Suppressor idea
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 5:37 pm
Forgive me if this concept has already been discussed, I don't follow the suppressor discussions as well as I should.
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It seems that most of the suppressor designs that people come up with are designed and function in the same manner as firearm silencers: they put a large expansion chamber on the end of their barrel.
This doesn't work so well, because we have a very large quantity of low pressure gas, rather than a small quantity of high-pressure gas.
The resulting contraption is huge and heavy, and looks like a silencer... which is quasi-legal in the United States.
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Here's my solution:
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/ ... uieter.png">
Total length would be on the order of 3".
The orange grill represents wire cloth. McMaster has some... prices are reasonable.
The holes would be very small; 1/16 to 1/32", and very numerous.
You add one of these contraptions... perhaps a foot from the end of the barrel, and the wire cloth cools the hot (~700*C) gases which are expelled through it. This accomplishes several things:
1) Lengthens the time over which these gases are exausted, making the potato launcher sound less like a gun.
2) Cools the gases, lowering their speed of sound.
3) Cools the gases, reducing their volume.
Net effect is to make the gun quieter, with a small device that doesn't look nefarious.
********************
It seems that most of the suppressor designs that people come up with are designed and function in the same manner as firearm silencers: they put a large expansion chamber on the end of their barrel.
This doesn't work so well, because we have a very large quantity of low pressure gas, rather than a small quantity of high-pressure gas.
The resulting contraption is huge and heavy, and looks like a silencer... which is quasi-legal in the United States.
*********************
Here's my solution:
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/ ... uieter.png">
Total length would be on the order of 3".
The orange grill represents wire cloth. McMaster has some... prices are reasonable.
The holes would be very small; 1/16 to 1/32", and very numerous.
You add one of these contraptions... perhaps a foot from the end of the barrel, and the wire cloth cools the hot (~700*C) gases which are expelled through it. This accomplishes several things:
1) Lengthens the time over which these gases are exausted, making the potato launcher sound less like a gun.
2) Cools the gases, lowering their speed of sound.
3) Cools the gases, reducing their volume.
Net effect is to make the gun quieter, with a small device that doesn't look nefarious.