How Does A Suppressor Affect Velocity?
How does a suppressor affect the velocity of a bullet? I have seen many different arguments from both sides floating around the Internet. Some people say that a good suppressor can effectively increase the barrel length and therefore increase velocity. On the other side, some believe that it will decrease velocity.
I've generally belonged to the first train of thought. The typical modern suppressor does not contact the bullet during flight. As a result is seems unlikely to me that there would be any reason to believe that it would decrease the velocity. Since subsonic ammunition is often used in suppressed firearms to reduce overall noise, that could be part of the misconception that velocity is reduced by the suppressor. This is however a little backwards as the slower ammo is chosen to use in the suppressor, it is not slowed down by the suppressor.
To me it seems that the typical stereotype of reduced velocity seems to come from video games. Games like Call of Duty indicate that putting a suppressor on a gun will reduce the velocity and affect overall performance. Now, if you get your firearms knowledge from a video game, that is your first mistake.
Some of that misconception may have originated from early suppressor designs that used replaceable "wipes" that would contact the bullet as it passed through the suppressor body. This could potentially slow the speed of the bullet and negatively affect accuracy. To my knowledge, none of the current popular suppressor manufacturers use this technique anymore.
When I picked up a Silencerco Spectre II I decided I wanted to do some impromptu testing of velocity. For me this was two-fold: First, I wanted to figure out which of the 22 LR loads I had on hand would stay subsonic through a pistol barrel. Second, I was curious what would happen to the velocity with the suppressor on vs. off.
The following shot strings were fired with a Ruger 22/45 Lite. The suppressed shots were fired through the Silencerco Spectre II.
I've generally belonged to the first train of thought. The typical modern suppressor does not contact the bullet during flight. As a result is seems unlikely to me that there would be any reason to believe that it would decrease the velocity. Since subsonic ammunition is often used in suppressed firearms to reduce overall noise, that could be part of the misconception that velocity is reduced by the suppressor. This is however a little backwards as the slower ammo is chosen to use in the suppressor, it is not slowed down by the suppressor.
 |
| Ruger 22/45 Lite with Silencerco Spectre II suppressor. |
Some of that misconception may have originated from early suppressor designs that used replaceable "wipes" that would contact the bullet as it passed through the suppressor body. This could potentially slow the speed of the bullet and negatively affect accuracy. To my knowledge, none of the current popular suppressor manufacturers use this technique anymore.
When I picked up a Silencerco Spectre II I decided I wanted to do some impromptu testing of velocity. For me this was two-fold: First, I wanted to figure out which of the 22 LR loads I had on hand would stay subsonic through a pistol barrel. Second, I was curious what would happen to the velocity with the suppressor on vs. off.
The following shot strings were fired with a Ruger 22/45 Lite. The suppressed shots were fired through the Silencerco Spectre II.
Remington Thunderbolt:
Unsuppressed: Suppressed:
932.5 964.8
962.1 972.6
1009 943.2
1013 975.9
982.4 953.7
979.8 962
CCI Blazer
Unsuppressed: Suppressed:
975.6 1006
1026 1010
998.3 1018
1015 1026
1007 1007
1004 1013
Federal High Velocity:
Unsuppressed: Suppressed:
1031 1041
1016 1051
1040 1111
1012 1049
1032 1015
1026 1053
Gemtech Silencer Sub Sonic:
Unsuppressed: Suppressed:
890.6 896.8
887.8 909.9
921.1 918.4
910.8 916.7
907.5 904.5
903.5 909.3
Although the differences were not substantial, and there was some overlap on individual shots, overall the suppressed shots had a slightly higher velocity. The only exception is the Remington Thunderbolt, which also had the highest extreme spread for the unsuppressed shots. All but the Federal High Velocity stayed subsonic through the pistol barrel. The Federal had some shots stay subsonic, and some that went super and had a super sonic crack.
I did the same test with a 16" barrel Savage FVSR, but I misplaced my notes from that range trip. I'll have chronograph those loads again through the rifle.
While I wouldn't consider this test conclusive, in my small experiment the suppressed shots on average had a higher velocity.
On a side note, for the pistol I liked the consistency and accuracy of the CCI Blazer ammo best out of those tested. The Gemtech ammo is excellent, but it felt like a waste out of the pistol. The velocity was lower and the accuracy was not significantly better than the Blazer. For the Savage 16" barrel on the other hand, the Gemtech ammo stayed subsonic and proved to be more accurate than any of the other ammo tested in this group.
On a side note, for the pistol I liked the consistency and accuracy of the CCI Blazer ammo best out of those tested. The Gemtech ammo is excellent, but it felt like a waste out of the pistol. The velocity was lower and the accuracy was not significantly better than the Blazer. For the Savage 16" barrel on the other hand, the Gemtech ammo stayed subsonic and proved to be more accurate than any of the other ammo tested in this group.
Comments
Post a Comment