Posted on 06/16/2013 5:25:57 PM PDT by marktwain
Mike asks:
Now that I am turning 40 and I have a toddler in the house I
am rethinking my Home Defense strategies and tactics. One of my biggest thoughts (in terms of money and time investment) is filing the requisite paperwork and getting suppressors for my HD guns. What are your thoughts? Also, what happens to my suppressor in the case of a DGU? What else should I consider?
In my opinion, if you live in a silencer-friendly state and you don’t have a can on your home defense gun, that should be your next purchase. Like, your very next purchase, even over ammunition . . .
Think about the standard home defense scenario for a second. You’re in an enclosed space, facing an unknown number of a-holes, and all you have on your side is stealth and surprise. Firing a gun, ANY gun, in that situation immediately makes the situation worse for the defenders.
First, you’re now deaf. Not permanently, but enough that it’s painful and disorienting. Try firing your gun sometime when you are on an open outdoor range, and notice how long it takes for your hearing to come back. Now imagine that there are a bunch of very helpful walls to bounce that sound right back into your ears instead of it dissipating into the air. Yeah, no bueno.
So now you’re deaf. Where are the bad guys? Perhaps you shot one of them, and maybe he’s down. Maybe he’s not, and he’s running off somewhere, leaking. Are they regrouping? Are there more? You can’t hear a damned thing, so all you have to go on is your eyesight. And in the stereotypical home defense scenario that we think about (it was a cold, dark night…) your eyesight alone isn’t really going to cut the mustard. You need to hear if they are still moving, where they are, etc. Which you can’t do now that you’re deaf.
Finally, you’ve also given away your location. They know exactly where you are, what you have, and how many rounds you’ve fired. The element of surprise has evaporated. On the one hand, this could be good enough to send them scurrying into the night. Or they could regroup and try to take you down. It depends on what their plan is, but being deaf, you have no idea what’s going on.
So yeah, a silencer sounds like a brilliant idea. Which is why I’m using my 300 AAC Blackout SBR as my bedside gun, the ability to fire it without killing my hearing. For now, that is. I have a 9mm silencer sitting in the local gun shop on the last couple weeks of waiting for the transfer to be approved. And once that comes back, it is going straight on my Sig Sauer Mk. 25 and replacing the rifle.
And this isn’t just me spouting another of my harebrained theories — Chris Costa agrees. And so does his beard.
As for what happens when you use a silenced gun in a home defense situation, that’s going to depend on your local officials. I can tell you exactly what’s going to happen to my gun if I ever need to use it, namely that SAPD is going to confiscate it and throw it in the locker with everything else. And if I’m lucky, I’ll see it again — even if it was ruled a justifiable homicide and no charges are brought. I’m still taking that ride downtown for manslaughter until they figure out what happened.
Even if I never see the gun again, I’d still be perfectly happy buying a new gun and silencer. Because to me, my life is worth more than the price of a new gun.
Any idea what happens if you pop off the suppressor (and replace the thread protector) after a self-defense shoot and don't mention that the shots were suppressed? My guess is that you probably don't get caught. My guess is also that if you do get caught, it looks VERY bad.
Another, cheaper alternative is active electronic hearing protection. Good muffs that amplify sound and shut off in a micro second for very loud noises, such as gun shots.
I have used them a lot, and they are pretty effective.
I wanna make some noise
Well, it does screw up the pillow pretty bad, with feathers and stuff all over the place. Then one has to be sure they are holding the pillow with the off hand not in the path of the bullet, can get complicated real quick.
Exactly where I am at on this.
Let ‘er rip.
Boom boom boom.
Those that are still left alive will be too busy trying to find a way out to be a problem.
I am totally against any silencer. get loud or give the gun to a real man.
I think willfully withholding any information from LE absent the advice of legal counsel after a self-defense shooting has got the potential of going sideways very quickly. That being said, I’ve never heard of any ballistics testing which can be used to determine the use of a suppressor. Presumably, you could have a baffle strike which may leave trace evidence on the bullet, but that’s just my WAG.
Can't hurt if they are there. Circumstances will dictate if they get used.
Six 12 ga. shells and a full choke make this question irrelevant
I’ve already lost most of my hearing from magnum revolvers, so I’m not concerned with unleashing the thunder and lightening on a home invader. I’d prefer it. Keeps their faces down in the high pile shag after that first round lights up the room and shakes the pitchers’ off the wall. The muzzle blast from a 3” GP100, unleashing a full house .357 is ahem, impressive. Yes, I love a little buck and snort.
How do you aim through the pillow?
You mean sub-machine guns or assault weapons. I doubt the police were using belt-fed machine guns.
It could be argued either way.
For example, there are countless stories on record of that loud “Bang!” setting housebreakers to flight.
Personally, I can see the wish to remain discreet, particularly with kids in the house; however, and speaking for myself, I’d prefer that loud, terrifying, and abrupt noise of firearms to put housebreakers on notice that there’s an armed defender in their path.
I think that, statistically, the tendency is to run like h*ll when a shot is fired.
Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.
I also like to keep a muffler on my backhoe, so I can bury the crook after shooting him, and not wake the neighbors.
Out to about 20 feet or so, I can usually hit a paper plate with either hand, sitting, laying down, or standing, without using the sights. If I wanted precision and needed to aim down to a tennis ball size target, yeah, I would raise the sights up to my line of sight. Truthfully, I probably would just grab the firearm and send lead down the hall, the thought of hearing protection not being on the front burner during the encounter. But I was having fun with the pillow silencer, as it is handy, if you really have the time to consider one when you hear glass breaking or the creak in the hall way at dark thirty.
silencers are the best overlooked idea around when it comes to self defense weapons and strategies.
Mufflers/silencers are a good idea if all you’re concerned with is protecting your hearing. However, there are other more important things than your hearing to consider when facing an armed man. It is of paramount importance that when you shoot an armed man, you want him to know immediately that he’s been shot, and without the noise he may not immediately realize this. Next to the bullet and shot placement in a gunfight, the biggest killer is shock, and without the noise associated with a gunshot, your opponent may not immediately realize he’s been shot, and without this understanding, he won’t go into shock, but instead he’ll empty his magazine in your direction.
This tidbit of knowledge was gained the hard way.
“They take what, 5 seconds to pop in or slip on?”
One one thousand.
Two one thousand.
Three one thousand.
Four one thousand.
Five one thousand.
That’s a long time with footsteps racing up the stairs after the window crashes in. Nice if your “earplugs” are already applied when you pick up the gun, and it’s one less thing to fiddle with when you’d rather be working on a sight picture.
Hold still while I screw in my suppressor.....
Interesting. Thanks.
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