Who hunts with a suppressor?

[Xxtavixx]

Hello all,

I was curious, who hunts out west with a can? What total barrel length (including can) do you find manageable vs not? I havent had the chance to do much spot/stalk with mine but I've walked around the woods a good bit.

I REALLY like my 16.5" 270 with 8" of can on it compared to my 24" 7mag with 8" of can. I can manage with the 7mag, but it's certainly more annoying when I run through timber company ruts or lower canopy/brush.

 

[Skyewalker]

Hello all,

I was curious, who hunts out west with a can? What total barrel length (including can) do you find manageable vs not? I havent had the chance to do much spot/stalk with mine but I've walked around the woods a good bit.

I REALLY like my 16.5" 270 with 8" of can on it compared to my 24" 7mag with 8" of can. I can manage with the 7mag, but it's certainly more annoying when I run through timber company ruts or lower canopy/brush.

Can't imagine hunting without one. I like short 30cal cans (6" max) on 18" barrels for the most part, that seems to be the sweet spot.


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[Xxtavixx]

What are you shooting, and what velocity/weight are you getting? I'm always curious when someone else does the short barrel like I do.

My 16.5" 270 shooting 140g Accubond at Nosler's max charge is 2831fps with about a 15 fps SD. 18 ft above sea level and warm.

 

[Oldffemt]

Hunted white tails with a 9 1/2” 300blk and an 18” 6.5 Grendel. The blackout is shorter with the can than a standard 16” AR but only viable to ~150 yds. The Grendel is 1” shorter with can than my M70 3006 w/boss. I’m planning to hunt antelope with the Grendel this fall in WY if I can draw a tag. It suppresses very well and last fall a group of 8 does got really confused when one fell over and took a nap. They didn’t run until I started climbing down out of my stand. Shot was 242 yds, or “a country mile” for southern MO. Only rifles I won’t suppress from now on are lever actions (cause it’s wrong, and I never shoot them) and the M70 (featherweight).

 

[Mattphillips18]

Anyone use an overbarrel suppressor to keep a longer barrel length? My impression is that they’re popular in New Zealand and Europe, could be wrong though.

 

[Oldffemt]

Most people in the US prefer muzzle mount because of their versatility and the difficulty in getting cans here. I believe that it’s harder to get the rifle than the can in most other countries. Reflex style cans usually require barrel machining from what I understand. Not such a big deal if you can only have a couple rifles, but gets pricey if you buy, sell, trade like we can here in the US.

 

[tmwtrfwler]

I do at times. Depends on what gun I feel like farting around with. Have used a 10" 300blackout on whitetail in Virginia, a LMT and Larue 308 for whitetails in Arkansas/Virginia, and recently threaded my Nosler m48 liberty in 300winmag with a can. That was done to take on my Wyoming elk hunt but now that it's done it's probably too long and awkward for a back country hunt. I didn't want to chop the barrel and waste the benefit of the 300winmag. It's vicious out of a deer tower here in the east though.

*will probably take my 280AI on the elk hunt.

 

[Msowa]

There's always a trade off when deciding what combo to run. It's good to have options but sometimes that can cripple a guy's decision making skills. It sounds like the 270 is what you're after, good luck

 

[Brado16]

25'' 6.5 SAUM with 7'' Can last year- barrel is now being cut to 20'' and will have a 6'' can this year. Im sure the extra manuverability and ease hiking with it strapped to a pack will for outweigh the lost velocity for me. Will by trying RE26 in it once I get the rifle back in a few weeks- curious to see what speeds I am able to settle at with the short barrel.

 

[paddygonebush]

Anyone use an overbarrel suppressor to keep a longer barrel length? My impression is that they’re popular in New Zealand and Europe, could be wrong though.

I would say over half of the people i know who hunt here in NZ use a suppressor. The big fad at the moment is the bushpig rifle (308 etc cut to 16" with a sup) or superpig (300wsm, 284win, 7remmag etc with a sup cut to 18-20") as a all purpose in the scrub and the tops rifle.
I run a standard tikka t3 .270 with a Gunworks NZ sup. View attachment 70968

 

[AKironhead]

I almost always run a can whilst hunting. Game and terrain usually dictate which combo to go with. Most of the area I hunt in is crazy thick until you get above tree line so a shorter setup is always appreciated. However if I'm after bigger game or plan on shooting at longer ranges and want all the velocity or energy on target I can get I'll run my TBAC ultra 7 on a 24 or 26" barrel. It is a bit long but I make up for it by going with a folding stock.

