A handful of people often tend to believe that suppressors decrease velocity by slowing down the expansion of the gases that come from behind.
To put it simply, a suppressor can increase or even decrease velocity depending on the firearm, temperature, and ammunition, which means there is definitive proof that your suppressor will increase velocity.
And a suppressor or silencer offers a plethora of advantages for the average gun enthusiast by providing less felt recoil, decreasing light and sound feedback and even help manage the temperature of the muzzle.
However, this article will focus mostly on the velocity aspect of a suppressor and answer questions like, “do suppressors increase velocity?” That’s because the device can have various significant influences depending on the caliber of the firearm in question.
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Do Suppressors Increase Velocity?
Suppressors aren’t exactly manufactured to increase velocity, but to silence the sound feedback during shooting.
The velocity of a shot depends on the muzzle breaker, gas flow, and ammunition. So, even though suppressors aren’t usually known to increase velocity, it can be possible depending on various aspects of the firearm. Below, we are going to discuss them.
Muzzle Velocity
As some would believe that, a suppressor does indeed increase the muzzle velocity of any group shot ammunition. Short barrels tend to rise in temperature while firing, which often decreases not only the lifespan of the firearm but also affects the velocity.
In turn, suppressors help cool down the muzzle and significantly increase the overall velocity of the ammunition. However, whether or not a suppressor affects the velocity might be up for debate, but it certainly improves accuracy due to its reduced muzzle rise that helps to easily manipulate the weapon.
Suppressors, as indicated by their names, are used to effectively silence the shots of a gun. Because silencers affect the muzzle temperature and efficiency in shooting, it is widely believed that they increase shot velocity as well.
Truth to be told, a well-installed silencer is not only capable of increasing shot velocity. It can boost accuracy and, therefore, the overall performance of the gun as well.
Since the main function of a suppressor is to trap the gases released by the muzzle when a shot is fired, the heat that rises from the muzzle is reduced by a significant amount. While some might think suppressors reduce the gas flow overall and, therefore, might affect the power of the shot, in truth, it does none of that.
Because the muzzle gas is kept under control by the suppressor, the wielder of the gun is able to fire consecutive rounds easier and not worry about the gun itself wearing down on successive use.
Furthermore, the continuous use of the gun and the constant trapping of the released muzzle gas lets shots fire faster and with better accuracy.
Not only does the shot travel further because of the reduction of the muzzle gas, but the reduction in recoil protects the gun wielder from self-harm while also allowing them to keep firing shots at the same target multiple times.
Bullet Velocity
The temperature of the suppressor and the grain count of the ammunition is also a determining aspect of the weapon’s overall velocity. A suppressor has the ability to add extra length to an already long barrel, which adds more room for the gas to expand and lowers the pressure of the bullet.
But this doesn’t necessarily mean that this would decrease velocity, as the length of the barrel can, in fact, often increase velocity. The velocity can also be determined by supersonic and subsonic ammo. Subsonic ammo tends to gain a higher velocity due to its grain percentage.
However, due to the gases expanding to a certain point and the temperature of the setting, the bullet does not experience full atmospheric drag and even gives off a spike in back-pressure a lot of the time.
Earlier models of suppressors used to feature a rubber gasket or wipes, these tend to slow down the ammunition by contacting the rounds. These gaskets would keep the gases a bit longer for the bullet to reach further downwards, but as the rubber seemed to ware down during longer rounds, it wasn’t a feasible long-term solution.
With newer technology, the distance between each round is decreased in a suppressor, so it doesn’t require a gasket to handle the expansion of the gases. So, it can certainly be concluded that there are several aspects that determine the velocity, and it doesn’t only depend on the suppressor.
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The changes in velocity are constantly up for debate, as there are so many aspects that can change the exact measurements. However, the weight of the suppressor can easily weigh down the barrel and affect the velocity of both the muzzle and ammunition.
So, it’s best to note that the difference is often minimal and can only be affected by the model and technology used to help advance the quality of the suppressor.