Airsoft silencers/suppressors: curiosities?

[Ricochet]

I've been playing airsoft for nearly a decade now, and every now and then I see a gun using a mock silencer or suppressor. Not as a longer barrel cover, which does happen, but actually to dampen the sound of the gun.

Now before this turns into a "no it doesn't, yes it does" argument, let me explain my own experiences. I have witnessed, first hand, an airsoft silencer work to seriously dampen the sound of AEGs, springers, GBBRs and GBBPs. Although not all equally and not every one I have seen has worked. I have seen guns go nearly to total silence, and then another it would appear to have little to no effect. So it can and does work, perhaps just not each and every time.

The first gun I ever saw a noticeable effect with was, I believe, a Classic Army G36, but it could've been a Tokyo Marui. This was about eight years ago, and in this case most of it actually covered exposed inner barrel, but the gun was nearly silenced. It was in fact a manufactured airsoft silencer. Up close it sounded like a light winding or zipping noise, from forty feet away it was nothing. I have seen a few AEGs exhibit this ability with suppressors over the years, and some not, and some in between.

Next would have to be a Tokyo Marui MK23 NBB, but mentioning this gun is nearly cheating, so I'll move on. A Tokyo Marui VSR-10 springer, is to date, the quietest, or most extreme noise reduction I have seen. Albeit it had other mods to help it quiet down, like an air-brake or a stick filled with foam, but this gun went from a thud to a muffled click. Totally silent from ten feet away. My own Tokyo Marui L96, when I still had it, would have its thud halved by just holding a whatever brand airsoft suppressor on the end.

One of the most surprising ones I have noticed was an WE/RA-Tech Level III M14 EBR open bolt. These buggers are loud, even for a GBBR. They made a very large clank noise with each cycle of the bolt. Other than the silencer I cannot tell you if there were any other sound dampening modifications made, but the gun only made a muffled plink noise. From about forty to fifty feet away, it was relatively hard to make out.

Now recently I watched a video, which I'm still looking for to post it up, where some guy tested a bunch of guns against a bunch of airsoft suppressors. Some of the guns quieted right down, and some seemed to have no change. He took audio tests of each gun firing with and without a suppressor at different distances, and every gun had a definate sound dampen with the suppressor on versus off. Up close it was hard to tell for some, but the further away he got the exponentially quieter each gun became.

So here are my questions:

- Is there a style or brands of airsoft silencers/suppressors that is known to be superior than others? Is there actually like a guide to them like there is to every other gun, upgrade, modification?

- Has anyone had any unique experiences where an suppressor made a serious difference. Did it help to conceal your location immensely versus the average gun on the field?

Thanks.

[c3sk]

I've noticed a significantly drop in audio report from ptw's with Madbull suppressors which seems to be mainly due to the awesome super high density foam they use in their housings. Some don't come with this, however it's pretty easy to strip apart the suppressor and add your own (which many of us had done in the past)

The difference when running a large suppressor, especially on a systema ptw was pretty impressive. I'm sure there are some things going on regarding the crown on the end of the inner barrel also, I know Dynamo on here has been able to augment the sound of his aeg's into a "pop" noise due to how the barrel was crowned or something.

Most music stores downtown will sell the really good foam. That's the stuff you want!

[FreelancerInc]

on our field of ptw's mine has a magpul aac and alot of people tell me at similar ranges mine sounds much quieter and usually only hear the wiz of a BB past the face. mines mostly for barrel coverage but people swear by it.

[Splinter]

I think almost every rifle I've had has had a suppressor on at one point or another.. IMO they do infact work that being said the ones I've seen with more pronounced difference is the ones with inserts inside. I find its the inserts that make a difference and without could amplify the 'pop'..

Don't really think there's a specific brand that makes the difference... Think its fair to say anything 3-7 inches with inserts will dampen the sound of the bb leaving the barrel. Will still hear other mechanical noises (gears,bolt slap, slide moving) but these are minimal from 30-40ft away

TM MK 23 NBB is the suppression master haha my ideal choice for sniper/DMR/recce role sidearm

[lurkingknight]

there are 2 major sources of sound from an AEG, the gearbox cycle and the muzzle pop.

The suppressor WILL dampen the muzzle pop. The shooter may not hear it because his head is right beside the gearbox, but anyone downrange may not hear the shot or think it's pointed in another direction.

