Suppressor for Prairie Dog Rifle?

[RAG]

How many here have used a suppressor for prairie dogg'n.? Or sage rats, as I do quite a bit of that too.

I know they offer a little recoil reduction, but not as much as muzzle brake. But wondering/contemplating if enjoyment factor with suppressor would be greater than "bare" tube, or a muzzle brake.

With suppressor, I know varmints will still hear the shots,...but presumably more will hang out for just a little longer due to hearing less noise?

As for recoil reduction, obviously less recoil is better, to see hits better. In my case, this is less of an issue, as my two primary high volume varmint guns are heavy benchrest guns weighing about 21lbs and 24lbs respectively. Although I'm in process of chambering up a 25x47L for the ultra-windy days, shooting 135 grain pills, so I'm not sure yet if I'll need some form of additional recoil reduction to spot yet.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I like suppressors for hunting and shooting, the lower noise and disturbance of animals seems to result in more shooting opportunities. Whether I'm coyote hunting or shooting prairie dogs. I think I shoot better(as I get older) with less recoil and noise.

 

[drover]

I have only shot a suppressed rifle a few dozen rounds on a PD hunt and I did like using it. The lesser noise level seems to has an effect of not making the recoil as noticable (this was with a 10 lb rifle).
I wouldn't mind having a suppressor but the cost and wait for the paperwork and even worse the outrageous prices that suppressors cost takes any interest away from me.

drover

 

[ricco1949]

I use a .223 suppressed and a 20 VT unsuppressed for PD's. I will be threading the VT for my next trip.

The VT gets the lion's share of the work but the .223 is just more pleasant to shoot suppressed.

Added benefit: The PD's seem to stay up longer and come back up quicker while shooting suppressed vs not.

 

[EOD Rob]

I use my suppressors for most everything. Having had a TBI from explosives at work, it helps with the physical impact as well as the noise. I know that the calibers we are talking about above are not that bad, but after a long day of shooting even they take their toll.

 

[effendude]

I use suppressors exclusively when prairie dog shooting. The dogs stay up far longer, recoil is reduced better than a brake IMHO, down to recoil pulse from the AR-15's bolt. At the end of the day, I'm far more relaxed and enjoy every moment of not having ear plugs and muffs on my ears in the heat. 300-1000 rounds in a day will do that to everyone.

This year, I used a 6XC bolt rifle with a 338 can on it. Heaven!

Scott

 

[thestoicmarcusaurelius]

The only real downsides I see are: (1) mirage and (2) they don't lower recoil nearly as much as a good brake

I use a suppressor for just about everything now rifle-wise except for competitions

 

[B23]

Shoot many thousand rounds, mostly rimfire, on sage rats every spring. Everything I shoot during sage rat season I shoot suppressed. I'll be honest, does eliminating nearly all of the muzzle blast from rimfires and small centerfire cartridges help make them pop back up sooner, I can't really say. I'd like to think so but I don't really remember the extra noise being a problem before I started shooting everything suppressed. Sage rats aren't really the smartest little critters so who knows but I can tell you I realllllly appreciate my guns being so much more quiet that I don't even bother with hearing protection unless I'm shooting with someone that doesn't have a can on their gun/s.

Suppressors aren't perfect so a couple things to keep in mind. Shooting sage rats particularly, the shooting can get pretty fast and furious where you are banging away at them about as fast as you can load the mags and pull the trigger so suppressors get VERY HOT. It hasn't been an issue for me but something to keep in mind.

Also, when you screw a can on the end it is definitely going to change your POI with that gun. It shouldn't affect accuracy, I actually usually shoot better groups suppressed versus unsuppressed, but they will most certainly change POI so unless you plan on re-zeroing your rifle a lot you won't want to be switching back and forth shooting suppressed versus unsuppressed. With a good suppressor taking it off then putting it back on and maintaining zero won't be a problem though.

 

[JSH]

I am patiently waiting on mine.
Buddy has a 6Dasher with a brake. We then put his can on it. By no means is it a heavy recoiling cartridge to begin with, but the can seems to work better than his Area 419.

 

[Prairiedogger]

Religiously. What wouldn't you use a suppressor on?? Every rifle, every hunt.

 

[5spd]

I use a suppressor pdogging, been doing it that way for many years.
I can pretty much shoot all day in 1 spot and they just keep coming out.
Best way to shoot them IMO.
I don't hunt or shoot ever with out a suppressor.
I made a barrel wrap and keep it wet, that way I never have a " hot" barrel, and it extends over my suppressor.
No mirage issues ever from barrel heat.

