2015 is the year of silence. And rightfully so. The suppressor market has never had the interest, or following that it does today. Leading the charge in fight against noise is a company that is a personal favorite of mine. SilencerCo has been fighting the noise since 2008 when they introduced the sparrow .22lr user-serviceable suppressor. Quickly becoming the leader in both innovation and design, SilencerCo made suppressors accessible, affordable, and now they are striving to make them an everyday tool.
The Salvo 12. Shotguns will never be the same.
2015 brings a few new products to the table; SilencerCo actually introduced 3 new suppressors at Shot 2015. Two are pistol cans that are shorter versions of their cult classic Osprey 45 and the Octane 45. They also released the Omega; the shortest, lightest, quietest 30-caliber rifle suppressor to date. While these Suppressors are great, I can’t help but focus on the star of the SilencerCo booth–The Salvo 12.
The Salvo 12 is the world’s first commercially available, viable shotgun suppressor. Modular in its design, the Salvo 12 can be taken apart and rebuilt in different size configurations with the use of an optional shortening kit. You can transform the suppressor from 12 inches all the way down to 6 inches, but that all depends on your needs and its intended use. The Salvo 12 is rated for wadded shells up to 3 inches; it can be used with birdshot, buckshot, and slugs, which makes it optimal for use in any hunting scenario.
In the Salvo’s 12 inch configuration, it brings the sound down to a hearing-safe 136 decibels. In the 6 inch configuration the suppressor doesn’t meet OSHA hearing safe requirements, but it is still quiet–just north of 140 decibels. The suppressor weighs 34.5 ounces. It is built out of Aluminum and stainless steel and has a retail price of $1400.
The guys and gals at SilencerCo proudly say, “The Salvo 12 seems to be the suppressor that unites us all.” SilencerCo continues to #FIGHTTHENOISE so make sure to stop by their page and check out their new products. Support their campaign to have suppressors removed from the NFA, and If you’re in the market for a suppressor, make sure to give their cans a closer look.[one_half]
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I spent some good time at the SilencerCo booth at the range event this SHOT Show. While it was refreshing to remove my ears for the time, the Salvo put a lot of weight out on the end of a 22″ (ish) Beretta 1301. I didn’t get a chance to swing it much, but look up the videos of their pheasant hunt to see it in the field. I enjoyed shooting it, as well as SilencerCo’s other offerings like the Omega (which is now at the top of my wish list).
Honestly I think that permanently muffled firearms will be the next step. We see it more with .22 LR now (Thompson Machine has some great examples, bolt and semi-auto) but building one into a shotgun would certainly shut up the naysayers who say it looks so ugly – making it a part of the forearm, just extended out. This would allow for more easily changeable chokes as well. As the Salvo attaches to the shotgun via threading into the end of the barrel it technically makes every choke you want part of the silencer, and thus a titled item. (I did a NFA compliance workshop at SHOT also…and found there are a lot of people out there who ask too many specific questions – SIG Brace anyone? C’mon, just let sleeping dogs lie.)
This also makes SilencerCo have to get into the choke production business, and I think we can all agree that’s a very hard spot to keep tabs on. If all the shotgun manufacturers would just agree on one type of choke everyone would be happier in the duck blind.
The proposition of removing silencers from the NFA bodes well…especially as more states embrace legal hunting with cans. We’ll just have to find an alternative source of funding for the Feds, because with the rise in popularity of silencers nationwide and at $200 a stamp…well, you can do the math.
The basis for removal can be be argued by thinking about the Striker 12 (Streetsweeper Shotgun). That gun was found to not have a legit sporting purpose and was added to the NFA list of titled firearms – and with not much objection from what I can tell. In court (because let’s face it, that’s where it’ll end up), one could argue that as suppressors are allowed (and hopefully encouraged) for hunting that constitutes a legitimate sporting purpose, and shouldn’t be subject to Title II restrictions, more like regular sporting firearms. At the least, made to be under the control of each state – if they allow hunting with cans, the cans are not considered NFA items in that state!
I spent some good time at the SilencerCo booth at the range event this SHOT Show. While it was refreshing to remove my ears for the time, the Salvo put a lot of weight out on the end of a 22″ (ish) Beretta 1301. I didn’t get a chance to swing it much, but look up the videos of their pheasant hunt to see it in the field. I enjoyed shooting it, as well as SilencerCo’s other offerings like the Omega (which is now at the top of my wish list).
Honestly I think that permanently muffled firearms will be the next step. We see it more with .22 LR now (Thompson Machine has some great examples, bolt and semi-auto) but building one into a shotgun would certainly shut up the naysayers who say it looks so ugly – making it a part of the forearm, just extended out. This would allow for more easily changeable chokes as well. As the Salvo attaches to the shotgun via threading into the end of the barrel it technically makes every choke you want part of the silencer, and thus a titled item. (I did a NFA compliance workshop at SHOT also…and found there are a lot of people out there who ask too many specific questions – SIG Brace anyone? C’mon, just let sleeping dogs lie.)
This also makes SilencerCo have to get into the choke production business, and I think we can all agree that’s a very hard spot to keep tabs on. If all the shotgun manufacturers would just agree on one type of choke everyone would be happier in the duck blind.
The proposition of removing silencers from the NFA bodes well…especially as more states embrace legal hunting with cans. We’ll just have to find an alternative source of funding for the Feds, because with the rise in popularity of silencers nation-wide and at $200 a stamp…well, you can do the math.
