Hunting Rifle: Anyone Else Have No Desire for a Silencer?

I have one, but never used it. Still sittting in the box. I have a couple of rifles that the muzzle brake dosen't come off very easly. In reading this morning. Got to thinking about the added length of the suppressor. Most of my rifles are 26" or longer barrels. Bad enough going through the country side with the rifle on my shoulder without the added length. The other is how many times hunting you are using several shot to put down an animal. Sure not, doing something right. Oh I hear them in the wood banging away. Me thinking, if they just had a 30 round clip in those rifles. They could really get with the program.

Watched a ("B"?) movie.
They were playing G.I. Joe! They were carrying the full blown, original style AR with the carry handle and I suppose a 20" barrel!
They had scopes mounted atop the carrying handle and a suppressor on the barrel!
Talk about a weird looking, awkward rifle!

Back to reality!
I think "suppressors" are an excellent idea!
First, I'd have to build a SBR. I don't have an AR shorter that 16".
Second, I don't want to jump through all the hoops to get a SBR permit OR a suppressor permit!
I'll just deal with the racket like I have over the past 76 years! LOL!

My 1000 yard range is 175 yards from my house. I shoot all the time. Sometimes when I can't sleep, I shoot at night.
How would any of y'all's wives tolerate big magnums that close to the bedroom at 1am?

Suppressed for me. From now on.

Never had one and at 77 yrs of age, don't intend to own one (at least for the prices they ask for them). Heck, I'm over 50% deaf now due to big tractors, shooting guns with no hearing protection, extremely loud car engines, etc. That's all in the past now and I at least wear hearing protection when shooting. I sometimes think the hearing loss could have been a result of one of my duties in the Navy. I was 1st loader and range finder on the number one gun mount. This ship had six anti aircraft mounts, Twin 3" - 50's. They had 2 cylinders just like a revolver and would fire as fast as 2 loaders could put the shells in. The one thing that was worse than the explosion from the charges was the darn empty brass hitting that steel deck and bouncing around on its way down the empty casing hold. It was like having your head inside a large bell and someone banging the clapper. It was constant, no let up.
I have big bore rifles as well as small bore. One being the WBY Mark V Deluxe .340. A couple of times I had made scope adjustment and pulled the muffs off my ears, still around my neck, just forgot to put them back over my ears. That one is painful.

FirstBubba said:

Watched a ("B"?) movie.
They were playing G.I. Joe! They were carrying the full blown, original style AR with the carry handle and I suppose a 20" barrel!
They had scopes mounted atop the carrying handle and a suppressor on the barrel!
Talk about a weird looking, awkward rifle!

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As much of the banging around of an Army M-4, I wonder just how accurate they are. The iron sights stayed where they were put. If the person had the proper holding of the firearm. There wasn't much of a problem in somebody else picking up that rifle and hitting where he aimed it. Infact my Platoon SSGT in basic used my rifle to requalify per there requirements. He told me I better shoot expert today. The rifle was dead on. I did.
I know they have some interesting equipment or attachment for their rifles. So I have price out some and it's not cheap either. Some like $4,000.00 for one item. I'll do it the old fashion way" Guess and Hope"

General RE LEE said:

I see a lot of folks are putting silencers on their hunting rifles, even sacrificing ballistic performance by shortening barrels.

Anyone else prefer their hunting rifle to not have a silencer? Maybe I'm old school but I don't have muzzle brakes or silencers on my hunting rifles.

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All i can say is silencers are awesome . I reload bunch of different rifles I only shoot suppressed . Helps with recoil and if you need a follow up shot while hunting most times they don't spook as much . I have shot deer DRT other deer in field keep feeding .

The bad is the stupid NFA crap you have to go through to get a can . Govt just needs to get out of the way and sell them over the counter .

General RE LEE said:

I see a lot of folks are putting silencers on their hunting rifles, even sacrificing ballistic performance by shortening barrels.

