[Ricochet]

I've been playing airsoft for nearly a decade now, and every now and then I see a gun using a mock silencer or suppressor. Not as a longer barrel cover, which does happen, but actually to dampen the sound of the gun.

Now before this turns into a "no it doesn't, yes it does" argument, let me explain my own experiences. I have witnessed, first hand, an airsoft silencer work to seriously dampen the sound of AEGs, springers, GBBRs and GBBPs. Although not all equally and not every one I have seen has worked. I have seen guns go nearly to total silence, and then another it would appear to have little to no effect. So it can and does work, perhaps just not each and every time.

The first gun I ever saw a noticeable effect with was, I believe, a Classic Army G36, but it could've been a Tokyo Marui. This was about eight years ago, and in this case most of it actually covered exposed inner barrel, but the gun was nearly silenced. It was in fact a manufactured airsoft silencer. Up close it sounded like a light winding or zipping noise, from forty feet away it was nothing. I have seen a few AEGs exhibit this ability with suppressors over the years, and some not, and some in between.

Next would have to be a Tokyo Marui MK23 NBB, but mentioning this gun is nearly cheating, so I'll move on. A Tokyo Marui VSR-10 springer, is to date, the quietest, or most extreme noise reduction I have seen. Albeit it had other mods to help it quiet down, like an air-brake or a stick filled with foam, but this gun went from a thud to a muffled click. Totally silent from ten feet away. My own Tokyo Marui L96, when I still had it, would have its thud halved by just holding a whatever brand airsoft suppressor on the end.

One of the most surprising ones I have noticed was an WE/RA-Tech Level III M14 EBR open bolt. These buggers are loud, even for a GBBR. They made a very large clank noise with each cycle of the bolt. Other than the silencer I cannot tell you if there were any other sound dampening modifications made, but the gun only made a muffled plink noise. From about forty to fifty feet away, it was relatively hard to make out.

Now recently I watched a video, which I'm still looking for to post it up, where some guy tested a bunch of guns against a bunch of airsoft suppressors. Some of the guns quieted right down, and some seemed to have no change. He took audio tests of each gun firing with and without a suppressor at different distances, and every gun had a definate sound dampen with the suppressor on versus off. Up close it was hard to tell for some, but the further away he got the exponentially quieter each gun became.

So here are my questions:

- Is there a style or brands of airsoft silencers/suppressors that is known to be superior than others? Is there actually like a guide to them like there is to every other gun, upgrade, modification?

- Has anyone had any unique experiences where an suppressor made a serious difference. Did it help to conceal your location immensely versus the average gun on the field?

Thanks.