Smallest Effective .45ACP Suppressor

[quixote100104]

Greetings :-),

Assuming one had the skills to design and make it oneself, can anyone out there give me a notion of how small one could make a sound suppressor able to work effectively with .45ACP rounds? Most of the ones I've seen have been pretty big, but they are also commercial products meant to last. I'm looking more for something that would be specifically designed to be mounted to a compact .45ACP pistol and be effective for 5-10 rounds.

Thanks :-),

[jeseymour]

I just had a discussion on this with a retired Boston detective, a ballistics expert. We discussed homemade suppressors in addition to military devices. He had seen some military ones in use on carbines, because that was what Whitey Bulger's gang was using. They were huge though, they really have to be. You have to make sure the bullet is moving at sub-sonic speed and you have to contain the gasses. A simple homemade suppressor involves a two liter soda bottle stuffed with brillo pads. Probably not good for more than one shot. The military devices were actually similar, he drew a cross section for me, but they had what looked like three or four hockey pucks inside in addition to the steel wool material. I've heard that any suppressor has to be at least twice as long as the barrel of the weapon.

Don't know if any of this helps. I think it's fairly unlikely that what you're looking for exists outside of Hollywood.

[Chase]

I can imagine reasons for wanting to do the job yourself, but why not go shopping online and add the suppressor you want to your cart?

http://www.impactguns.com/store/glock_suppressors.html



Gemtech Blackside .45ACP Suppressor
$585.00
Item #: GEM-BLACK
Call for lead time.
[Add to Cart]

I'm thinking that if the commercial suppressors could be smaller, they would be . . . but in this case the writer's need is for a BIG gun to be somewhat hushed.

[Summonere]

The Aurora suppressor is the most compact one I've seen, but last I checked, they were only available in 9mm. That said, you could just as easily claim in your story that they, or someone else, cranked out one of similar dimensions for a .45. (Realistic? No. Probably not. That big hole in the .45 ACP tube creates more suppression difficulty.)

The Aurora specifications:

O.A. Length: 3.1 inches
Diameter: 1.125 inches (this is in 9mm, remember)
Weight: 2.7 oz.
Degree of suppression: In excess of 24 dB
Barrel Threads: 1/2x28, 3/8 inch long

This silencer was designed specifically for use with the Glock 26, and the design criteria called for operational usefulness exceeding two magazines. The manufacturer claims to exceed those requirements. The suppressor uses urethane wipes and “artificial environment technology to achieve extreme performance.” In other words, it's a wet suppressor, not a dry one (using oil, gel, or water to help achieve noise reduction levels greater than that seen in otherwise identical, but “dry,” suppressors). As of 2002, this gadget was listed at $545.00, and their advertising stated that the sales were restricted to governmental “and other” users. No mention of who those “others” might be.

On average, many of the .45 ACP suppressors I usually see run right around seven to eight inches in length.

Gemtech, however, makes this one...

http://www.gem-tech.com/BLACKSIDE.html

...which is among the shorter I've seen in .45 ACP, at 6.1 inches in length. At the shooter's ear, these gadgets produce somewhere in the ballpark of 140-141 dBs when run dry. Get them wet, they produce about 128-129 dBs at the shooter's ear (or about 130dBs measured 1 meter from the barrel).

Some folks compare the sound of a suppressed .45 to that of an airnailler or paintball gun. The pain threshold for impulse noise, by the way, is around 141 dBs, and the European Risk Limit for impulse noise is 140 dbs. For reference, consider that a Crossman American Classic Model 1377 .177 caliber air pistol generates 120-123 dBs.