"Shooting in the middle of the night" quiet

What's your quietest set-up that you can shoot in the middle of the night without your neighbors calling the cops (or peeking their head over to see what's going on)? Something that could still take out a squirrel. I think I could shoot my Taipan Vet with large moderator in the middle of the night. Also my 1701, but don't think it could take out much more than a sparrow.

We've all heard of mouse fart quiet... and we've all heard people saying their guns are so quiet that the only thing you can hear is the hammer (or the pellet hitting the point of impact). Well, obviously that's subjective, but I feel like a lot of these guns are still loud. 

I have a bunch of guns that are tuned and each one was claimed to be as quiet as the hammer slap, but I noticed they have a HUGE range in the noise they make, and some are even loud. I certainly couldn't shoot them all in the middle of the night without waking the neighbors. 

I also noticed that sometimes "hammer slap" quiet can be made quieter. For example, my Motorhead tuned BSA Ultra JSR in 12 FPE with Neil Claugue is one of my quietest guns now. Motorhead made this almost silent with the Huma Shroud originally, which everyone claims is the best sound suppression option for the BSA ultra and that it makes it as quiet as the hammer slap. Well, I tried the Huma Shroud, and then took it off and put on all the DonnyFLs, and then a Neil Claugue, and noticed a huge range in sound reduction. I also noticed that Neil beats them all significantly and hands down (on this gun). The Huma Shroud did a great job no doubt, but my point is it was capable of being quieter, even though everyone claimed it already made the gun hammer slap quiet. 

So what's your quietest set-up? 






 
My Huma Reg'd, Bstaley modded Prod with a Froggy moderator is about as quiet as it gets. All you hear is a slight puff of air and the pellet hitting the target.

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.177 caliber is almost given because the sounds of .22 pellets hitting the target is much louder even at low speed. Even with .177 there is a distinctive slap with paper target just a low lower. Depending on your target distance 600-700 FPS with the 10 grain hades would do a number on squirrels. 




for reduced muzzle blast I tune my guns with high reg pressure and low hammer weight. My Dreamline with 140 bars at reg sounds like a dull clack, I can hear the pellet fly through the air and hit the target paper. My 1720 is also mouse fart quiet and tuned to 8 FPE also. My crown MK1 before I sold it sounds like the Dreamline but the MK2 has distinctive hammer ping like my impact. 
 
To a trained ear, the project will give away your position. Keeping your shots close will go a long way to ensure covert action. 

To the original question, all of my airguns from .177 to .30 are Hollywood quiet. Trying to dampen the sound of the hammer and valve is a waste of time IMO; they are of little importance compared to the sound of the projectile. 

Most animals are spooked by the reaction of the target animal being hit or the sound of something flying past them. Think of your response to someone throw a marble past your head.




 
I think my quietest gun (many are VERY quiet) is a .177 Nova Star.

24" barrel means almost all air expansion is done by the time the 13gr projectile leaves at 900fps

A super-effective AUO moderator also does it's job.

Most all of my guns are quiet enough to not disturb anyone at night. But this one is extra quiet. And being a .177, impact down range is also VERY subdued.

This gun is actually quieter than the hammer.

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