Suppressor vs Silencer
A shot from any firearm is accompanied with a loud bang, sometime it is the signature of a gun. No matter how large or small the gun is, this noise is inevitable. The reason is behind the mechanism of how the guns are fired.
All the guns, old (muskets, carbines etc.) and the new, use gunpowder in every shot they fire. A small amount of gunpowder is ignited within the gun barrel towards the end. The expanding hot gas generated from the brining of the gunpowder propels the projectile (usually a piece of metal) forward through the gun barrel at high speed.
In modern firearms, the projectile and the gunpowder are enclosed in another metal casing called the cartridge. At the bottom of the cartridge, a primer is placed, and it ignites when hit by the firing pin and in turn ignites the gunpowder.
When a shot is fired the expanding gas runs through the whole length of the barrel, and exposed to the cold atmospheric air when the projectile leaves the end of the barrel (muzzle). This impact between hot and cold gasses is equivalent to the impact between two surfaces, because of the change in density and momentum, in the two air layers. This event is called the muzzle blast.
A firearm silencer is a perforated extension tube attached to the muzzle of the gun, which absorb and dissipate the energy from the hot gasses. A silencer has a series of baffles and sometimes an area covered with steel wool soaked in grease. When hot gasses enter the tube, the larger diameter allows the gas to expand and the pressure and temperature of the gas drops. The energy of the gas is absorbed by the steel cotton. Then the gases enter the baffles where the gas is trapped. This further reduces the pressure of the gas, and the energy of the gas at the end of the tube is much lower than that of the muzzle tip. This operation is somewhat analogous to the mufflers of automobiles.
What is the difference between Suppressor and Silencer?
• Both the Silencer and the Suppressor are two terms for the same device.