 

[ChrisNZ]

I'm a suppressor user for varmint shooting, both .223 and 6BR, as well as my smaller deer rifle. My LR deer rifle is a naked one.

As for noise at the receiving end, this is really little difference once you get past a couple of hundred yards. The noise at that end is largely the sonic crack as the bullet passes and a can has no effect on that. Where a can is great is when you have a buddy along and that's where they're invaluable.

 

[jepp2]

I know varmints will still hear the shots,...but presumably more will hang out for just a little longer due to hearing less noise?

Haven't gone the suppressor route yet for my PD's or anything else. But I spend a lot of time hunting PD's. During the past 2 years I have switched from shooting them with a 20P and 223 to the 17 HMR. I can tell you they pay no attention to the 17 HMR. When I shoot my centerfires, all the dogs within 100 yards go down. Occasionally I see a head appear to shoot, but with the rare exception they just don't show when I am shooting steady. I take a break for lunch or cleaning my rifle, and they start coming up (the ones in the first 100 yards).

When shooting the 17 HMR which would be similar to a suppressed centerfire I assume, the dogs just don't go down. I tend to shoot a lot in May after pups come up, so I have the advantage of dumb young dogs. But even the adults just don't pay attention to the diminished muzzle blast of my little 17.

These guys were 18 yards from me. Just couldn't resist the urge to get some sun.

 

[RAG]

Wow, a can certainly sounds like the way to go. If, for nothing more, my own shooting comfort.

Biggest negative, from the sounds of it, would be the added mirage/heat waves coming from a hot can (and cost of course). I was thinking I could use one can for multiple rifles, but now I fear I might need at least 2 cans.

And, evennif grouping/accuracy isn't hurt,, I'm sitting on 1,950 loaded rounds, so I'd have to imagine adding a can would change the tune/harmonics. Not huge deal...after these are expended I could re-work my loads a little as/if necessary.

Thanks!

 

[RAG]

Regarding the added heat/mirage,, I wonder if you could simply pour water over the ca, or wrapwithbwet towel to expedite cooling, every so often...I've done this on my barrels on occasion, with good effect...guess I'd have to ask suppressor mfg if it would damage unit.

And I know they make covers to help with this too..Will have to look into this.

 

[Tommie]

How many shots between suppressor cleanings?

 

[RAG]

I'm a suppressor user for varmint shooting, both .223 and 6BR, as well as my smaller deer rifle. My LR deer rifle is a naked one.

As for noise at the receiving end, this is really little difference once you get past a couple of hundred yards. The noise at that end is largely the sonic crack as the bullet passes and a can has no effect on that. Where a can is great is when you have a buddy along and that's where they're invaluable.

Hmmm. I hadn't thought about that... Is there really not being any difference in noise at the receiving end past 200 yd or so. I really don't have a problem operating at 3 or 400 yds with high a %age of hits, but it sure is fun to hit them hard at 150 yds , so I wouldn't mind the added benefit of more close shots.

 

[SVT_Tactical]

Mirage covers can help mitigate the heat from the can. I've shot almost exclusively with a can for many years. Some clean really quick, others not so much. I can shoot all weekend in 3 gun with the same can and never clean with no issues. 500-1000 rds. I've also shot a few hundred rounds of 308 match ammo at paper in one weekend with never touching the can to clean. No accuracy effect from the can. Cans help, hearing protection, recoil, muzzle flip, some see accuracy improvement (others don't). They are an investment but i'm happy i got them.

 

[effendude]

I run mirage covers on my cans which helps. Also black elastic mirage shield straps from my old HP days too. The suppressors keep the closer dogs from alarming too which helps keep the entire town up and shootable.
High volume shooting creates heat but in no way harms the can. As for cleaning, I'm probably due to throw them in an ultrasonic cleaner for a few cycles as thats what the manufacturer recommends. They really don't build up much, high velocity rounds "self clean" for the most part.
Scott

 

[AWS]

At my age it isn't a worth while investment as it can't be easily resold, and initial cost is high, I can buy a lot of gas for hunting for the cost of a can and getting it installed.

Enough people shooting a can at a PD town will educate them to the sound of the rifle and the super sonic bullets and they will then become just as spooky. As far as sound from the shooters end, a $35 set of ear muffs will do the same thing.

Big game is a one shot deal, not much need.

Predator hunting, many times I carry a single shot and rarely hunt the same stand twice in a year, you can load quiet round and call them in closer.

I just can't justify the purchase FOR ME.