that silencers be licensed. But that law applies only to firearms silencers. It doesn’t say anything about airgun silencers. There is, however, a rub: [The terms “firearm silencer” and “firearm muffler” mean any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including any combination of parts, designed or redesigned, and intended for use in assembling or fabricating a firearm silencer or firearm muffler, and any part intended only for use in such assembly or fabrication.]
That’s a direct quote from the federal law and what it means, basically, is that if something could be used to muffle or diminish the report of a firearm – even for just one shot – it could be construed a silencer under the firearms law. Basically it means that if you have an airgun silencer and it could be slipped onto a firearm as a silencer, you’ve got to get a license for it.
However, if what you are really interested in is quiet shooting (and not just Forbidden Fruit), there are several ways around the silencer issue.
The first is to choose an air rifle or air pistol that is inherently less noisy without a silencer. Most spring-piston air rifles and air pistols are generally quieter than precharged pneumatic, multi-stroke pneumatic, or CO2 powerplants. The reason is that relatively little air is used to propel the pellet out of the barrel of a springer, and it is the excess gas exciting the muzzle that generally makes most of the noise in a precharged pneumatic, multi-stroke pneumatic, or CO2 powerplant.
The Beeman R7 is a very quiet springer rifle, and so is the BSA Lightning XL (it has a permanently attached silencer that cannot be removed). Among pistols, the Beeman P1 and the RWS 5G make little noise. None of them are dead quiet, but they are pretty subdued.
Another route to quiet is to purchase an air rifle or air pistol with a shrouded barrel. Since the shrouds are permanently attached to the airgun, they cannot be removed and used on a firearm without some serious machine work. As a result, you do not have to license it as silencer.
Among my first choices in a really quiet shrouded air rifle would be the Typhoon Whisper, the BSA SuperTEN Bull Barrel, and the Daystate Air wolf. When you shoot these air rifles, the loudest thing you hear is the hammer spring (which is inaudible to anyone but the shooter), followed by the sound of the pellet slamming into the target. All three are pre-charged pneumatic bolt-action multi-shot repeaters, fed by a rotary magazine, that launch ammunition at sub-sonic velocities. If you want a precharged pistol, the FX Ranchero is surprisingly quiet when shot on the low power setting, but not nearly as quiet as the three shrouded PCP rifles.
Finally, if you absolutely have to have a silencer, here’s the legal route: you can go to your local firearms dealer, fill out the application, pay the fee (last I heard, it was $200) and then pay several hundred dollars more for a quality firearms silencer which you can then fit to your airguns.
Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.
- Jock Elliott
Here’s why: Federal law requires that silencers be licensed. But that law applies only to firearms silencers. It doesn’t say anything about airgun silencers. There is, however, a rub: [The terms “firearm silencer” and “firearm muffler” mean any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including any combination of parts, designed or redesigned, and intended for use in assembling or fabricating a firearm silencer or firearm muffler, and any part intended only for use in such assembly or fabrication.]
That’s a direct quote from the federal law and what it means, basically, is that if something could be used to muffle or diminish the report of a firearm – even for just one shot – it could be construed a silencer under the firearms law. Basically it means that if you have an airgun silencer and it could be slipped onto a firearm as a silencer, you’ve got to get a license for it.
However, if what you are really interested in is quiet shooting (and not just Forbidden Fruit), there are several ways around the silencer issue.
The first is to choose an air rifle or air pistol that is inherently less noisy without a silencer. Most spring-piston air rifles and air pistols are generally quieter than precharged pneumatic, multi-stroke pneumatic, or CO2 powerplants. The reason is that relatively little air is used to propel the pellet out of the barrel of a springer, and it is the excess gas exciting the muzzle that generally makes most of the noise in a precharged pneumatic, multi-stroke pneumatic, or CO2 powerplant.
The Beeman R7 is a very quiet springer rifle, and so is the BSA Lightning XL (it has a permanently attached silencer that cannot be removed). Among pistols, the Beeman P1 and the RWS 5G make little noise. None of them are dead quiet, but they are pretty subdued.
Another route to quiet is to purchase an air rifle or air pistol with a shrouded barrel. Since the shrouds are permanently attached to the airgun, they cannot be removed and used on a firearm without some serious machine work. As a result, you do not have to license it as silencer.
Among my first choices in a really quiet shrouded air rifle would be the Typhoon Whisper, the BSA SuperTEN Bull Barrel, and the Daystate Air wolf. When you shoot these air rifles, the loudest thing you hear is the hammer spring (which is inaudible to anyone but the shooter), followed by the sound of the pellet slamming into the target. All three are pre-charged pneumatic bolt-action multi-shot repeaters, fed by a rotary magazine, that launch ammunition at sub-sonic velocities. If you want a precharged pistol, the FX Ranchero is surprisingly quiet when shot on the low power setting, but not nearly as quiet as the three shrouded PCP rifles.
