Army rifle suppressors

My niece is married to an Army Ranger, and my wife is FB friends with the Regiment (how else to say it?). They send out all sorts of stuff about what training they are doing, and today it was shooting. They have, it seems, some dedicated shooters. They showed some firing line pics, and the guys were shooting what appeared to be M16’s with suppressors, and the suppressors had to be at least 9” long. That seems to be longer than what I think you guys use. I wonder if they are more effective at reducing sound, or maybe they just have low bid past-generation gear.

There certainly are 9” and longer suppressors in the market. Generally speaking, longer = more baffles = more sound suppression. You start playing with that mix of quiet vs long and heavy.

For training in the army, it makes sense to me that sound suppression would trump functionality and mobility.

There is also the issue of volume. If they are longer and about the same diameter, then they will have more volume to allow the gas and gas pressure and sound pressure to expand into and the larger volume will also do a better job of capturing more/all of the flash. Larger volume suppressors tend to create less back pressure issues on guns like M16 pattern rifles.

Often there is the compromise between long and skinny versus short and fat. The military is currently working with short and fat more for new guns, but undoubtedly have countless long suppressors.

However, for supersonic shots, you can't suppress below the sound of the sonic crack.

Surefire has the contact for all branches of our military for silencers. The SOCOM 762-RC2 is likely what you saw. It's not made for deer, it's made for being in war and is good for around 80 thousand rounds.

Not M16 unless that's the shooter's preference. The Regiment uses/has used several different platforms over the years including various versions of M4s and SCARs.

I went back to the pictures and had a closer look at the rifle. The left side of the receiver looked identical to today’s M16, or whatever they might call the latest version. This being army Rangers, they probably have the newest stuff, unlike the Marines. It didn’t have the short barrel common on M4’s. I suppose it could have been the 308 version, or even some other model that has an ‘AR’ type receiver.

Can you post a picture?

When you check the RQB and other such documents, there is no "designed for war" criterion, LOL. Instead, you will get a lot of stuff about build specifications, in this case, sound level specs, testing conditions, and the like. Often times, concepts like "military grade" and "build for war" simply mean stronger and heavier.



And sometimes, the 'newest stuff' is several years or decades old in terms of technology.

Have a look and tell me what you know about the rifle and suppressor.

Looks like an M110 to me, which is 7.62x51. Don’t know anything about suppressors.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thedefensepost.com/2021/11/09/us-army-marksman-rifle/amp/

Now I wonder what the scope is.

The suppressor is an OSS Helix with QD mount. It is not particularly long.

I understand using them in training. "made for being in war", what's the point? Are they putting them on grenades, mortars, artillery, tanks and fighting vehicles, air to ground munitions? Will the enemy have them on all his/her weapons? I would think the brass would say no to use in battle, too cumbersome.

according to the article, Sig Sauer Tango 6

OSS, not 9" long.

I have an original AAC Cyclone...it's 9.5" long, heavy, but very quiet.

They are used on a variety of missions as circumstances dictate. If you’re going after a high value target in an AO that’s known to be a stronghold of :insert enemy force: you may want to use noise discipline. Essentially, you may not want your presence shouted from the rooftops, if it’s avoidable. By the time you get to special operations level (SEALS, SF, DF, etc) those guys can go to the armorer and have a weapon modified and built to suit their needs and whatever they feel the mission may call for.

I’m glad I asked the questions. I learned a bunch. So, I guess the Rangers are good to go, as long as they don’t let my niece’s husband shoot. He’s a captain and his shooting has not impressed me. Let the NCO’s and below do the shooting.

I appreciate his service.

Dead Air, KAC, and a few others have contracts as well. the KAC one specifically is a pretty long suppressor, I want to say its right around 14" long. That package is still in use, although it is. being phased out as the replacement from HK ships

Bought my first suppressor based on price (M&P rifle)
Bought the second based on weight (RFB rifle)
I’ve never swapped’ em, but I would think the M&P with the short/fat can would look funny.



They’re both .308, so the rifles themselves are on the heavy side. The M&P is so long with that heavy-azz can on the end, it’s tough to hold steady unsupported, while standing. I assume the military uses 7.62 for more Sniping/prone type use vs 5.56 for general run & gun use?

Charlie