 

[30338]

Chopping my 6.5-06 to 18 and the ul7 gets me back to 24" oal. Kind of wanting a 20" fast twist 7mm Remington.

 

[264win]

I always run a can for hunting.
18" 7-08 or 24" 7mag depending on terrain.

 

[Yellowknife]

Been messing with a GemTeck Tracker on a Tikka 30-06 cut back to 18.5" Combination of barrel and suppressor is just over 25". Have had it on several short caribou hunts this winter, but haven't blooded it yet.

This particular has an UL Wildcat stock on it, so the suppressor makes it somewhat muzzle heavy when shoulder slung. I may move the sling point up on the stock to help compensate. Total weight is right at 7.5lbs even with the Gemtech, so it's a light set up. For backpacking, I've found it's easy to unscrew it and pack in a carbine length gun, and then re-attach in country. Unfortunately with the light barrel on a Tikka, there is a pretty large POI shift between suppressed and unsupressed, so I have to sight it in for one or the other.

Nice thing is that it takes all the bite out of shooting a lightweight gun. The combination of recoil reduction and no muzzle blast makes it much easier to shoot. I can't spot hits like you might be able to do with an aggressive muzzle brake, but it's still a big improvement.

 

[JP100]

Pretty much every man and his dog has one here(NZ), same in alot of Europe.
We can get em for around 350-500 NZD so not very pricy,

Nearly all over barrel here, depending on brand maybe 8-10" long and most are nearly 50/50 muzzle forward. so 5" forward and 5" back over the barrel
You can have over barrels fit on multiple rifles, alot have a derlin/plastic 'washer' on the rear which you can swap out for one that matches the barrel profile

Most guys have barrel lengths around 18-20" depending on cal.
my .243 is 17"
.300wsm 20"
.223 18"
7-08 17"
7rem mag 24", and its a BITCH to carry.

something like a .308 you can go down to 16" with out too much loss

 

[SoDaky]

Rarely hunt without one.

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

Not to thread jack, but anyone have thoughts on Dead Air’s Sandman K for hunting? Short, light, rated for .300 WM at any barrel length, and should tame the blast and recoil without being a pain to lug around. I realize it’s not going to be as quiet as a full size can, but that’s not the point. I’m having trouble deciding whether it’s “just enough” or not enough to be worth it.

 

[Fitzwho]

I was thinking about the Sandman K. Ended up going with the direct thread Sandman TI. It’s still in NFA jail at the moment. I will be using mine on a 6.5 Creedmoor and a 300 WinMag. The K would probably be “okay” for the 6.5, and it’s rated for the 300, but I feel like it will be undersized for the big’un.

 

[huntinfool84]

not only hunt with one but wont shoot a gun without one now. My main guns i use it on are my 300WM with a 26" barrel or my 25-06 with a 22" barrel. My can is 8" and was a pain to pack or deal with until i got the kifaru weapon carrier. That thing is awesome for guns with long barrels!! I run mine a little different than most pics you see though, I have the scope down as is wants to go that way anyways then I also keep it out away from my body and not snugged up tight just for personal comfort.

 

[ckleeves]

I can’t bring myself to do it with my 26” barreled 300 wm. It’s just to much length and I don’t like the recoil pulse vs a break. I just had a 22” Creedmooor built and it seems about right with a can. I may regret not going 20” on it I’m not sure yet. My last creed that was suppressed was 20” and I’m not sure if it was just a slow barrel or the length (or a combination of both) but I never could get the velocity I wanted out of it.

I went 21” on a 22-250 and it’s still pretty handy with a short suppressor and kept decent velocity. If a guy doesn’t care about velocity I would go around 18” I think. I love shooting suppressed but imo cans can get kinda cumbersome for big game hunting depending on the terrain your in.

When I first got suppressors I had visions of using them on everything all the time but that idea faded pretty quickly. I might be the only one with that view but that’s just what I found.