Best rifle caliber to suppress

hwy1strat

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Aug 9, 2016
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I'm looking to get into the suppressed world. I want to build a short barreled tactical style rifle to host a suppressor. My dilemma is, I don't know what caliber to go with. I want something that I can shoot long range and hunt predators and deer with. I have very little experience with suppressors so I don't know if one caliber "sounds" better than another when suppressed. However, I am FULLY aware of subsonic vs supersonic through a suppressor. I would ideally like to shoot supersonic because I want to keep all the attributes of a full powered rifle cartridge. I have been heavily considering 308 win, but I am curious if a 6.5 "suppresses" just as well. The main cartridge I have been considering building my rifle for is 7SAUM, 6.5x284, 6.5 SAUM, 6.5 PRC, or 308win. Maybe this is a stupid question and all supersonic cartridges sound the same? I have no idea, so if someone with experience with sending a lot of different rounds through suppressors could educate me, I'd greatly appreciate it.
 
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I have 20, 22 and 24 inch creedmoors. They sound as quiet/same as a 18" 308 using the same 30 cal can(harvester), from the bench and at 100 yards. At 400 the 308 sounds a bit quieter. Both are shot with the 30 cal endcap. Personally, I wouldn't spend extra for a 6.5 endcap for a 30 cal can. My 22" PRC runs a different 30 cal can(omega) and has different tone. Don't know if it is more powder or just the difference in the suppressors. I haven't run the omega on the 308 to compare....
 

hodgeman

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Delta Junction, AK
I can't personally tell the difference. All suppressed supersonic rounds basically sound the same to me until you get up there in terms of powder capacity.

6.5, .308, 7-08....all sounded exactly alike to me. 300 Norma had more volume, but still not a drastic difference.
 
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
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Colorado
Also an autoloader will be a few decibels louder due to sound coming out of chamber. Bolt gun will be a little quieter. As earlier posts suggest, a supersonic round will be loud because the crack happens outside the barrel and can.
 

howl

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There are tons of videos on the utube where they shoot next to a decibel meter.
 
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Central Oregon
So Suppressors are more like hearing protection. They reduce the noise usually by a certain decibel.
Usually u can find the ratings on the manufacturer website. Sometimes on the bigger cans they show how much reduction on smaller calibers as well.
So I'd say pressure and sound go hand in hand. A 6.5 has more Saami pressure then a 308 so it should be lounder. If that makes sence.
Now weather you can tell the difference in ur ear may be negligible.
Ether way suppressed is wonderful reduces recoil and blast and sound.
Check into accuracy "guarantees" /review. My understanding is there is actually only a few manufacturers at maintain a good group. Thunder beast is at the top of the heap Imo.
 

Whisky

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Dec 25, 2012
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I have not done any "technical" testing but I have shot .308s, .264s, and .223s through my 30cal can, and have not noticed any significant difference between them. If I was you I would buy a 30cal can for sure, that covers you for a lot of guns. Thunderbeast Ultra 7 would be my pick personally. But I care more about handiness vs that extra couple dB's of sound. You could go with the Ultra 9" for a little quieter suppressor.

Dakota Silencer's new Varminter 4.0 is another one to check out. It's modular and can go from a 7" to 9". Their cans are made from Mack Bros out of Sturgis and are top notch. I have a rimfire can from them and know many with their Varminter cans.
 
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TX
Some good info here but also some I dont feel is explained well enough.
Most quality cans are within a few decibels of each other as far as ratings go. The way I understand it, your ear cannot differentiate between a few decibels.

However the cans will have different tones which people portray as one can bring louder than another.
Thag being said I have seen some cans that are flat out loud I wont shoot near without ear pro still.

I would get a 30 Cal can and shoot anything smaller through it. The difference in a .308 to a .264 hole isn't going to make any difference you're going to be able to tell.

Is a 223 going to sound quieter than a 308 and a 308 sound quieter than a winmag? Probably given barrel length being the same on all guns. Is it going to be enough that one will be unbearable while the other is pleasant? Not really, they will all be tolerable to shoot.

I personally shoot a SiCo Omega and am very happy with it.
TBAC, Crux, SiCo are all great cans I have experience with.

My main advice is do not go cheap on a can, all the hassle to get one and if you decided to save a few hundred bucks for a cheap can, you're stuck with it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 

AirborneEScouter

Lil-Rokslider
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Apr 23, 2018
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KS
I shoot a Thunder Beast ultra 9 on a .308 and recently purchased a 6.5 that I've been using it on - no noticeable difference in noise at the shooter's ear. Don't personally care for subsonic ammo, while it would be cool to have a ninja rifle, I'm not knocking down Osama's door and not trying to shoot deer at 50 yards in the suburbs. While I would love to dedicate a specific suppressor to a specific caliber for reasons already mentioned, the pain of obtaining one of these yields me to lean toward buying one do it all suppressor, though if I were using one on a 5.56 I'd probably go through the process again. I also have a 300 win mag I intend to use it on one day. All I need is to have the thunder beast threaded muzzle brake on each rifle and I can move the suppressor around easily. Take that for what it's worth
 
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I wish I would have done a 300 mag rated.
And a 5.56 can.
Mine is 308 so cant use it on 300 mag, and it's big and heavy on a small rifle. Still works. But cumbersome.
I dont think quick attach is all its cracked up to be ether.
$100 muzzle device on every rifle I want to shoot it on. That work if you want to shoot it on many calibers that take different thread patterns.
But if you think u will be say 5/8x24 on all the calibers you want to use it on I'd say go direct thread.
I mean u have to thread it on quick attach anyways. Only thing u would be saving is possibly 30 sec and possibly needing a wrench to break it loose.
 
Joined
Apr 9, 2012
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Location
Fishhook, Alaska
Something else that might be worth considering on the cartridge question besides the dB level:

1. For a "hunting" rifle, it's usually a good thing to keep the over all length reasonable.

2. Suppressors get hot really fast on a string of fire. Hot enough that heat waves can affect your view through the scope.

For me that meant cutting the barrel back, but also using it for a rounds with moderate case capacity to bore ratio where shortening the barrel would have little effect on velocity and most of the powder would be burned prior to it hitting the end of the barrel.

Of course you get ones rated for almost anything and clearly you can put them on magnums of all sizes... but for me, I wanted a light field portable package without having a glowing suppressor, so a non-magnum application seemed to be the best fit. YMMV, particularly if you aren't prioritizing barrel length or weight as much as I do.
 

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