From:	Sebastian Wiers m0ng005e@*********.com
Subject:	Gas Venting
Date:	Fri, 24 Sep 1999 23:18:09 -0500

> And finally, Mongoose expressed himself by writing:
>
> <snip>
>
> > If it vents gas behind the silencer, isnt't that gas going to make a
> > bunch of noise?
>
> I don't think so. The gas is already cooled
> down and subsonic, and the only thing you do is
> creating a second opening at the end of the barrel.
> It won't produce more noise than the end of the
> barrel itself [you know, where the bullets exits,
> I cannot recall the exact english word atm :( ]

Ah, by "behind", you mean "downstream". I genrally consider the
front
of a gun (called the muzzle) to be the end the bullets come out, making
"behind" the silecer a bad place to vent gas if you want the silencer to
work... Damn prepositions.
OK, but isn't venting cooled, slow moving gas going to be pretty
ineffective at producing a counter-recoil force? The point of a slincer is
to reduce muzzle gas energy, which means theres not much left to counter
recoil force.
I think some internal mechanism (like a nice meaty slide / bolt /
whatever it is moves back while the bullet goes forwards) woud be a better
bet for countering recoil but keepig the gun quiet. If nothing else, it
could reduce "felt" recoil, by spreading the impulse out over time, and it
would not affect noise (in fact, by absorbing gas energy, it would make the
silencer's job easier).

Mongoose