Dead Silent
Reducing ballistic crack takes a new turn.
A common misconception is that suppressors are only useful if they “silence” the shot of a cartridge being fired. This is not entirely true. While the intention is often to make the weapon as quiet as possible, in military applications it is just as important to disguise it.
When a round is fired and the very hot high-pressure gases exit the barrel quickly, they make the distinctive gunshot sound. When a suppressor is attached to the muzzle it gives the gases a place to expand and lose pressure, and in many designs to cool significantly and lose even more pressure, so when the gas exits it makes much less sound. The amount and nature of this sound will vary with silencer designs–from being dramatically reduced, to essentially inaudible. Some designs patented have endeavored not to reduce the amount of sound, but to raise its pitch above the humanly audible frequencies. Even moderately efficient designs that do little to contain the sound, will usually disguise it enough to have value in preventing the “shootee” from accurately determining the direction from which the shot came, thereby delaying or preventing return fire.
Be the first to comment!
Leave a Reply