Airsoft Silencers

[qyuubi786]

How effective are they from the targets perspective? The reason I ask is that I noticed that the hole on the muzzle end of the silencers I've seen are larger than it needs to be (realism aside). Coming from an air rifle shooting background, the smaller the hole on the muzzle end the better. From what it looks like on two of mine they are about 10 mm in diameter. That's 2 mm of space around the bb that could let some sound through especially in full-auto!

 

[Leader Bee]

Do silencers actually do anything in Airsoft? I thought they were just there to look cool

 

[Adolf Hamster]

as a general rule they're pretty useless, mainly due to the fact almost all aeg's have a significant amount of action noise, and gbb's even moreso.

however where they do make sense is with actions with minimal noise, most particularly gas non-blowbacks (such as the tm mk23) or hpa systems.

when foam filled they can do a pretty damn good job of minimising/eliminating the "pop" from the barrel and can make the gun practically silent (to the point where the bb whizzing makes more noise).

you have a point on the hole, part of this is simply to make up for poorer quality not guaranteeing a good line-up with the bore of the gun to the point where bb strikes in the end of the can are not uncommon.

some folks try to remedy this with a "fart flap" over the end, a bit of tape or such with a cross pattern cut into it to close over after the bb (similar to the "wipes" in real suppressors), can't say i've noted any particular benefit to this and it does risk a drop in accuracy if it brushes the bb on its way past.

 

[AlphaBear]

Like what Hamster said....

Although they are a tad useless for TM recoils coz you can still hear the loud clang from the recoil weight hitting the back of the buffer tube... in fact if stealth is your things then a recoil ain't the best platform...

Some of the nicest and quality suppressors are from Dytac and Angry Gun. In fact Dytac do a mini tracer which can fit into the suppressor too should you fancy night games..

 

[qyuubi786]

I thought as much with the GBB pistols and AEG's but maybe DMR's and bolt action rifles could be a bit louder as they generally shoot a bit hotter than AEG's and a guy in a ghillie would benefit with that added concealment. My mk23 is quiet but I like a bit of a challenge to quieten it as much as possible.

I ended up turning an aluminium insert  with a 7.5mm hole in the muzzle, on the lathe but now that I've done it I'm wondering was it worth it?

 

[Skara]

As with all things, suppressors on their own don't do anything.

With that being said, I believe that an AEG with a perfectly shimmed gearbox with a spot on motor height and the correct air volume ratio for the bb weight used will benefit a lot from a suppressor, provided it's well built.

This from the target's perspective, I've been on the receiving end of a couple of guns that were really well built and I could barely locate the general direction of the incoming fire. On full auto, due to the longer lasting sound report, you can easily pinpoint it even if it's super quiet, but in semi? the shooter has way more chances to not be spotted.

Oh, obviously a suppressor on a Fire Hawk makes no sense other than cosmetics..

The fart flap Adolf mentioned works really well in overvolumed builds, the excess air slips past the BB and opens the flap, which automatically closes as soon as the pressure drops (right after the bb has gone past it). Various methods to do one, most people simply tape the end of the suppressor and keep firing until BBs tear through it.

 

[Shamal]

Do silencers actually do anything in Airsoft? I thought they were just there to look cool

The silencer on my tm mk23 virtually eliminates all sound.its amazing.i can use it in garden with no worries of windows slamming and young children being dragged inside! ?

Regards

 

[Rogerborg]

From what it looks like on two of mine they are about 10 mm in diameter

Since I have a silencer and some digital calipers within arm's reach... [REACHES]... huh, 12.93mm.  Call it 13mm.

Yes, that's way bigger than it needs to be, but bear in mind that they're going onto wobbly toys and unlikely to be fully aligned with the barrel.

I know, #NotallToyGnus, but for an extreme example, I was getting deflections from a very short pistol tracer unit mounted onto a plastic MP5K where pressure on the foregrip can flex the front of the gun by a significant amount.

Likewise, sticking a longer suppressor over an extended barrel on the same gnu resulted in BBs ricocheting all over the place.  I've had to pack it out with EVA foam bushings to keep the barrel and suppressor aligned, and even at that I'm not confident in reducing the suppressor bore.

tl;dr version - aimed at the lowest common denominator, sometimes don't even hit that.

 

[AlphaBear]

HAO do a Surefire version of the SOCOM 556 suppressor and when that’s screwed onto a PTW with the correct muzzle brake you cannot hear the muzzle sound. It’s absolutely scary how quiet the thing is!!! 
 

