5 ms·

Your question reminded me of a first responder that I knew. He was in a rural Wisconsin area where collisions with deer were common. He kept a spear in his truc

Your question reminded me of a first responder that I knew. He was in a rural Wisconsin area where collisions with deer were common. He kept a spear in his truck to put deer out of their misery. He preferred using the spear to using his firearm since the use of a firearm came with extra paperwork.

EamonnMR 5y ago
Not to mention potential hearing damage.
- jerkstate 5y ago
  Call your representative and ask them to support the Hearing Protection Act! https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/95 https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/95 Contrary to movie magic/political posturing, these devices only decrease the report by about 10 decibels, generally just under the hearing damage threshold, but still very loud.
  - chmod600 5y ago
    Interesting. What is a "silencer" then? Is it a different device or the same device used on guns that are less noisy to begin with? Or is the movie silencer a complete fiction?
    - Schiendelman 5y ago
      Movie silencers are a fiction. All a silencer does is let you shoot without actually damaging your hearing. It is still very loud.
      - livueta 5y ago
        It depends a little on caliber but you're broadly on the right track. Suppressed 22LR is 110-120-ish db, which is just barely hearing safe. Suppressed 556 (typical AR) is 135+db even with top-tier cans (qdc, rc2, saker), which is firmly in eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee territory. Similar story for 762 and friends. With the exception of 22LR, you really do want to be using proper earpro when shooting suppressed. The other aspect of them that's usually less broadly appreciated (and part of why "suppressor" is preferred to "silencer") is that they're also effective at reducing muzzle flash, which is sometimes relevant, especially with short barrels.
    - blendergeek 5y ago
      As far as I know, a movie silencer is complete fiction.
      - wayoutthere 5y ago
        You can get close with a suppressed bolt-action 22lr shooting subsonic ammo. But that takes an already underpowered round and makes it even slower, so it comes with a lot of compromises. Good for squirrels, bad for anything much larger.
    - freeflight 5y ago
      > Or is the movie silencer a complete fiction? The closest to movie silencer requires using sub-sonic ammunition in addition to the "silencer". That will remove the crack from the bullet passing trough the sonic barrier and some of the gas explosion noises. But even then it won't be "movie silencer" levels of silent, as the action of the firearms mechanic are usually also still quite loud if the weapon is not specifically designed to prevent that.
    - thereddaikon 5y ago
      Silencer is the marketing name Maxim gave to the suppressors he designed and sold. Its a valid but contentious name for them. The term does get seriously used in the modern day for example, SilencerCo is one of the larger suppressor makers. But you will get people correcting you from time to time because its a misnomer. They don't make a gun silent. A suppressor does the same thing that a muffler does on a car. It takes what would be an awfully loud noise and makes it bearable. Its a safety device. Are cars stealth and silent? Of course not. Neither are suppressed guns. But yeah Hollywood quiet is mostly a myth. It is possible to achieve a very quiet gun but you have to take some heavy compromises to do so. Two such guns were developed by the British in WW2 for commandos. The Welrod and Delisle. They have both been featured in media. Some key aspects are the use of sub sonic ammunition, massively oversized suppressors that not only have baffles but also consumable rubber wipes, and also using repeating actions instead of semi auto. They are very quiet by gun standards but even they aren't Hollywood quiet.
  - LorenPechtel 5y ago
    What?! A politician is doing something sensible?! Sure that wasn't a link to the Onion??? I thought it was more like 30db of reduction, though. Still, simply below the point of hearing damage, not like Hollywood.
- savingsPossible 5y ago
  I am curious. Not true? Clarifications would be much more welcome than downvotes, I think
  - Waterluvian 5y ago
    I don’t follow what you’re saying. That hearing loss from firearms isn’t true?
  - thefifthsetpin 5y ago
    I'm assuming you meant to ask me since EamonnMR didn't say anything that you could reasonably be skeptical of. Yes, I personally knew him. Yes, he was a first responder and I saw him leave a number of times to respond to calls for first responders. Given the area we were in, some of these calls certainly would have been for cars hitting deer. Yes, I saw the spear in the vehicle he took to those calls. I do know from others in his family that he sometimes acquired a roadkill permit & brought back a deer carcass. I do concede that this guy was fond of telling tall tales so he might have embellished a bit, but nothing seemed terribly implausible about this story to me at the time. As nothing of import hinges on its veracity, I think it's fine to categorize this under "quite probably true" and let it be. =)
- stjohnswarts 5y ago
  meh if you wear the proper ear protection the chance of damaging your hearing is basically 0
  - EamonnMR 5y ago
    First responder who needs to deal with deer probably has a pair of earmuffs, might not have enough pairs for everyone standing around looking at the deer.

