Even a fairly loud suppressor is significantly quieter than an unsuppressed rifle firing supersonic ammo. In the immediate vicinity it can
seem loud, but move 100m in either direction and it's a world of difference. Think of it like the muffler on a motorcycle: you can easily hear it nearby, but now imagine an unmuffled Harley starting up at the same distance? It suppresses the initial blast significantly but there's also the issue of the supersonic crack, which can be heard over long distances as the shockwave from the bullet propagates through the air (ie sound). But from the point of view of the target, this is a moot point as the bullet arrives before the sound and to anyone (anything) nearby the follow on blast is muffled significantly. A suppressor also has non-sound related benefits:
- significantly reduced muzzle blast (ie no dirt kicked up in prone)
- nearly eliminates muzzle flash at night
- recoil reduction as high pressure gas pushes against the baffles in the opposite direction of recoil.
And when sound reduction is most important, subsonic ammo has a huge advantage. In the above video the first round is a 175SMK at 2550fps out of a 16" barrel (which is fairly loud). The next two are 200gr subsonic loads at 1050fps - notice the difference? Granted, the drop from the slower subsonic rounds is significant, so I missed the little pepper popper but for the third round I heldover a mil and it hit nice and solid.
Yeah yeah, I break cheekweld when cycling the action, but that's just me testing and being thorough. No reason to be all snipery tactical in this case
