Homemade Silencers

This is a how-to guide on building a firearm noise suppressor. Homemade Silencers can be made simply out of cardboard and glue. First, a word on “silencers.” The term is a nice one, but very inaccurate. Anyone with more than a layman’s knowledge of guns would call them a firearm noise suppressor, but that is also somewhat misleading. They both sound as if they are a device that either eliminates or muffles the sound of a gun being fired. It really changes the way it sounds. A “silenced” shot can also make sounds of up to 110 dB, but, if someone shot a gun near you, you wouldn’t think,”That sounds like a muffled gunshot,” you’d think “I wonder what that sound was?”

The sound that it makes depends upon the suppressor, the weapon, the caliber, and the ammunition. Basically, there are 3 ways suppressors are made. Either with baffles (little washer-type things spaced at regular intervals along the body of the silencer), screen (wire mesh wound around the inside walls of the tube), or a combination of the two. For simplicity, this one will use baffles only, but anyone could adapt it to screen or a combination.

First, you need a tube. A roman candle casing would do the trick nicely, or any parallel wound casing of sufficient length, or you could use good, sturdy PVC piping. I wouldn’t use metal, cause the tube will turn into lethal shrapnel if there is a problem. You can use metal washers, or just cardboard ones, but you should use the sturdiest type you can find. you can also use copper or steel scrubbing pads if you want to make a screen version. Optimally, the tube should friction-fit snugly around the gun barrel, but you may not have a convieniently sized tube around, so you can just wrap some duct tape around the barrel of your gun until it fits right. DO NOT TAPE THE SUPPRESSOR TO THE GUN BARREL!

Wrap the barrel with tape evenly until the outside diameter is wide enough to hold the suppressor on. You should use cardboard baffles for your first try, and center them as well as you can. If a bullet hits a carboard baffle, it will just keep going at a reduced speed. If it hits a metal washer, it will probably ricochet off and leave the tube through the side, if at all, so you should be extra careful when using metal parts. Now, here’s how to make it.

Make some baffles out of cardboard. This is a little tricky, cause a badly placed baffle could be dangerous, and would destroy the silencer. These can be made either as circles or as circles with flaps to hold them on. The second type will make for a more durable and longer lived suppressor. Then glue them onto the tube spaced regularly, 3/8″ to 1/2″ should do it. The tube should be from 8″ to 10″ long. Leave about 1 1/2″ to 2″ on one end to go over the barrel. If you have a sight on the gun, you’d be better off removing it, but you can cut a channel with an exacto knife for it. The baffles should have a hole in them slightly larger than the diameter of the ammunition.

Here’s the diagram:

BTW, don’t build this. Firearm Noise Suppressors are legal in some states, but they require a serial number and a $200 tax for each of them. Even still, it is dangerous to make something like this, and I strongly suggest you don’t try it. If you absolutely HAVE to, at least use a low charge 22 pistol or, better, rifle. I suppose this design would even have an effect on a pellet or BB gun, because it suppresses the sound of the expanding gasses coming out of the barrel. I take no responsibility for what you do with this info, etc., etc. That’s about it.