Of course being HAO you’re looking at £200 for that setup!! 

 

[qyuubi786]

So it's best to not bother on an AEG unless I do the modifications Skara suggests. And from what I've gathered from Roger. Not all guns are made equal when it comes to barrels being true to the silencer mounts. I guess it boils down to testing and then fine tuning.

Thanks for clearing it up! ??

 

[Davegolf]

I use them on AEGs, yes the will not make your gun silent, but they definitely reduce the report from a crack to a dull thump.

Couple that with volume matching, properly shimmed box, quality motor, decent gear speed/voltage and helical pinion/bevel - then you have a very short dull thud as your shot signature.

 

[Rogerborg]

So it's best to not bother on an AEG unless I do the modifications Skara suggests.

Eh, they're cheap enough, tacticool, and it's unlikely to make it worse.  If you're lucky to get an AEG that's shimmed well out of the box, it can make a difference.  One of the quietest AEGs I've heard (or mostly not heard) was a stock JG MP5SD5 with a built in suppressor.

And from what I've gathered from Roger. Not all guns are made equal when it comes to barrels being true to the silencer mounts.

Well, I'm sharing an extreme example, the front end on plastic MP5Ks has little support.  Something with a proper solid outer barrel and hand guard should be more consistent. It's just a suggestion as to why the bore might be larger than you'd expect.

As with much in airsoft, you could treat it as a project.  You can fettle up a baffle with whatever size of hole you like, stick it inside the end cap, and see how you get on.

 

[qyuubi786]

I think I'll make baffles no less than 7.5 mm's so that it has some clearance. On my PDW it doesn't seem to be interfering with the bb's.

 

[Groot]

Simple answer in my experience is they are worth having.

They do not quieten your AEG obviously but being shot at with a suppressor is 100% noticeable and definitely a little quieter.

Much like in real steel, it wont make a gun silent but it will make it quieter. 

Now if you mate this on to a very quiet gun, you can be virtually silent. 

You can also cover the exit hole with a little sphincter flap.

No idea how it affects long range accuracy but for the closer up Mk23 kills, it is a winner. 

 

[qyuubi786]

I get nervous about the sphincter flap. I keep thinking that it will deflect the BB. I think I saw a guy on YouTube using it on a rimfire rifle. It seemed quite effective on it but I thought that was only due to much higher pressures. 

What if we had an AEG where every time we shoot in semi auto, the sound of bird noises is played for example the sound of a crow cawing. That way It would mask the sound of the gearbox. ??

 

[Dogsbody100]

Nerves always affect the sphincter flap ???

 

[Adolf Hamster]

I get nervous about the sphincter flap. I keep thinking that it will deflect the BB. I think I saw a guy on YouTube using it on a rimfire rifle. It seemed quite effective on it but I thought that was only due to much higher pressures. 

the theory for airsoft is the flap gets pushed open by the gases before the bb passes through, although i must admit if the gas is opening it up then that same gas will be emitting noise.

certainly rubber wipes in real firearms do affect accuracy, for example the russian development of 9x39 and the val/vss series to get around the issue of suppressed ak's having poor accuracy.

 

[Lozart]

Eh, they're cheap enough, tacticool, and it's unlikely to make it worse.  If you're lucky to get an AEG that's shimmed well out of the box, it can make a difference.  One of the quietest AEGs I've heard (or mostly not heard) was a stock JG MP5SD5 with a built in suppressor.

Doesn't the inner barrel go to the end of the suppressor body on those though?

I have to say, if the suppressor has an inner barrel then it's going to do fuck all beyond make your rifle look cool/be longer/weigh more. I know that on a gas rifle or pistol it can increase muzzle velocity to have a longer barrel but that entirely depends on the airseal between barrel and suppressor which is usually crap. 

On the other hand if it has a vented tube with some kind of baffle (usually foam but sometimes felt discs) the it might help to reduce the muzzle report IF it was particularly load in the first place. As has been mentioned above, if we're talking about an AEG then the gearbox is making the most noise, not the muzzle!

 

[Rogerborg]

Doesn't the inner barrel go to the end of the suppressor body on those though?

Huh, so it does.  Either I'm thinking of a different brand, or he was running a shorter barrel, or I was imagining it.  They all seem fairly likely.

 

[clumpyedge]

Some of the nicest and quality suppressors are from Dytac and Angry Gun.

You spelt HAO wrong