US Marines to all have suppressors

[Themanwho]

Yes, no, maybe.

Yes.

 

[Cregg Bristle]

As troops exposed to brine, are the Royal Marines still being equipped with the corrosion-prone SA80?


The performance of even the A3 with a suppressor is said to be marginal

Despite what it says, those are not RM.

 

[Lifeboat21]

Despite what it says, those are not RM.

40 Regt RA IIRC.

 

[instinct]

As troops exposed to brine, are the Royal Marines still being equipped with the corrosion-prone SA80?


The performance of even the A3 with a suppressor is said to be marginal

Well that's an A2 not an A3. And the update to the A3 doesn't change the gas system so I dont see why that would change. Booties are still using A2's and slowly changing to L119a1's but that as much to do with we are special and wanna be different from the pongos than issues with the rifle IMHO.

And the SA80's I've been using/maintaining in a maritime environment for the last decade stood up as well as any other weapon system i had to deal with? GPMG's rust as well if you don't clean/oil them...

 

[Effendi]

Apparently It makes a 5.56mm sound like a .22...


Suppressors on automatic rifles firing a 5.56mm round will reduce noise by 30-40 decibels. This means each shot will sound more like a 22 caliber.

Yeah right. They are still loud enough to hurt and probably cause hearing damage with sustained use. Firing from under cover, or inside a structure where there is sound reflection is no joke without ear protection.............go on ask me how I know.

On 5.56mm with military ball ammo suppressors take the edge off the bang, but do not eliminate it.

Then it comes down to barrel length: The longer the barrel the more the bang is reduced, so for a bog standard 16" barrel they are more effective than some of the 14" barrels that are starting to see the light of day in ordinary units. As for the !2" and 10" barrels used by the speshul ones the benefits are better than marginal. Depending on the internal design of the suppressor you can more or less eliminate the muzzle flash which is a tad handy during low light engagements. If engaging at ranges in excess of a couple of hundred metres with a suppressor fitted it can leave the enemy wondering where you are.

Personal experience: I have a 10" AR, when firing it there is a football sized muzzle flash, and it is loud. With a suppressor fitted there is no muzzle flash, and it slightly less loud.

There are plenty of septics who own personal suppressors and at around 50m to a 100m away on the range it is not unpleasant and you can be left wondering where exactly the noise is coming from. 200m away and you really need to be looking for who is firing with a suppressor. If they were in cover they would be difficult, but not impossible, to ping.

I could not see who they had bought the suppressors from, in the way of all procurement though I can guarantee that they are not state of the art and more designed for longevity and to be marine proof. There are some good designs out there at the moment as there is a fair bit of research going into the subject. A couple of hobby enthusiasts on a forum I visit have come up with a very good internal design which reduces the noise of the bang by around 30% more than commercial suppressors using standard ball ammo. The results are repeatable and effective enough that they have taken out patents on their widget with a view to going into production.

Suppressor life is a variable based on the materials the suppressor is constructed out of. There is an adage in the suppressor community that you can build a suppressor out of most materials, but the better the materials (more expensive) the longer the suppressor will last. Make one out of aluminium and you will be lucky to have it last a 1000 rounds. Move up to stainless and it will go for a few thousand rounds, maybe even 10,000. Start to add titanium and inconel to the internals and it should last 10,000 rounds, possibly more (put into context; an AR is mooted to have a barrel life of around 15,000 rounds). Much depends on how well the suppressor is cleaned, are you firing single shots, or emptying a magazine in 2 seconds regularly.

 

[ThunderBox]

I remember when Mark Wahlberg suppressed a .22 with a plastic drinks bottle and a rag, he didn’t even disturb the cat.

 

[gafkiwi]

Well apparently you can get a silencer for .50 cal rifles. Target shooters use them to reduce the sound to a slightly more comfortable level.
If the USMC want I can tell them how to silence their grenade launchers as well.

Our .50 cals (Barrett M-107 A1's) have suppressors and the vast majority of shooting is done with them fitted. It does take some of the edge off but still very loud and even with the cans fitted. We still have the same daily max for exposure to rounds fired by users with ear pro still required regardless. Like the .338's we have in service it not just the noise but also the recoil, concussion and general strain that wears on the firers not to mention eye strain from being behind a 5-25X optic for any amount of time.
Within the Infantry Bn's here QD suppressors are on issue to riflemen for the MARS-L. They are just as much or more about lowering weapon signature as they about saving the users hearing. Guys will fit them as part of prep for night routine or for urban related activities where their pro's out weigh the added length.

 

[Effendi]

I remember when Mark Wahlberg suppressed a .22 with a plastic drinks bottle and a rag, he didn’t even disturb the cat.

In the spirit of scientific experimentation I might have tried that (as you do), black nasty might have been involved too, and the pop bottle might have just flown off the front of the firearm, ............possibly.............allegedly.

I have since seen adapters 1/2 x 28 at one end to allow mounting to a threaded for suppressor barrel, with the adapter being threaded for 1 litre pop bottle at the other end.

If fitted securely pop bottles do work quite well for .22, as demonstrated by the Chechnyans when the Russians came knocking. They had urban snipers with Ruger 10/22 .22 rifles who were using pop bottles as suppressors.

 

[Effendi]

Oh, I looked it up and the suppressor they have bought is the Knights Armamant NT4. An older, well tried and tested, somewhat heavier (soldier proof) model which fits onto the standard A2 flash suppressors therefore not requiring the added expense of quick fit flash suppressors and the time to fit them to 30,000 rifles.


Opinions are divided in the suppressor anorak community. Some think they should have gone for a newer, quieter generation, and others think that for grunts the Land Rover robustness of the NT4 is ideal.