Why do we need silencers?
by Tom Gaylord
I have never understood the need or fascination for silencers – for airgun especially! Airguns are already quiet, except for the big bores like Dennis Quackenbush’s Bandit and some of the more powerful smallbores like the AirForce Condor and the Career 707.
Most airguns are quiet enough to shoot without wearing hearing protection, so why would anyone want to make them even quieter? I seems to me that the drive for a quieter gun is pushed by the desire to do things covertly, and that implies that some of those things shouldn’t be done al all! If that’s the reason everyone wants a silenced airgun then I’m against it.
If, however, the attraction is simply because silencers are controlled items here in the U.S., then I understand. People will always want what they can’t have. Just the other day an airgunner pleaded for the address of a company now making the GAT air pistol. You should know that the GAT is a wimpishly weak gun, about like a Marksman 1010, yet here was someone panting after one because they are so hard to find, now that the original company has stopped making them.
I recently bought a legal firearm silencer, just to see what all the hooplah is about. There will be an article about my experiences in one of the September issues of Shotgun News, where I write a monthly airgun column. Although I bought the silencer to mount on .22 rimfire guns, I plan to install it on an AirForce Condor, to see what it can do for the loudest smallbore air rifle in the world. If it improves the muzzle report, perhaps airgunners can stop bitching about the legalities of silencers on airguns and just get a legal one!
posted by Tom Gaylord @ 6:44 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
I think a big reason that folks want silencers for airguns is that because airguns are much lower in power than firearms, they are conducive to backyard shooting.
Except for the noise. It irritates the neighbors, and some neighbors can make life hell regardless of how much friendly chatting you do with them.
Well, you are probably right. I know moany airgunners just want to be left alone to enjoy their shooting. In fact, I'm one of them.
What I worry about are the few (I hope they are few) who see airguns as a way to covertly cause mischief. I talk to shooters all the time who say without thinking how they shoot the neighborhood cats, etc. These are the ones I worry about.
Tom
Tom,
Maybe you should do a column on airgun ethics?
Shooting the neighborhood cat is probably the tip of a whole range of bad behaviors that might be changed in some shooters by a column by you.
This sport/hobby needs positive role models who can point the way for the ethically confused or deficient.
I di try to promote shooting ethics in my writing, but wouldn't an entire article sound like a sermon? Besides, I think I would be preaching to the choir, because the folks who do the bad deeds either don't read or they ignore articles that sound too uncomfortable.
I guess, like everyone, they probably think the trouble is caused by "them." And you're right about the tip of the iceburg. The recent child killings by airgun snipers in Scotland are proof of that.
Tom
I would be interested in hearing how that study goes. I have an Airforce Condor which I hunt with and I find that it is louder than I care for. I love the power and accuracy of the rifle, so I have recently considered picking up a silencer for the gun.
Please write back!....
Deersniper,
I am proceeding with the testnow. I should know something in October.
Tom
The silencers I thought were a good idea as the ranges between muzzle and game is so very short. If a lower report keeps the game from fleeing your neck of the woods - so be it. Im referring to follow up shots or multiple targets.
Pete
Odd how one law enforcement agency will ticket you for making noise on your motorcycle and yet the same people find quieting a gun as an illicit thing!
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