QBZ-191 service rifle family
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
thank you
Those are some really long suppressors. I wonder how silent they are.
About as silent as one would expect a suppressed AR to be.
To be clear, it isn't Hitman (game) levels of pew pew suppression. Its still pretty loud and audible.
Suppressors just make it difficult for enemies being engaged at longer ranges to determine the direction of shots.
The rule of thumb is a usual 9 mm fired from a pistol with a usual barrel length (3.5-5 inches), will emit a sound with an SPL of 160-165 dB. A usual 5.56 mm fired from a rifle with a usual barrel length (14-20 inches), will emit a sound with an SPL of 165-170 dB. For 7.62 NATO this is 168-173 dB. The Chinese 5.8 mm is similar to the 5.56 mm NATO. It is just a bit more energetic. A usual rifle suppressor reduces SPL by ~30 dB. Some large ones with wipes can achieve reductions above 35 dB. So these rifles will emit around 137 dB.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
First part Correct particularly as we are talking intermediate caliber ammunition which is generally super sonic. As such the firing is going to be loud.
Sound Suppression for infantry has been rising in interest not just because of its sound effects but more due to its reduction in flash. A suppressor is basically a muffler. It’s sound moderation pays dividends in light signature.
Wipes in Supressors are on the decline. As you just indicated many wipeless cans in the 5.56x45mm class and other military calibers are getting about 30 dbs or better sound reductions some are already claimed to meet your estate without wipes.
The problem for Wipes is that they are a plastic or polymer gasket between the baffles of the can meaning that with every shot they first deteriorate. Second they impact the bullet reducing accuracy.
Now the latter is minor. But the former… the life of a wipe is about the capacity of an assault rifle magazine.
Baffle based Cans operate like the Muffler in your car and will have service lives often on par with the Barrel of the host rifle.
So marginally inferior sound reduction but far superior life. You can guess which one makes more sense from a Military perspective.
This is an excellent image demonstrating why the gas block is an issue for a full length handguard design like this.
The adjustable gas block is too high for the top rail to be continuous, so they have to leave a gap for it. The problem is that the upper part of the handguard at that location is in pristine position for one to put their hand at for a number of grip styles as well as convenient for mounting some accessories right ahead of it.
The small vertical foregrip is placed a bit far back in this case, and one could make a case that the top mounted laser module should be at the front of the rifle's handguard.
The bigger issue is the gap interfering with the grip, and the gas block would likely become rather hot, and the last thing you want is to accidentally burn yourself as you're grabbing the rifle or adjusting your grip.
This is why I've been saying for a while now, that these sort of aftermarket solutions to free floated handguards aren't great, because even though this handguard looks like a good, free floated, lengthened one, with the modern features one would expect, the big adjustable gas block means it has this rather permanent flaw.
The manufacturer should probably just put out a clean sheet upper receiver group, so they have everything better redesigned that can be issued as a complete upgrade kit at the user level.