The basis for removal can be be argued by thinking about the Striker 12 (Streetsweeper Shotgun). That gun was found to not have a legit sporting purpose and was added to the NFA list of titled firearms – and with not much objection from what I can tell. In court (because let’s face it, that’s where it’ll end up), one could argue that as suppressors are allowed (and hopefully encouraged) for hunting that constitutes a legitimate sporting purpose, and shouldn’t be subject to Title II restrictions, more like regular sporting firearms. At the least, made to be under the control of each state – if they allow hunting with cans, the cans are not considered NFA items in that state!
I’m curious what the 136db is down from? Anyone know the db same gun/round without the can?
“Silencers”, also known as “suppressors”, on guns don’t make them anywhere near silent. Silencers primarily only suppress the noise due to the pressure wave from the rapidly expanding propellant gases. This is only a portion of what makes a gunshot loud. The primary other source of noise in a gunshot is the sonic crack created by the bullet (for bullets that exceed the sound barrier, which is a large majority, unless they are modified to specifically be subsonic).
Modern day suppressors typically can reduce the noise about 14.3-43 decibels, depending on a variety of factors, such as whether it’s a subsonic bullet or not; length of the barrel/silencer; etc. The average suppression level, according to independent tests done on a variety of commercially available suppressors, is around 30 dB, which is around the same reduction level of typical ear protection gear often used when firing guns.
That’s actually pretty significant considering the decibel system is a logarithmic scale; so, for example, 200 dB is 1000 times louder than 100 dB, not double, and a reduction of 40 dB is more like 1/100th of the original sound. However, for most commercially available fire arms and cartridges, this ends up only reducing the noise level to somewhere in the range of 130-150-ish dB for a supersonic cartridge and 117-130-ish dB for a subsonic cartridge. For reference on just how loud that is, an ambulance or police siren is typically between 100-140 dB. So this isn’t exactly the “whoosh” sound Hollywood depicts. Given that hearing loss can occur as low as 85 dB, it’s typically recommended that even with a suppressor on a fire arm, that the shooter still wears some sort of hearing protection. http://www.todayifoundout.com
If I’d had one of these on my shotgun when I was young I might be able to hear out of my left ear. With innovations in hearing protection these days there may be a more effective, less expensive ways to protect hearing. Plus you don’t have 12in. of can affecting your swing. 136 db is still going to make the neighbors jump.
Suppressors have a bad image from movies. Anyone who has hunted Africa on private land has most likely used a suppressor. Landowners require it as to not spook the other game in the area. I hunt with a suppressor for small game and deer. It eliminates the need for hearing protection, allows follow up shots by changing perceived direction of the shot and is less alarming to surrounding people who may not enjoy hearing gun shots in the distance as much as others who enjoy shooting. As mentioned before it is also perfect for a home defense situation where you do not have time to put on ear protection before discharging a firearm in a contained space. They may not be in everyone’s budget but they do have a useful place in the shooting sports.
There is only one good place to use that suppressor that would be home defence….as to not rattle your ears….
That sucker looks like an old California turbo muffler I had on my Chevelle back in the 80’s.
I am surprised there is little effort to make these stylish. I would imagine sales would climb if
it looked like something more than a big old hunk of metal hanging off the front.
Can’t figure one place that this would be useful! !
At $1400 that reality puts it in Over Priced Useless Piece of Equipment….
I can think of a great use! I can legally shoot on my property, and have a target range. But out of respect for the neighbors that are in audible range, keep it down to .22’s. If I could afford this thang, I’d be trap shooting here!
I live up in a ‘holler’ in the NW SC Appalachian foothills. My one neighbor, who lives over a 1/2 mile away, on the other side of the ‘holler’, remarked upon the noise of my shooting by asking if I was firing a shotgun. It was my new Mini14 in .223 cal. Noise is amplified in certain situation and locales. If I could either afford a suppressor, or had the tools to build one available, I would most certainly own one. They’re actually little more than a ‘muffler’, as someone called them above, albeit, of a greatly reduced size.
Suppressors, or mufflers, are very easy to make at home. Google is your friend and I bet you do have all the tools you need. You will be surprised at how easy (*and illegal) it is to build them.
No, I doubt anyone would be surprised how easy it is to make an illegal suppressor. But there is the rub now isn’t it? They are not legal, therefore only criminals would make one. Do you have any idea what the penalties are for illegal possession of a silencer? It can very quickly add up to more than 10 years in prison and a $250,000 penalty.. Makes the legal ones damned cheap in comparison.
home defense. ever shoot a 12 gauge indoors? that shit will rock your world, and leave you deaf, the flash from the barrel will leave you blind, and you will be completely disoriented. this will significantly help, especially on a smaller barrel shotgun like my KSG(though there is a company that makes a silencer specially for the KSG.)
You cannot be serious. I would like to know if you are a gun owner, or even a neighbor of a gun owner. First and foremost would be human hearing protection, followed by not spooking game for a square mile, and not annoying your neighboring property owners, be it by a gun range or by your own private property, among other uses a gun owner would be able to figure out in short order.
We have a gun range that all but closed due to “urban” encroachment. Despite being a healthy mile+ from all but one home by road, people built on the opposite hillside, guess what? Despite the knowledge they built near a gun range they complained of noise. All evening range events have been canceled indefinitely. Next will be daylight restrictions if the noise complaints continue. So for now only the local Police and County Sherriff’s Depts are using it to keep the noise complaints to a minimum. Would silencers or mufflers have helped this situation? Of course, and the more they become popular the prices will come down, maybe someday our range will be open to suppressed firearms.. In the meantime, there are better uses of my time than explaining more scenarios where a quieter firearm would be useful, it is as simple as it gets.
Why make a 12 gauge “muffler”? What purpose does it serve? Why use it?