Anyone else prefer their hunting rifle to not have a silencer? Maybe I'm old school but I don't have muzzle brakes or silencers on my hunting rifles.

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TWG0572 said:

If you almost went deaf from one shot, maybe hunting is just not your game or at least stick that barrel a little farther out the blind window. each their own, but that seems a little ridiculous to me. I hunt the high hills of Wyoming, Utah and the thick brush in Washington and out in the field I have never once had a ringing in my ear from a shot or at the range for that matter with proper hearing protection. The only reason I would ever buy a suppressor is because my boy thinks they're cool looking! And that's probably half of the way people think that have them. It's definitely something that is not for me but for anybody who disagrees I really don't care.

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I was standing a few feet to the side and behind a buddy when he shot a deer with a 22" 30-06 on an open field, the ringing started and when it went away the sound didn't come back. Doctor visit and hearing test confirmed that I was effectively deaf in my right at that point and they did not know if it would return. A week later it started slowly coming back but it was definitely degraded. Over a decade later and I'll still randomly get bouts of intense high pitched ringing in that ear on top of the tinnitus.

Had tubes in my ear as a kid before I started shooting, I wore earplugs at the range but never wore hearing protection while hunting from 12 through 21 because nobody else did. Didn't affect me until suddenly it did and the damage was done.

SentientHunter said:

Don't want the added length or weight. I've shot them and as others have observed, unless you're shooting subsonic, they're simply not that quiet. I also don't like the idea of doing anything to be on the ATF's radar.

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Fun fact you already are as they admitted they are compiling all 4473's into a searchable database.

As for not being that quiet, every time I hear someone say that I assume they are either using a suppressor subpar for the application or have an unrealistic expectation that they shouldn't make any noise at all.

Anybody I've handed a rifle with my Nomad L on it has been thoroughly impressed at how quiet it is shooting full power 6.5 PRC, 30-06 or .300 Win Mag.

TX Fiddler said:

View attachment 761968View attachment 761969

Yeah....let's take a couple of ~$4000 rifles, thread the muzzles, screw on cans, and turn them into ~$1000 rifles.

Surely you understand that.

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I mean putting a scope on an undrilled Pre-War Model 70 Super Grade would tank the value as well but it didn't stop you from putting scopes on your rifles did it? Nobody is saying you have to thread collectible rifles that are worth more in their unaltered state. But there are plenty of rifles you could rebarrel or cut muzzle threads in and come out ahead.

Ring in the ears. From 1969 going forward. I have all my rifles set up now to place a muzzle break on them now or a suppressor. I am not really impress with the suppressor just yet.

The extra weight, length and PRICE are a distinct hurdle. I use ear pro in the field and never in my adult life have I not had 3 seconds to put in ear pro for long range shooting. In a long range scenario it's extremely easy to protect your ears.

Most cans ive been around with large magnums still require use of ear pro. Making it even more of a waste IMO.

They sit on the shelf as i have little to no desire to use something that does nothing for me.

TX Fiddler said:

View attachment 761968View attachment 761969

Yeah....let's take a couple of ~$4000 rifles, thread the muzzles, screw on cans, and turn them into ~$1000 rifles.

Surely you understand that.

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Nope, Don't understand a bit of it.
I got a safe full of custom rifles that cost that much and more. Everyone of them are threaded and shot with suppressor's. The only guns that I don't shoot suppressed are my revolvers, and a couple 1911's.
Hasn't affected the value of any one of them!

Well…I'll admit that I did take some shots in the field while hunting without hearing protection. My hearing is still ok today (I get tested due to my job), but I've decided to stop that practice.

I purchased a Wilson Combat Model 20 in a .308 and installed a suppressor. I purposely purchased a relatively mild cartridge, but a lightweight, multipurpose rifle that I could use for about everything I pursue.

I learned from the experience of my father having hearing aids for the last half of his life; you really don't want to go there…

Mike D Texas said:

Goodness there's a lot of ignorance about suppressors in this thread.

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Amen