Night fire; shooting AR15 unsuppressed/suppressed

[badcatbigbat]

Have you wondered what the threat would see if you fired at them in a combat situation with/without a suppressor? I did, so I placed the camera about 10 yards downrange while shooting this video. The first 5 rounds are unsuppressed using the Gemtech Phantom flash hider. Thereafter, I attached the Gemtech G5. Notice the flash from the first round pop. Afterwhich it becomes harder to see. These supressors (almost any maker) should be standard with military on the ground. Less likely to be seen and distorted report; should save lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRJ1cKtkrQo

[geezerbutler]

Watched the video.....thanks

Help us out with your positioning.....are you perpindicular to the camera 90degrees?

[badcatbigbat]

The camera was not quite to my 1 o' clock.

[CarlosDJackal]

It probably would have been more relevant at normal engagement distances (maybe 25 - 50 yards?). These are not exactly made to suppress noise or muzzle flash at 10-feet.

I wish I could do a video after dark at my club's range. But it's against club rules as agreed to with the community when the club was incorporated. I did a similar test at 50-yards in daylight though.

Here's the video: 50-yard suppressor test

5-yard suppressor test

[RyanB]

I've let a select few people shoot past me. It's louder than one might expect but the visual signature is much better. About a .25x1" jet of flame from my Surefire FA556-AR. Very dark and hard to see.

[CarlosDJackal]

You're a braver man than I!!

I suspect that you were not using sub-sonic rounds and the noise you are hearing is the bullet's supersonic crack.

When I first got my suppressor I used a noise meter to measure the amount of suppression at various ranges. As it turns out, the crack of the bullet was skewing the test. I tried looking for some sub-sonic rounds but could not find any that I would trust.

I thought about cooking my own sub-sonic rounds for a second test but decided it was a lot more trouble than it's worth.

[RyanB]

I was using M193. I've no interest in subsonic 5.56. It wasn't just the crack, the actual noise is also louder. As to brave, I have a short list of people who can shoot past me, and I was standing still. Some people wouldn't want to do that but I felt perfectly safe doing so. I wouldn't let just any yahoo do that.