I'm easily entertained...

[Grendel]

I mentioned MHI over here the other day, causing me to check up on Larry C. His latest post is comedy gold

"An Opinion on Suppressors and the Hearing Protection Act"

Too long to quote, read at your own risk

[Tunnelcat]

That brings up a question that maybe you can answer Grendel. Do gun suppressors wear out? I've got a couple of video games where that's the case and they are essentially a consumable, but do they really go bad over time during a lot of use in reality?

[Krom]

Considering a suppressor has no moving parts, that seems pretty unlikely. Note also that most video games have a suppressor reduce the damage/velocity/accuracy of the weapon it is attached to when in real life opposite is true. Suppressed shots are faster and more accurate, which also makes them do more damage, but they are anything but stealthy/silent. The main real life difference between a suppressed shot and a normal one is "loud" vs "guaranteed hearing damage if you keep this up".

[Grendel]

Modern designs should last quite a while if maintained (ie. cleaned once in a while...) and not misused (putting a .22LR can on a .223...)

There are (mostly old) designs that will wear out faster, eg. if they are packed w/ steel/copper wool (burns up), use rubber wipes (good for only 10 shots or so) or if the can requires liquid ablatives (grease, oil, water, gel. Messy but effective for a few shots. Cools the gases very efficient.) The Wikipedia entry for suppressors has some good info if you are interested in the details.

Edit: Something cool to watch:

[Tunnelcat]

So I guess that the game writers only like to supply gamers with the old-style suppressors just to create an in-game irritant, or are the old style versions a little more silent, at least at first use?

[Grendel]

Suppressors started as a civilian thing in the early 1900s w/ the baffle design -- very robust but somewhat bulky and not "assassin" quiet. When the military got interested in them for spec ops, they looked into ways to quiet them down further and came up w/ the wet and wiped designs that fit that role. Round count for spec ops is low, so that wasn't a problem (see eg. Welrod.). W/ the latest surge in demand (by civilians and military alike) modern suppressors have come a long way in reliability and effectiveness (although still not Hollywood quiet )

As for the game, I bet it's a gameplay balancing move.

[Grendel]

Speaking of entertainment and gameplay:



That is actually a real pistol

[Tunnelcat]

Heck, I have dry fingers. I need a good solid grip. That thing would pop out of my hand on the first shot. I'm betting if I pull that out and pointed it at some bad guy who was trying to rob me, he'd die of laughter first.