EamonnMR 5y ago

Not to mention potential hearing damage.

jerkstate 5y ago
Call your representative and ask them to support the Hearing Protection Act! https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/95 https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/95 Contrary to movie magic/political posturing, these devices only decrease the report by about 10 decibels, generally just under the hearing damage threshold, but still very loud.
- chmod600 5y ago
  Interesting. What is a "silencer" then? Is it a different device or the same device used on guns that are less noisy to begin with? Or is the movie silencer a complete fiction?
  - Schiendelman 5y ago
    Movie silencers are a fiction. All a silencer does is let you shoot without actually damaging your hearing. It is still very loud.
    - livueta 5y ago
      It depends a little on caliber but you're broadly on the right track. Suppressed 22LR is 110-120-ish db, which is just barely hearing safe. Suppressed 556 (typical AR) is 135+db even with top-tier cans (qdc, rc2, saker), which is firmly in eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee territory. Similar story for 762 and friends. With the exception of 22LR, you really do want to be using proper earpro when shooting suppressed. The other aspect of them that's usually less broadly appreciated (and part of why "suppressor" is preferred to "silencer") is that they're also effective at reducing muzzle flash, which is sometimes relevant, especially with short barrels.
  - blendergeek 5y ago
    As far as I know, a movie silencer is complete fiction.
    - wayoutthere 5y ago
      You can get close with a suppressed bolt-action 22lr shooting subsonic ammo. But that takes an already underpowered round and makes it even slower, so it comes with a lot of compromises. Good for squirrels, bad for anything much larger.
  - freeflight 5y ago
    > Or is the movie silencer a complete fiction? The closest to movie silencer requires using sub-sonic ammunition in addition to the "silencer". That will remove the crack from the bullet passing trough the sonic barrier and some of the gas explosion noises. But even then it won't be "movie silencer" levels of silent, as the action of the firearms mechanic are usually also still quite loud if the weapon is not specifically designed to prevent that.
  - thereddaikon 5y ago
    Silencer is the marketing name Maxim gave to the suppressors he designed and sold. Its a valid but contentious name for them. The term does get seriously used in the modern day for example, SilencerCo is one of the larger suppressor makers. But you will get people correcting you from time to time because its a misnomer. They don't make a gun silent. A suppressor does the same thing that a muffler does on a car. It takes what would be an awfully loud noise and makes it bearable. Its a safety device. Are cars stealth and silent? Of course not. Neither are suppressed guns. But yeah Hollywood quiet is mostly a myth. It is possible to achieve a very quiet gun but you have to take some heavy compromises to do so. Two such guns were developed by the British in WW2 for commandos. The Welrod and Delisle. They have both been featured in media. Some key aspects are the use of sub sonic ammunition, massively oversized suppressors that not only have baffles but also consumable rubber wipes, and also using repeating actions instead of semi auto. They are very quiet by gun standards but even they aren't Hollywood quiet.
- LorenPechtel 5y ago
  What?! A politician is doing something sensible?! Sure that wasn't a link to the Onion??? I thought it was more like 30db of reduction, though. Still, simply below the point of hearing damage, not like Hollywood.
savingsPossible 5y ago
I am curious. Not true? Clarifications would be much more welcome than downvotes, I think
- Waterluvian 5y ago
  I don’t follow what you’re saying. That hearing loss from firearms isn’t true?
- thefifthsetpin 5y ago
  I'm assuming you meant to ask me since EamonnMR didn't say anything that you could reasonably be skeptical of. Yes, I personally knew him. Yes, he was a first responder and I saw him leave a number of times to respond to calls for first responders. Given the area we were in, some of these calls certainly would have been for cars hitting deer. Yes, I saw the spear in the vehicle he took to those calls. I do know from others in his family that he sometimes acquired a roadkill permit & brought back a deer carcass. I do concede that this guy was fond of telling tall tales so he might have embellished a bit, but nothing seemed terribly implausible about this story to me at the time. As nothing of import hinges on its veracity, I think it's fine to categorize this under "quite probably true" and let it be. =)
stjohnswarts 5y ago
meh if you wear the proper ear protection the chance of damaging your hearing is basically 0
- EamonnMR 5y ago
  First responder who needs to deal with deer probably has a pair of earmuffs, might not have enough pairs for everyone standing around looking at the deer.