Posted on 01/08/2019 5:06:53 AM PST by w1n1
Since World War II, America’s elite forces have used quiet firearms for missions where it pays to be silent. Sound suppressors—commonly referred known as silencers—remain in service today. What many don’t know is that U.S. commandos once carried revolvers with special cartridges designed to muffle gunshots.
In the early 1960s, Army weapon designers looked at alternatives that would completely eliminate the sound of the propellant exploding. They came up with the so-called "piston cartridges".
By 1962, the Army had piston rounds available for .30-caliber rifles and .38-caliber revolvers. The ground combat branch's Special Forces sections also planned to develop a new weapon to go along with the ammunition.
With all the speculation, in the end, this new revolver was used in the tunnels during the Vietnam war to hunt for the Viet Congs.
The Viet Cong dug elaborate subterranean networks to hide guerrilla fighters and supplies from American firepower.
Soldiers who volunteered to scour these amazingly complex tunnels couldn't carry full-size M-16 rifles with them through the narrow entry points. M-1911 pistols were their only means of defense.
However, the tight passages amplified the sound of gunshots. These U.S. “tunnel rats” could quickly go deaf from firing their pistols at enemy fighters.
To try and save the soldiers’ ears, Army commanders scrounged up silenced .22-caliber handguns. The Limited War Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland also sent suppressed .38 caliber revolvers—but without any special piston rounds.
This gave the AAI Corporation a chance to to build a dedicated "tunnel weapon." Read the rest of suppressed revolver.
These Shooting Journal articles are interesting reads.
I suspect once the left eliminates the 2A and all private held weapons, magazines such as this will be put out of business and any print copies burned.
Let’s face it, with gun free zones, cops just minutes away with a 911 call and criminals turning their weapons in during buy-back programs, no one needs self protection. Let’s not forget keeping our armies perpetually busy in winless wars keeps our borders secure. /sarc/
Interesting, but after reading that I have to wonder why they didn’t stick with suppressed 22 pistols.
A suppressed revolver with standard Ammo is a loud proposition. What with the cylinder/barrel gap for gasses to escape. Ah 1895 Russian Nagant revolver would work as it seals that gap.
Wonder what these “suppressed” revolvers did about the sound from gases escaping through the cylinder-barrel gap ...
Those fellas had to have some balls. I’d get claustrophobic.
Look up the “Combat Trackers” from VN...
How this special cartridge works
A normal cartridge contains a casing—which contains gunpowder—and a bullet wedged into an opening at the top. When the propellant detonates, the bullet explosively detaches from the casing, and goes flying through the barrel toward its target.
In a piston cartridge, the case is completely sealed. A plunger transfers the force of the explosion to the slug—like the cue ball striking another in a game of pool.
A gun shooting these types of rounds produces no muzzle flash or smoke, either.
With this goal in mind, you can suppress a standard .38.
I believe it was March of 1970 about 2 miles south of the Loatian border on the North end of the A Shau. We discovered a small tunnel complex and since I was about 5-6 and 135 lbs I was the one chose to go in. I’d never done it before and never want to do it again. I went into three tunnels that day and at the end of the day back at the 502 I got the drunkest I’ve ever been in my life. I went in with a 99 and a 1911 with 4 extra mags. To this day that was the most frightening experience I’ve ever went through.
American Technology!
The chamber in the round is sealed and reaches a pressure of 10,000 to 20,000 psi less than a millisecond after powder ignition. Does the pressure dissipate slowly through the primer? Or through the piston/cartridge seal? How does the spent cartridge get extracted with the piston jutting forward an inch or more? Does the casing still contain high pressure after ejection?
I can’t say I’d want to do that.
I used to drive from Abbotsford, BC to Olympia, WA three times a week. I’d meet one of two guys from Eugene, OR. I’d deliver my eggs and they’d give me the baby chics. They were both Vietnam vets. One guy, he was quite nice, the most action he saw was pushing planes off the carrier deck in the withdraw. The other guy, was a smaller man. Similar story as yours, gave him a flashlight and a 1911 and in he went. He did this over and over and over. He was absolutely crazy. I liked him, but even at the truck stop, he’d be waving his guns around all the time. You could tell by the wild look in his eye that he never recovered.
I’m glad you only had to go once.
Wouldn’t a Russian Nagant revolver have worked with a silencer? It was a 7 shot already available in quantity.
I remember seeing that photo way back in the late 1960s. It was mentioned the suppressor was not designed to silence the revolver as that was impossible, but just to suppress the noise to prevent his ears being damaged when he fired the pistol.
Wow, that had to be difficult.
Glad you are here to post about it.
That was a nasty war against a nasty enemy.
Thank you.
You're joking, right? Because either you're joking or you have a vested financial interest in the site. They're such absolute rubbish that I long since became convinced that everyone who posts them here is a shill. Their editors are grade school dropouts and their general firearms knowledge is even more lacking than their grammatical skills.
Thank you for your Service and Sacrifices.
The A Shit was nasty.
Pretty close.
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