Hunting with a suppressor

[lyotehunter]

I even use mine on my AR. They go every time I go hunting if I go for long hikes I take it off then put back on when I glass

 

[cjl2010]

Thank goodness I don't hunt in country where a 20-26" barrel is too cumbersome!!

 

[Brad Quarnberg]

I have several for calibers from .22 to .338
I use the .22 on both a bolt action and a semi auto depending on the game I'm hunting - and target shooting is nice if you're not at a local range with a bunch of other shooters not using suppressors
I haven't hunted with the bigger suppressors but I have both ARs and Bolt guns threaded for them and they shoot great from either platform. Do it, you won't be sorry.

 

[raider1v1]

we use them prairie dog hunting, but not deer hunting. for deer, i use nitro ears electronic in-ear protection. its 100% worth it.

 

[tuscan]

I have 3 TBAC ultra7s, and do use them hunting. Last year made 3 big game kills with them, 2 aoudad (one was a friends who borrowed my rifle) and one elk, at ranges of 215 to 365 yards. In each case, the animals were in a herd. The other animals in the group did not spook at the shots. In my friend's case, he was shooting in a strong cross wind and missed his first shot, but the ram stayed in place unperturbed by the noise. His follow up shot corrected for the wind and put the ram down. If not for the suppressor, I don't think he would have gotten that ram. When I shot the elk, he was in a herd of about 30. A friend was going to be hunting that area in the next few days, so I waited after my shot for the herd to leave. I had to wait about 30 minutes for them to gradually graze out of the area before could attend to the downed elk. I'm a big believer in hunting with suppressors. Usually, though, I will stalk to my shooting position and then attach the brake if I have time. So far, I've always had time, but don't expect I always will and so have hearing protection also.

 

[kiwi49]

As NZPerson & NZTahr have said - lightweight suppressors make a big difference, I shoot NRANZ with a suppressor (can't be bothered with the sh#t of competition), and ear protection, often have the bloke next to me ask if I've fired a shot.
Suppressors are pretty well SOP in New Zealand hunting, especially when using dogs to find downed animals in thick bush and mostly for the reasons already stated by others.
Hearing protection is EXTREMELY important - it costs me every 6 months to get my $11K hearing aids recalibrated for the slow loss of hearing.
Without them, most speakers sound like their heads are wrapped in thick towels and talking from the next room.

 

[dgarrett]

Cussing Cans. This is a bit long winded but I will get to cussing the can.. At the end of December one of my old lion hunting buddies called me around 8:30 in the morning asking if I wanted to run out and take a ride and look for a lion track with him..I said sure as I am stuck in the house most the time... We go for our ride and find nothing and are on our way out of a forest service road to go eat lunch at the bar... When he slams on the breaks gets out and looks at one lone little track on my side of the road... The only snow anywhere is just the small borrow pits on each side of this dirt road.... Well I get out and he has a bobcat track... He says well its 11:00 and we don't have anything else to do might as well see what the dogs think of it... He opens both doors on the dog box and out piles the 3 hounds... He calls them over to get them started...They take the track working slowly up the dry rock slide and get 400 yards up the steep hill and the first dog located on a tree.... We stand on the road worrying about the rocks and boulders they are bowling at us and after a bit of screwing around all 3 dogs tree.... He takes his pistol and heads up as I watch...Finally he shoots 2 shots... Then calls something down to me... I can't hear what hes hollering because the dogs are at 100 barks each...After 5 or 10 minutes I get it that he wants me to bring him a rifle.... I look in the truck and there is only my 30-378... My dedicated wolf gun... and his 7LRM with a can... So I pick the 7lrm... after all its just a bobcat... Littler has to be better... I start up the rock slide crawling with both feet and hands on the rocks at all times. My *** always higher then my head.. I am all crippled up have no balance and almost totally worthless on flat ground let alone a rocky slide steep hill like this... I cussed that can the 400 yard up that hill as the barrel end heavy SOB kept sliding and bashing into the rocks..That is my one and only time evaluating a can... And I am not impressed lol... Might help if his rifle didn't already have a 27.5 inch barrel on it or if I could stand up right... But that is my experience. On a good note I did get free lunch out of him at the bar that day..... Dave .