Finally, if you absolutely have to have a silencer, here’s the legal route: you can go to your local firearms dealer, fill out the application, pay the fee (last I heard, it was $200) and then pay several hundred dollars more for a quality firearms silencer which you can then fit to your airguns.
Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.
- Jock Elliott
posted by Jock Elliott at
1:14 AM
5 Comments:
Another option for noise reduction is mentioned in your previous blog entry, Jock: Hammer Debounce.
Much of the muzzle blast of most pneumatics (and CO2 too), comes from the air wasted by hammer bounce. Airguns that suppress this wasteful air expenditure are inherently quieter - often (as in the ACP392) MUCH quieter.
Great blog, thank you for the info. I just wanted to mention that once the paperwork for the silencer is filled out it's up to the sherriff to OK it which means it can be denied if he doesn't want any "silencers" in his jurisdiction>
Another option is to shoot a conventional .22 rimfire rifle with CBLong ammunition. In a rifle-length barrel, the small amount of powder is just enough to push the bullet out with not a lot of gas left over to make a loud muzzle blast, and it is often no louder than a springer air rifle. Some manufacturers use more powder than others, so experiment with your rifle/ammo combination.
Also, the headaches of suppressor ownership don't end once you have one: 1. You're now on a government (BATF)list, along with your fingerprints. 2. You can't move it from one state to another without approval from Law Enforcement (done via a BATF form), 3. You must keep BATF informed of your address and the item's whereabouts at all times, 4. You can't sell (transfer) it to anyone else without them going throught the same hassle you went through, (plus another $200 transfer fee). The penalties for disregarding any of these restrictions can be a 10yrs/$10,000felony for each count.
Did I mention that they also aren't really all that quiet? If the bullet(or pellet) is supersonic, it generates a sharp crack along the entire length of it's supersonic path, which could last hundreds of yards in the case of a high powered rifle round until it slows to subsonic. A 600 yard long firecracker is not quiet at all, but it does make it difficult to tell where the shot came from.
The quietest firearms shoot low speed projectiles, like the .45 ACP and some specially designed subsonic versions of standard calibers (9mm subsonic, .300 Whisper, etc.) They also happen to be relatively accurate, because the bullets don't go throught the disrupting transition from super to sub-sonic flight.
Anonymous,
Thanks for the excellent info about the hassles involved with supressor ownership.
In contast firearm suppressors, shrouds for air rifle barrels can be very effective. Effectiveness varies from rifle to rifle, but many produce a very neighbor-friendly report.
Having many class III toys presently (ie suppressors & machine guns), I wanted to make a few clarifications that others might not know about.
1. There are 3 categories of class III items: transferable, pre-dealer sample, post-dealer sample. For the sake of argument, I will discuss transferable class III items which include suppressors/silencers.
2. Suppressors/silencers are perfectly legal to own by law abiding citizens. There was never a 'ban' date for suppressors/silencers so the latest and greatest technology is always available (ban dates apply to all other class III items like machine guns where the only 'transferable' guns available were manufactured before two separate dates for import and made within the US) There are 3 ways that I know of to transfer 'transferable' items: to a trust, to a corporation (example: LLC), or as an individual. I went with the LLC route because I can put officers on the LLC that can legally have/posses my class III items without me personally being there. Also because they are registered through a LLC, you don't have to go through the local law enforcement sign off route with fingerprint cards. I personally had to go through the same background checks with the ATF and I had to still pay the $200 transfer tax because I am the president of the LLC.
3. Suppressors/silencers are not Hollywood quiet. They do provide a substantial amount of sound reduction so that in some cases, the guns can be shoot without hearing protection. For example, my .22 handgun hurts my ears when shot without a suppressor. With a suppressor attached, the sound reduction is 40db+ which makes it sound as quiet as a CO2 handgun. How cool is that?? I also have a suppressor for my .308 rifle. Without hearing protection, it is very, very loud. With the suppressor attached, it sounds like a .22 rifle (not handgun which are louder) unsuppressed which is still loud but bearable.
4. I am intrigued with suppressors. To keep it simple, I just think that they are cool. Ever since I was a kid, I had always wanted one (or two or three :-). Yes it takes time to get one but the time is well worth it. My suppressors took approximately 4 total months to transfer (out of state dealer to my instate dealer and then to me. One transfer tax of $200 due to the dealer-dealer transfer initially which does not constitute any tax).
Hopefully my comments have informed/inspired someone that reads this.
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