The larger diameter cans do a better job at this, provided that there's foam in the can and the inner barrel leaves a space between where the BB leaves the inner vs where it leaves the suppressor. The amount of gap may make a difference in the dynamics of how the sound travels and is broken up in the foam.

[Ricochet]

Do you guys mean large as in length or girth? I'm assuming the width is what makes the difference?

[chaz]

I would think a larger diameter can would work better as it has more foam between the BB and the can wall to absorb any of the pop.

[ThunderCactus]

You really need to catch the air coming out of the barrel.
My VSR was kind of an anomaly, I really don't know WHY it was so freaking quiet. The barrel went up to the last inch of the suppressor, it used a heavy ass piston, didn't have a sorbo on the cylinder head, no air brake (at that point), yet you couldn't hear it from 10 feet away.
Best guess is the air volume to barrel ratio was just perfect with zero leaks in the system, so there was back pressure on the piston right until it hit the cylinder head.

I've got a madbull QDC on my MK18 and it doesn't make much difference at all. Could be the length of it though as it's the short one.
But I had a loudener on it at one point, using an M90 cylinder in CQB, I thought it was loud, but the thing shot so fast in semi people didn't even register the noise lol

[Cobrajr122]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

- Has anyone had any unique experiences where an suppressor made a serious difference. Did it help to conceal your location immensely versus the average gun on the field?

Yes.

Foam filled suppressors work immensely well with P* & SMP powered rigs. I use a Madbull Gemtech HALO 'suppressor' on my P* and it works wonders. Many times I have shot people from cover at close range and they have no idea where it came from, their buddies looking to further locations while I pick them all off :P

[Ricochet]

Interesting. That's two votes for Madbull with foam. The AAC suppressors from PTS are nice, if you can find them. So sheer foam density plus width seems to make the most difference.

[Dynamo]

i swear by the madbull suppressors. they don't use foam (at least the versions i have), they use disks of compacted fiber material that i could only describe as wool.
as Chris pointed out, i have specific needs when it comes to my guns. i like my rifles to have the loudest report out the muzzle as possible when not using a can. i have played around with different crowning angles on barrels to achieve a very crisp and pronounced "POP" as a BB exits the barrel. on the flip side, i hate gearbox/motor/piston noise. i have carefully tuned my AEGs to make their internals as quiet as possible without affecting performance.
like Cobrajr has said, a really quiet AEG in an outdoor arena has quite the advantage. i have on many occasions, ambushed players from less than 20 feet away. they flinch on striking them, they look around for where the shot came from and continue about their business, as they think it was some long off shot that by luck hit them, and not call them selfs out. that is until i open up on them and make it rain silent death.
i do recall a game where i was surrounded on two sides by enemy. i was able to take out a couple of guys ahead of me while another group was just meters behind me. upon killing their mates, they would call contact and take cover in the brush around my position. i had one guy practically step on me, at which point i grabbed his ankle and mercy-ed him. i was taken out once his buddies move in to revive him. they were baffled at how quiet my AEG was, and we all had a good laugh.
when switching to a CQC environment, i take my can off and my AEG becomes a rabid dog. i have had players jump when they turn a corner and i let my dog loose. the intimidation factor of a really loud report has a very interesting effect on players in confined spaces.
being able to swap between really loud and really quiet, adds a new dynamic to playing airsoft for me.

[Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

Interesting. That's two votes for Madbull with foam. The AAC suppressors from PTS are nice, if you can find them. So sheer foam density plus width seems to make the most difference.

i find the foam filled ones change the tone of the report rather than dampen it. there are open cell and closed cell foam types, and the closed cell ones do very little to dampen anything.
the wool core cans make it seem like i put a pillow at the end of the muzzle.
the wool stuff looks a lot like those green scotchbright pads, just a pit more dense.

in the order of ability to suppress.
wool (compacted fiber disks)
open cell foam
closed cell foam
hollow (empty can)
no suppressor

loudest report from the muzzle was achieved with a 5 degree crown of the inner barrel.

[ThunderCactus]

It's pretty much the same dense wool they use on mallets for musical instruments

[Styrak]

"Do you guys mean large as in length or girth? I'm assuming the width is what makes the difference?"

- Ricochet, January 10, 2015

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by Styrak

"Do you guys mean large as in length or girth? I'm assuming the width is what makes the difference?"

- Ricochet, January 10, 2015

Put it on my tombstone! I knew how it sounded when I was asking....