This is usually one of the first questions someone new to sound suppressors (or “firearm silencers”) asks. The same type of technology is used in other sound mitigation equipment, such as automobile mufflers, and air tool silencers with the main difference usually being a firearm suppressor must have a straight through hole sufficient for the projectile to pass through.
A good first basis for understanding how firearm suppressors work might be to understand what makes up the sound of a gunshot. Firearm discharges, excluding blanks, have two main sources of sources of sound. The primary source of sound is that of the escaping high pressure gasses that are propelling the projectile. These might be compared to a high pressure version of the sound generated by the popping of a champagne cork. This is the source of sound that a firearm sound suppressor seeks to mitigate.
A secondary source of sound is that of the projectile breaking the sound barrier. A firearm silencer has no effect the sound of a projectile breaking the sound barrier as it occurs in the space the projectile travels in beyond the silencer. Note that not all firearm discharges involve the projectile breaking the sound barrier as the projectile velocity may be lower than the speed of sound. For the purposes of this exercise, we will ignore the effect of the supersonic event portion of the firearm discharge.
The high pressure gas discharge of the firearm discharge or “shot” produces a pressure wave that is heard at the ear. Firearm suppressors lower the output pressure of the gas discharge to mitigate the energy in the resultant sound pressure wave. Firearm sound suppressors lower the pressure of the escaping propulsion gas by a combination of rapid expansion and compression of the gasses and losses attributed to geometry of the suppressor orifices. So would a straight through car muffler quiet a firearm shot? Absolutely. Just as automotive mufflers are different for each application; there is no “one size fits all” application firearm suppressor. The solution to effectively suppressing a firearm is to have the right tool for the job.
Contact us and let us help you with the right tool for your firearm suppressor project. Your success is our success.
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