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Hearing Protection Act, Would you fit your F-Class?

Papa Charlie

Papa Charlie

The Hearing Protection Act bill was heard this past week on Capitol Hill by the House Natural Resources Subcommittee. It supposedly passed and will move on to House floor.

If it becomes law. Would anyone fit their F-Class rifle with a silencer? I have read several articles that silencers have a distinct affect on accuracy.
 
No just one more thing to worry about when you have to make weight.Now on my tac.rifles I run them supressed.
 
I scored for a guy that ran a suppressor last month... challanger class... but he still shot better than then some that placed.. and better than most all... cleaned one relay...

A good suppressor doesnt hinder accuracy. Just Food for thought..

Personally im 50/50. If everyone would do it, id put mine on and not be hindered.

You will never get everyone to agree on this though.
 
I understand that weight for class comes into play and I don't shoot competition, but the weight of my suppressor reduces recoil significantly. And as stated above, a good suppressor won't hurt accuracy, but may well enhance it.
 
I shoot with a can often. When Larry was crafting the F Class rules for proposal, I helped along with at least one other on this board. The first year, I don't recall supressors coming up. At a later date, I think when the .5 MOA targets came up, the suppressor question was raised. I fought for it, as I feel to exclude them was a passive admission that they were "not fit for sporting use". The argument (s) against were they 1) gave suppressor shooters and unfair advantage with recoil reduction 2) were not legal in all states and 3) they didn't want an arms race in F Class.

Good arguments for sure, (except #3) but not consistent with then current NRA rifle rules, especially when it came to those evil black rifles. I also dont believe the recoil reduction is worth the risk that the extra heat and fouling introduce.

I love to shoot my cans, and for 8-10 shot they are very accurate BUT once you start building significant heat they tend to want to walk, especially higher. Some of this may be due to the huge amount of extra powder fouling, or mirage even with a cover or.... Point is, IMO a bare barrel is more accurate over a 25 shot string. There are, I'm sure, exceptions to the rule but for me, what I have experienced and seen, I would probably not run one if I was wanting to win.

I do want to see them made legal. If a shooter wants to use a piece of equipment that is legal in their State they should be able to. The LAST thing the NRA should be doing is giving shooters a reason to not come to a match and look elsewhere. This would also drive the technology to produce even better products then we have now. Looks at what PRS has done to suppressor technology Justin the last 5-6 years.
 
It is something that would be nice to use. Mirage would be pretty intense after a string of fire.

I would like it if they could be used where ever. We would find out very fast where they work and where they do not.

As to the states that don't allow their use. Maybe just maybe it would cause their citizens to get off their collective rear and start getting involved and bugging their representatives.
 
Ignoring the issue of whether they are legal locally, the biggest problem is potentially mirage through the scope. I was shooting my lightish (varmint) 6BR on our F-class electronic targets on Sunday with only a light frontal breeze. Because you can shoot quickly with the electronic targets, the can gets little chance to cool and after about shot six, there were short windows of mirage that I had to wait out before firing again. You needed a touch of breeze to take the mirage out of the sight picture.

It amuses those not used to hearing a suppressor: BOOM, BOOM, pssst, BOOM... They give up on the cheap shots when they see the string of Xs appear :)
 
Would they be more viable in say, pair fire (Fullbore) matches where there is somewhat of a built-in limiter on the rate of fire, vs. regular string-fire (NRA High Power) matches where a shooter can shoot as fast (or as slow, but most tend towards faster, especially with the advent of e-targets) as they want? I've heard anecdotal evidence over the years that barrels in similar calibers tend to last a bit longer when used strictly for pair fire, vs. the same setup used in string fire. Gotta wonder if that little bit extra time between shots would help the heat dissipate and not build up to critical levels, or if it would just make the problem worse than just blazing thru and 'beating the heat'? I've shot a bit with a can, but mostly in practical/tactical matches, where the scope magnification isn't anywhere near what you see on typical top-end F-class guns. Might make a case for the use of those externally mounted barrel cooling fans... ;)
 
milanuk said:
Would they be more viable in say, pair fire (Fullbore) matches where there is somewhat of a built-in limiter on the rate of fire, vs. regular string-fire (NRA High Power) matches where a shooter can shoot as fast (or as slow, but most tend towards faster, especially with the advent of e-targets) as they want? I've heard anecdotal evidence over the years that barrels in similar calibers tend to last a bit longer when used strictly for pair fire, vs. the same setup used in string fire. Gotta wonder if that little bit extra time between shots would help the heat dissipate and not build up to critical levels, or if it would just make the problem worse than just blazing thru and 'beating the heat'? I've shot a bit with a can, but mostly in practical/tactical matches, where the scope magnification isn't anywhere near what you see on typical top-end F-class guns. Might make a case for the use of those externally mounted barrel cooling fans... ;)
Click to expand...
Heat kills barrels. Example. Typical 308 can last 6-7000 rds if shot slow but run it at a machine guns speed and you can turn a barrel bright red and ruin it in just 1000rds.
 
Grimstod said:
Heat kills barrels. Example. Typical 308 can last 6-7000 rds if shot slow but run it at a machine guns speed and you can turn a barrel bright red and ruin it in just 1000rds.
Click to expand...

Really. You know of barrels running that long, that are competitive in modern F/TR terms? Cuz I sure don't.
 
Here's my take on it.....Just my opinion...
They are already legal but not everyone has one. You will still have to use hearing protection because not everybody will show up to a match with them. Even the most expensive hearing protection is cheaper than a "can". The prices would have to fall to the floor to see matches shot with one on every gun. I belive they are somewhat a novelty at this point and when one adds the cost of a can and adds the the cost of diminished barrel life, I'm thinking one would profit from better load development and good old practice.

2 cents
 
brxbrad said:
Here's my take on it.....Just my opinion...
They are already legal but not everyone has one. You will still have to use hearing protection because not everybody will show up to a match with them. Even the most expensive hearing protection is cheaper than a "can". The prices would have to fall to the floor to see matches shot with one on every gun. I belive they are somewhat a novelty at this point and when one adds the cost of a can and adds the the cost of diminished barrel life, I'm thinking one would profit from better load development and good old practice.

2 cents
Click to expand...

Maybe, but when you compare supressors use to shooting sports that are actually growing, they are the norm not the exception. Granted, their COF is vastly different but telling shooters they aren't welcome to come use the $4500 rifle they just assembled is pushing shooters to other sports. That can't be argued.
 
We use allot of cans over here, I have one on each of my rifles except my 375 and it helps allot especially if your shooting in a team where you spot for you partner (no dust or wave hitting you after your partner shoots) and obviously it helps allot with recoil and your ears . In all our local matches steel (fopen meets LR hunting) and all different paper and other steel matches we can use them but as the rest of the world not in Ftr or Open. If your shooting 4 or 5 relays and you only shoot 5 shots per relay they work fine but as soon as you start shooting more shots they give of massive heat add to that a 32 or even a 24/25x scope running on high mag and your not going to hit what your aiming at. Summer time with temps in the high 90s even 100 just makes it worst as the can never really cools down after it gets hot. I doubt youl be seeing allot of cans being used where you need to shoot anything more than 5 shots with a high mag scope, on my 300WM it looks like my scope is under water if im on 20+ mag and shoot 3or 4 shots rapid fire, allot of guys are coming out with different "heat shields" now to try and counter this problem. My next dedicated match rifle that im waiting for wont be using n can, on a hunting rifle, walk around varminter or where you dont shoot that many shots in n match they are fantastic.
 
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