*quiet* high fpe air guns

[zebra]

"sharroff"I had a BWalton BT 65 in .25 and I would not put it into the quiet group (pellet hitting target is louder than gun shooting).

That's a good point on the pellet impact. My Mutant is quiet at the muzzle but, if the pellet hits something hard, it is definitely audible. 

I like to shoot down so pellets that miss just hit the grass and that makes a huge difference. Yesterday I spotted 3 squirrels and a chipmunk. I was able to take all 4 off them with the Mutant. It was quiet enough that the others hardly notice and weren't alarmed enough to run away. 

For me, my dead brothers carcass falling out of the bush would have been enough to make me run but not squirrels. They need a loud noise to know it's time to get out of dodge. One shot with the Cricket 25 and the rest go nuts and warn every squirrel in a 200 yard radius. The Career 707 would make them evacuate the continent. 

The Marauder is fairly quiet in 22 but I don't think it's shroud is that effective in 25. It's too small and is better with an LDC added. 

The other thing to note is pellet choice. Some cause more noise than others. Lighter pellets and pellets of certain shapes cause more noise. When I use cleaning pellets, it sounds like there is no shroud at all on my Cricket. It really hurts my ears a lot. 

 

[X27]

OK I am convinced you are not a Rogue Assassin my apologies.

 

[mcdonama]

But what if you were right in the first place?

)

 

[mcdonama]

Thanks all for the great suggestions. Of course, anything approaching 80+ fpe is going to be far from silent but given the power level is a must I'd like to find a solution that's as quiet as possible.

 

[cernunnos]

Shooting the Huben with Beasts, it does about 70 fpe with the impact louder than the report, out of the box. Availibility's been spotty, but hopefully they've sorted out their manufacturing process.

I wouldn't call a pellet at 70 fpe backyard friendly, you need to be sure of your backstop. But the objectionable part of the sound can be designed away. 

 

[DJBriez]

"cernunnos"Shooting the Huben with Beasts, it does about 70 fpe with the impact louder than the report, out of the box. Availibility's been spotty, but hopefully they've sorted out their manufacturing process.

I wouldn't call a pellet at 70 fpe backyard friendly, you need to be sure of your backstop. But the objectionable part of the sound can be designed away. 

I agree, but carpet and rubber mulch does wonders!

DJ

 

[cernunnos]

My target is cardboard backed with a 3 inch thick slab of solid rubber (55 durometer shore A scale) backstop, then a plastic bucket, then an earth berm. Rubber mulch might be slightly quieter, but not much.

Beasts usually pass through the rubber and dent, but don't penetrate the bucket.

 

[Scirroco]

The op mentioned 22lr subsonic,if fitted with a silencer is quieter than any pcp in the 60ft lbs and above category,
I have been using a 22lr with a can for over thirty years.and have cans on all my centrefire rifles also upto 444 marlin.
Rgds steve

 

[mcdonama]

"Scirroco"The op mentioned 22lr subsonic,if fitted with a silencer is quieter than any pcp in the 60ft lbs and above category,
I have been using a 22lr with a can for over thirty years.and have cans on all my centrefire rifles also upto 444 marlin.
Rgds steve

The downside is Fed regulation...

 

[Scirroco]

England maybe seen as a screwed up country(which it is) but we have no problem with cans for ridles ,air rifles and shotguns, its a wonder with the lawyers in america that no one is suing the government dor hearing damage?
We just quote hearing protection and there to scared to refuse because of getting sued,eimfire silencers if used on a sub 12 ft lbs air rifle are free to buy,but if used on a 22r or an.air rifle over 12 ft lbs held on a firearm certificate,you must have authority to have the silencer,which then.in itself is then classed as a firearm!!go figure
Rgds steve

 

[mcdonama]

Ah! Yes, the U.K. has a very different approach to these things ineed.

you have given me an idea though! What's that? Did you say something? I can't hear you well since I have hearing damage.

