Silencers

[PJgunner]

About a year ago, I had the privilige of talking and shooting with a group of Army rangers. They were equipped with the M-4 version of the M-16. They were kind enough to allow me to shoot both the regular rifle and the surpressed version. Their ammo was not subsonic, but the normally viscious crack of the .223 round was radically quieted down. I could actually shoot it without hearing protection. It didn't sem to affect the accuracy any as I was able to hit the targets all the way out to 500 meters.
According to them, the surpressor muffles the muzzle blast, but confuses the direction of the sonic boom (loud crack). As far as I can understand it, it's easy to locate the shooter from the muzzle blast, but not from the sonic boom.
They were a nice bunch of guys and were certainly generous with the ammo they allowed me to shoot.
Paul B.