Topic: Pillows as gunshot suppressors (Read 23901 times)

tww1017 · « **on:** October 20, 2011, 09:23:06 AM »

How effective is a pillow or the foam cushion of couch at suppressing any sound, if any at all, when pressed against the muzzle end of a firearm?

What really happens when that is tried?

Thanks,
Terry

Old Bill · « **Reply #1 on:** October 21, 2011, 10:37:48 AM »

Terry,

Haven't really ever tried this (my wife doesn't like me shooting up our pillows and cushions).

My unedjumacated guess would be that the way you described the situation, there would be minimal noise reduction due in part that the material in front of the muzzle would be blown away enough to allow the blast to make a sound. Definitely, there would be charring of the material from the hot gasses.

Maybe if the pillow was wrapped totally around the gun to include material in front of the barrel, there might be some noise reduction. Of course, a semi-auto in this case would jamb due to the shell casing not being ejected properly.

WORD OF CAUTION: While these are interesting situations and some of us might be tempted to pull a MYTHBUSTER test.........DON"T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. Firearms are not to be abused. Placing any object in front of a gun could result in obstructions in the barrel which could cause serious injury or death to the ~~moron behind the gun~~...er, I mean shooter.

Good luck and be safe.

Old Bill

HowesR1 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 21, 2011, 05:22:39 PM »

True, Don't try this at home.
A cheap silence I've heard of, and is a dangerous and a felony to do, is to tape a soda bottle in front of the barrel. filled with cotton or half filled with water. I wouldn't try it, but would use it in a book.

tww1017 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 21, 2011, 06:17:52 PM »

Thanks for replying here guys.

The scene in my book is that the BG is surprised in a robbery and panics. He knocks out the victim and in his mindless flurry decides to eliminate the witness.

He grabs a cushion/pillow from the couch mainly to protect himself from blood and tissue spatter. I was simply curious as to what effect it would have on noise reduction and to add a little more detail to the scene.

But you got me to wondering if such a tactic would work in protecting the shooter from splatter in the first place.

I suppose I should have asked that, too.

Thanks to you both.

Old Bill · « **Reply #4 on:** October 22, 2011, 09:59:25 AM »

HowesR1:

Yikes! Bottle with water? Any obstruction INSIDE a barrel would likely blow the barrel and I don't see how you could keep the water out. A non-vented bottle filled with anything would just explode due to the expansion of gases from the blast and I seriously doubt there would be any effective noise reduction.

And yes, any attempt to make a silencer without a license is a Federal No-No. Although several gunshops down here in Florida are starting to sell pistol/noise reduction devices (silencers by any other name) for about $450. Only need to buy a $250 Federal Registration permit to get them.

Terry: Prevent blood/skin/bone/brain/eyeball/teeth splatter? ...yes. Pardon me...I'm starting to salivate.

Old Bill

producer103 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 31, 2017, 06:00:26 AM »

There is little noise suppression in the immediate area. The neighbors wouldn't hear much, depending on the firearm, but anyone in the house would definately hear the gunshot. Even for inexperienced civilians, a gunshot doesn't sound like a balloon popping or a backfire, which pretty much never happens anymore. Mufflers on cars have spark suppressors that also suppress the noise. A pillow is a very poor silencer. Silencers work by physically dispersing the gases in controlled manner that sounds more like a forceful whistle, and a pillow can't do that so it would still go BANG! and leave so much physical evidence, the sound would be the least of your worries. The 2 liter bottle is not a safe or effective method either. The thought is to contain more than control the muzzle blast and the plastic the bottle is made from is not anywhere near strong enough to contain the blast and usually winds up being blasted apart and would certainly do so filled with any liquid. Bottom line, firearms are designed to be safe when used properly and changing or adding anything to enhance or change what they do is a prescription for disaster!