 

[zebra]

"So Mr Smith, do you mean to tell this court that you did not know guns were loud before using them?"

"Um... No... I um... I knew they were loud, I just wasn't allowed a silencer"

"So why didn't you wear hearing protection given that you knew they were loud and were not allowed a silencer?"

"Um...um...um"

"The defense rests"


That's pretty much how it would if you tried to sue the government because you damaged your hearing from shooting. Add $150,000 in legal bills too. Still surprised nobody has tried?

 

[Sam63]

"mcdonama"Thanks all for the great suggestions. Of course, anything approaching 80+ fpe is going to be far from silent but given the power level is a must I'd like to find a solution that's as quiet as possible.

The FX Boss is a 30 cal that shoots about 76 - 78 fpe. Out of the box its pretty quiet for 75+ fpe gun. An aftermarket LDC and you will have a quiet 75+ fpe airgun. Pretty sure Neil Clauge has made an LDC for a Boss. There are a couple of synthetic FX Bosses listed in some airgun forum classified sections for $1300.

 

[Guest]

I think the suppressor technology in the AG world has not caught up with the PB world. Any efficient big bore shooting below the speed of sound can be silenced to the same levels as subsonic powder burners. So have a look at this vid at the 2:25 point where he is shooting his subsonic .45ACP wet. That is 450 FPE ... quietly.

 

[mcdonama]

That's impressive!

If a .45 acp can be effectively silenced to that level it seems it would be relatively easy to take big bore, sub sonic air rifles to an even quieter level.

 

[MarkUK]

Not quite so easy. With a powder burner, the acceleration of the bullet happens very early on with a small mass of very hot gasses, at ultra high pressure which cool (thus lowering the pressure) as the bullet progresses. The wet moderator further cools (further depressurising) the gasses (by using the heat energy to vaporise water) before they exit. Hence effectively silenced.

A powder burner moderator does most of its work by cooling the air before it reaches the outside world.

With higher power airguns, you have a larger mass of air at ambient temperature, but at very high pressure (typically >150bar) which reduces a bit with barrel length (longer is quieter at the same fpe).

Airguns are quieter if:
The hammer/valve combination opens and closes quickly (efficiency).
The barrel is long.
The barrel is efficient (Smooth Twist barrels need less pressure to accelerate a pellet to a given velocity).

Airgun moderators for high power guns need a large expansion chamber before the baffles. Hence Huggett full length is much better than the Huggett Belita on high power unshrouded guns.

Airgun moderators do most of their work by allowing air to expand before it reaches the outside world.

 

[techna]

I can't imagine any airgun being more quiet than a suppressed 22lr bolt action shooting subs. My 22cal Matador seems very quiet to me, but my 22 Savage is more so. Since I always relish the chance to show off my toys, here's a video of my son shooting it while his grandfather watches on. The phone mic typically does a poor job representing what the ear hears, but in this case the gun is so quiet that the filtering doesn't seem to kick in. In fact, I think that it may be louder in the video than it is in person. For perspective, compare the report to the bird noises, the bullet impact on the berm after the first shot and then the hit on the steel after the second. Berm and steel are about 100 yards from the camera.

 

 

[Aloha808]

My quietest PCP is a .22 HW100 with NC moderator, doing about 30 ft/lbs. The pellets hitting empty soda/beer cans makes more commotion.
Also use a .22 FX Verminator which is much much louder, followed by a .25 RAW HM1000x that's pretty loud even with its CF moderator.

 

[Removed]

Not sure if your speaking of high fpe pellet guns or big bore slug guns? As far as big fpe goes the Slayer is right there at 275 fpe and is very quiet for a big bore...not backyard friendly but still quiet enough to not scare every living creature away for miles. I think it's hard to say what's quiet because everyone has they're own idea of what quiet is.

 

[Goodtogo]

Good luck on finding what you are looking for

You might consider buying a nice ghillie suit and slipping up on the game like bow hunting? That way a less powerful air rifle would work