 

[Irish Neil]

It took me years to accept the benefits of a suppressor but in post 22 (Blackdirt Cowboy) is bang on in his description of the reaction to suppressor shots on game. We observe that deer often run towards a suppressed shot. You must still consider hearing protection as the sonic boom which can still be heard will damage your hearing.

 

[ajkellerusmc]

I now have 5 and number 6 is stuck on a feds desk somewhere in DC awaiting his approval. Once you go suppressed you never go back.

Stay away from ratchet mounts or QD's from silencer co. They gum up with fouling and then they will not unlock so you can move the can to another rifle.

As far as weight look to units made from inconel and or titanium which will be lighter but will also be more on the expensive side. Longer cans will be quieter than short stubby ones.

Go direct thread onto your barrel and sight the rifle in and leave it there. If You remove it re sight the rifle as POI will change.

There is a great unit called a tri-lug adapter and mine works great on the 338 Lapua and then moving the can to the 308 without and difficulty or fouling. My Tri-lug adapters are from Gemtech and the Can is the Arrow. I have had great accuracy with it on both rifles.

The Silencer co Saker 556 is now on a Ruger American ranch in 556 with a 18 inch barrel and is still short and handy for backyard coyotes or for the back seat of the truck. It shot a .375 5 shot group with black hills 77gr TMK and is directly threaded to the barrel and locked with a jamb nut.

Good luck, I do not want to shoot anymore with out a muffler on the end of my rifles.

 

[John Klingenberg]

Do any of you hunt with a suppressor? I'm just starting to do some research but thought i'd ask here first. I've been hunting without much in the way of ear protection all my life and over the last decade or so it, plus my job has started to get to my hearing. my work exposes me to loud noises regularly, including 164 db w/o muzzle break and other 2-5lb close distance detonations. i use ear pro for most of that but the human skull can only keep out so much. so, that has me thinking about last hunting season where i took a couple shots without ear protection. i definitely noticed a day later that my hearing was off...even over the usual tinnitus.

now, i'm interested in reducing the decibels as well as muzzle jump from my sporter barrels. so far i've come across the thunder beast 7 and a couple others. is an over the barrel model reasonable for a bolt gun or only an AR? i'd like to keep the weight light and length short due to maneuverability.

Get one, you'll become an addict. I wish I had one on everything I own. I have decent sized property but I have neighbors not far off. Amazing how far a shot can be heard on a cold crispy day. My neighbors a decent enough guy but I imagine if I was banging away every day he'd ask me to chill some. As it is now, I shoot nearly every day, sometimes early, sometimes after dark. He says he's never heard a shot.

 

[birdiemc]

Could you elaborate on this process? If I knew the legal route I'd definitely spin one up. PM me if you think it'll derail the thread.

PM sent

 

[smokey3]

Get one, you'll become an addict. I wish I had one on everything I own. I have decent sized property but I have neighbors not far off. Amazing how far a shot can be heard on a cold crispy day. My neighbors a decent enough guy but I imagine if I was banging away every day he'd ask me to chill some. As it is now, I shoot nearly every day, sometimes early, sometimes after dark. He says he's never heard a shot.

I like ringing steel after dark with my AR, suppressor,
and night scope, very impressive sound and fireworks.

 

[Chase723]

Like pretty much everyone on here has said, definitely go for it. I've got 3, all form 1s, that work great. 2 titanium and 1 steel. I prefer the titanium ones. They're way lighter and they cool off faster. Most recently I decided to put one on my 7mm Rem Mag. It used to have a 27" barrel. I was concerned that by cutting it down I'd neuter it ballistically...well I was wrong. I did some reading and then cut 5" off the muzzle. I put a 6" can on it. I changed from H1000 to Retumbo. And now it actually shoots 21 fps FASTER than before I cut it down. It went from ~3003 fps to ~3024 fps and the groups are tighter than anything I've ever shot in my life. No joke. So, it's better ballistically, lighter, recoils less, and I can shoot it without ear pro. IT'S FREAKING AWESOME. I also run one on a 18.5" 6.5 Creed. Equally awesome.

 

[cjl2010]

Thanks guys... just put deposit on 2 cans...