Gun Silencers - Are They Illigal

Television has mislead us to believe many principles that we think are fact when they are actually fiction. One of the classic examples is the gun silencer. The classic FWIP that the gun makes as the bullet exits the barrel is used in many Hollywood movies and is still used today, James Bond being the most popular. If you fire or have heard a firearm fire with a suppressor you will notice that that sound is no where to be found.

Gun silencers go by two names, the other is a suppressor. The reason it got the name, suppressor is the fact that a silencer suppresses the sound of the bullet exiting the barrel. The bullet is fired from the gun as gunpowder is ignited behind the bullet. So much pressure builds up behind the bullet that the mini explosion propels the bullet down the barrel of the fun. The bullet preforms a similar action as a cork would as it is popped off a bottle. As the cork is pulled off it makes a "pop" sound, as the bullet exits the barrel it just makes a really loud "pop", or BANG noise.

The silencer screws onto the end of the barrel and increase the volume of the barrel 20 to 30 times greater then the original size. After the silencer is screwed into place and a shot is fired the pressurized gas behind the bullet has a big space to expand into.

So the pressure of the hot gas falls significantly. When the bullet finally exits through the hole in the silencer, the pressure being uncorked is much, much lower -- perhaps 60 psi. Therefore, the sound of the gun firing is much softer.

Several alert readers have written to point out that a bullet that travels at supersonic speeds cannot be silenced because the bullet creates its own little sonic boom as it travels. Many high-powered loads travel at supersonic speeds. The silencer can remove the "uncorking" sound, but not the sound of the bullet's flight.