[bookwriter]

I broke my internet cord and just stuck it back together today, so I hae a few questions I need answered ASAP so I can get out of this gdammed rut.

When referring to a '9mm' bullet, are you talking about the length or breadth of a bullet?

Are sidearm bullets issued to the military really lead?

Do they have little holes in them to stop the blood splattering, and if so, when did this come into practice?

What does it sound like when you fire a 9mm handgun with a silencer on it? (As in 'dull cracking sound' or 'hitting a pillow')

WHat does a gun have to require to fit a silencer on to it? ie sealed breach . . .

What limitations do silencers put on handguns? (I was reading something where a character had to twist the silencer each time he wanted to fire a round)

Anyone know what a sniper from the early sixties would pick as his optimum range for taking out a human target but staying out of danger himself?

Thanks a lot if you answer what you can, itll help a lot.

 

[Rich Z]

When referring to a '9mm' bullet, are you talking about the length or breadth of a bullet?

9mm denotes the diameter of the projectile.

Are sidearm bullets issued to the military really lead?

Copper clad lead bullets. Generally referred to as "ball" ammo, or full metal jacketed.

Do they have little holes in them to stop the blood splattering, and if so, when did this come into practice?

Never heard of this one. If you are talking about hollow points, they are generally prohibited for use in war actions. The hollow point causes the bullet to expand when it hits flesh.

What does it sound like when you fire a 9mm handgun with a silencer on it? (As in 'dull cracking sound' or 'hitting a pillow')

Unless the 9mm is subsonic, there will still be substantial noise generated by the bullet breaking the sound barrier when it exits the barrel. A subsonic bullet will still make a noise somewhat similar to a loud pellet rifle.

WHat does a gun have to require to fit a silencer on to it? ie sealed breach . . .

Generally the barrel has to be threaded so that the silencer screws onto the end of the barrel. A single shot weapon firing a subsonic bullet would be the best choice. A semi auto handgun will still allow some noise to escape during the extraction process of the fired casing. Revolvers are a lost cause for a silencer. Way too much blast would escape from the gap between the cylinder and the forcing cone. One thing that is a consideration here is that in most cases, unless the gun is specifically designed for it, the silencer will be so big in diameter that you will no longer be able to use the fixed sights on the handgun you mounted it on. For instance, if you put a threaded barrel into a Walther PPK and mounted a silencer onto the barrel, when you held the gun up, the sights would be useless because they would be blocked by the silencer itself.

What limitations do silencers put on handguns? (I was reading something where a character had to twist the silencer each time he wanted to fire a round)

See above. Unless the silencer is part of the cocking mechanism, (which I have never heard of), there is nothing like that around.

 

[bookwriter]

Thankyou thankyou thankyou!!!

is 366metres per second subsonic?

 

[Glenn Bartley]

There are many silencers that do not need to be threaded to a pistol to work effectively. Many are improvised to attach with
o-rings, screws, hose and hose clamps. Many are made from readily available items found in the home such as PVC tubing, washers, steel wool, hose and hose clamps, soda cans and duct tape, soda bottles and so on. These are often the silencer of choice because many of them are easy to improvise and are easy to dispose of without drawing undo attention.

As for silencing revolvers, I beg to differ with the person who told you that it is a lost cause (oh oh was that Rich Z, now I've done it - LOL). Revolvers can be produced or modified to be silenced. There have been some successfully mass produced revolvers that were successfully able to be silenced. If I remember correctly the Nagant revolver was one of these (but don't hold me to Nagant being one - my memory is not that great any more). Part of its design is that the cylinder moves forward to mate with the forcing cone as it fires. This thereby eliminates the usual gap between the cylinder and the forcing cone and prevents the escape of gass by that route. It is, however, not a common design in revolvers as it increases the complexity of the revolver a great deal both by adding parts and additional movements.

I have seen your questions regarding this type of thing before, and I have a suggestion. Why not read a book or two on the subject; one that has been authored by someone with a wealth of experience with firearms and the type of operations about which you are seeking info. Paladin Press may be a good source for such information, they have books about almost every imaginable application of firearms and firearms accessories. Many of the books they sell have been written by people who have used firearms extensively in their professions, be those professions: armorers, manufacturers, target shooters, soldiers, assasins, snipers, police and so on. Here is a linkPaladin Press Of course, don't stop asking here either, this is a rather interesting set of questions that you keep posing and makes for a good forum.

Hope this was helpful.

Best regards,
Glenn B

 

[Smarter Gun]

Because that would require RESEARCH, Glenn. It would, also, take time and cost money, too!

It works a whole lot better when you simply, 'dial a dummy' who understands everything you're creating fiction about, and get him to immediately volunteer the correct information for free. When is this guy going to stop? This has been going on, now, for months! I'm on several other large gun forums. How come I never see him anywhere else? We're, obviously, too nice here at ArmsLocker. Why not send this guy over to, 'Glock Talk' or, 'Lightfighter'? The people there know their guns; and they won't take too long to figure out what to do with him, either!

Oh, by the way, 'bookwriter' the answer to your last question is; 'The exact same distance AND strategy that a skilled sniper in: 1864, 1914, or 1944 would have used: You have to get as close as possible in order to, 'guarantee' the shot while giving yourself sufficient distance to initiate effective disengagement and withdrawl. Basically, a well-trained sniper never fires a shot without some sort of, 'exit strategy' in place. Sometimes you can't hide, so you must run - instead.

