[geeks] Geek-gun?

[Kurt Huhn]

alex j avriette wrote:
> 
> > 8. Stick a silencer onto the end of the resulting object and you start
> > to
> >    give serious thought to wondering what would happen if your friendly
> >    neighborhood ATF agent saw it.
> 
> out of curiosity, how do you silence a half-to-one pound potato flying
> out of a "geek gun"??
> 
> doesnt it displace a LOT of air??
> 

The pop, thud, or 'wonk' that you hear is the rapid expansion of air. 
If you give that air an enclosed are in which to expand, it will reduce
the noise released to the environment.  It's not the potato that you're
trying to silence, rather you're trying to supress the noise made by the
rapid expansion of the air.  Check out spudguns.com for a picture, I
think it's in the products section.  Basically it's a cylinder, packed
with a lightweight, fireproof, sound-absorbing material, fit over the
barrel, which has holes in it.  It's actually very effective.  I have no
idea whether it is entirely legal or not...

The silencers on firearms fit over the ned of the existing barrel, but
operate on the same principle - coupled with subsonic rounds so that
there's no 'crack' from the sonic boom generated by the projectile.

I have some subsonic .22cal rounds that litteraly make *zero* noise when
fired - all you hear is a small pop as the round exists the barrel, due
to the pressure release.  They're only effective for small game
(rodentia, mostly) as the muzzle velocity is somewhere around 350 to 400
feet per second.  My .22 pellet rifle from Crosman actually has more
muzzle velocity (825fps, typicaly), and it's spring driven.
-- 
Kurt
kurt at k-huhn.com