Today we have better suppressors. Coupled with subsonic rounds, there is barely any report.
Fire a subsonic .22 round with a good can and it will sound similar to a pellet gun. The lethality of such a round might not quite be there so making a clean headshot remains important.
“Fire a subsonic .22 round with a good can and it will sound similar to a pellet gun.”
Don’t shoot the subsonic round from a semi-auto. I used some squirrel hunting once looking for a “silent report” and wound up spending more time “digging” the failed spent shell ejection out of the rifle. Wasn’t enough charge to “kick ‘em” out on firing. Good thing I had my trusty pocket knife.
Best name ever for a suppressed weapon:
The S&W Model 59 “Hush Puppy”, used to kill enemy sentry dogs.
We heard that Tunnel Rats carried .22 pistols firing subsonic rounds. This article describes a cartridge that seems to utilize the `captive bolt’ principle.
Subsonic rounds are the key. Also, revolvers, even with subsonic bullet speeds, do exhibit a report through the flash gap between the cylinder and the forcing cone. Not necessarily the best avenue for silent shooting.