BowGuy84 said:
what is the purpose of a supressor? If it only marginally quiets your gun why own one for a firearm? not doubting just whating t to hear all the rational reasons.
There are 2 types of loads people shoot through suppressors. Regular full power loads, and 'subsonic' loads (less than 1050 fps or so)
The suppressor will take a full power cartridge down to the sound level of a .22 or so. The sound comes from the bullet accelerating throug the sound barrier at around 1100 fps and creates a sonic 'crack'. The biggest advantage is that most will say it also disguises the location of the shot. In other words, other deer can't figure out where the shot came from after you kill the first, often stand around looking, and you can fill your until L quota for the day.
But what's really cool is shooting subsonic rounds. With them, there is no sonic crack, and the gun going off sounds like opening a 2 liter coke bottle, only a little higher pitched. I doubt you could hear the rifle report from more than 100 yards away. It's not like in the movies where there is no sound, but the noise reduction is profound. Real handy for removing critters (armadillos, racoons, possums, etc) from your backyard in the middle of the night without disturbing the neighbors. But due to most rifle bullet construction, one would expect very little bullet expansion at subsonic impacts, so big game hunting is somewhat limited (headshots to 75 yards; body shots out to around 150 yards- but expect a fairly long tracking job).
Another advantage of the suppressor is that it acts like a brake on the end of the rifle, reducing recoil by around 60%.
Disadvantages... cost- they are way overpriced for what goes into them. And resell is terrible, since the new buyer will have to pay the tax stamp again (two tax stamps if sold out of state). They are fairly heavy as well, and all the weight is at the end of the barrel, often making the rifle unbalanced (unless you go with titanium, but that almost doubles the cost of the can). Also, they'll add a fairly significant amount of extra length to the barrel, making it less handy/ mobile in carry situations.