I've got a few silencers around here, someplace. I'd be glad to show them to you, too. Most silencers are, of necessity, 'noisy'. Others have the design and technology to be absolutely silent; and I mean sooo ... silent that all you hear is, 'bolt clatter'. (These are the really expensive silencers that, now-a-days, cost $3 or $4K, and above. They are, also, unusually long rather than, 'fat'. (A good rule of thumb is, at least, 2X's barrel length.) The very best (and most expensive) of these designs often come with their own barrel assemblies with which they are designed to form an integral unit. Gas is bled from immediately in front of the chamber and, then, progressively forward all the way down the barrel and, usually, for some distance beyond.

Many riflemen/snipers do not use any form of sound suppression, at all. Instead they, often, rely on the noise and confusion of the shot in order to conceal their positions. Most silencers, today, are used on sub-guns and pistols. All first rate pistol silencers that I know of offer, either, sub-sonic or reduced-power ammo as part of the accessory package. If you're going to do it right, then, you will need, both, the silencer as well as low-power ammo. Otherwise you might as well be shooting a 22 rifle!

The, 'twist silencer' to which you refer is, probably, one of the, 'disposable-baffle' types. Not unlike the multiple barrels on a Gatling gun, each tube has its baffles shot out when a bullet is fired. (Reasonably effective, but, really a cheap design - Smacks of Eastern or Central Europe to me.) Quite possibly the most popular and most frequently used, 'covert sidearm' in the world, today, is a long barreled 22 caliber pistol that uses reduced power long rifle ammunition; e.g., The Beretta Model 71, or an older S&W Model 41. (About as loud as clapping your hands.)

That's it. I've volunteered answers to your questions before; but, I promise, this is going to be the last time!

 

[Guest]

I wrote Paladin Press's books on "cans"

for the .22, Mini-14, .45 auto. The above is mostly bs. Cans that aren't threaded onto the gun's barrel are junk. No other way exists to assure decent alignment of the "tunnel" thru the can's baffles with the interior of the barrel, and also insure adequate rigidity and durability, so that the can STAYS aligned with the barrel. even the more robust models aren't hard to knock out of line, if you drop the gun onto concrete, or use it as a club, walking stick, etc, tho.

Paladin sells my .22 book for $15, and $5 shipping and handling. Walmart and Amazon.com sell it for $10, so there ya go. It's got a lot of good info for ya, all in one place, written by a guy who's made about 200 .22 cans, with minimal tooling. Once you are properly set up, you can make and mount 10 .22 cans in 10 hours.

NO, cans dont cost 3-4 thousand $. Some very good .22 cans only cost about $200, in addition to the $200 federal tax that is imposed on the buyer of each suppressor. The best in the way of high powered rifle can's come pretty close to $1000, however. Ditto those for a .45 auto, if they let the gun cycle.

Dummies who don't know crap about making or using cans will use can's that are too large an OD, and block the sights. HOwever, "higher" sights can be used, or you can paint the rear end of the can white, and just keep both eyes open. One eye sees the sight alignment, the other sees the target, and your brain superimposes those two images. It's the same phenomenon that makes "red dot" optical sights work. If you shut one eye, the optical sight doesn't work.

The can's are best "sleeved", with another tube, being about 3/8" large OD, mounted coaxially around the inner tube, with s washers made to fit between them, and one such washer welded into either end of the 2 tubes. Vent the rear 1/3rd of the inner tube, lots of holes, radially, into the area between the 2 tubes. If making a can for a .45 autopistol, you have to make it of all aluminum, to keep the weight down, or the gun won't cycle properly. The way to do this is to make the can about 5.5" long, wth a large, "under chamber', made of very thin aluminum, underneath the tube, vents from the tube into the "underchamber', or "trough", as it's sometimes called, This method can also let you use a small enough OD can to let you use a proper set of sights, above the can.

Guys who know VERY little are always worried that somebody might learn as much as they know. Guys who know a LOT have no such worries. :-0

 

[Rich Z]

How about those Ruger 10/22 rifles with the integral silenced barrels. Are they any good? I'm thinking about one for squirrel patrol around here.

Do the rifles retain their accuracy?

What about maintenance? I've heard stories about cans getting an appreciable amount of unburned powder in them and causing some problems.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

porting a barrel, especially on a .22 rifle

is silly. Every one of those ports, tears a little pc off of the soft lead .22 bullet as it passes said ports. It's both simpler and a lot more efficient to just shorten the barrel, or if you desire the rigidity of a 2 point mounting system, just ream out the front part of the barrel, instead of porting it.

If you keep the riflled part of the barrel under 6" in length, regular "high speed" .22 lr's will be kept below the speed of sound, so no special subsonic ammo is required. If a can is built with enough "extra" volume, and especially if it's made with an expansion chamber and a "sleeve" tube, it will have a sevice life of many thousands of rounds, but eventually, all cans have to be at least cleaned, or "repacked" with a new set of baffles. Once enough carbon builds up in the can, it gets less and less efficient at cooling the hot powder gases, so the gun it is mounted on gets "louder". Clean out the carbon, and you restore the can's ability to suppress the gun's muzzle blast.