[FunkyZero]

Well, I am a living example. My hearing was damaged when I was a young kid in this manner. Today, I can barely hear out of my right eat and have pretty limited hearing in my left. since a silencer will cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 bucks after the stamp, that made it impossible to equip our firearms with them in the 60's and 70's... which was the goal in the first place.

Had they been affordable? I'm not sure if we would have used them or not to be honest. I was trained to shoot as a bench rest shooter like my dad. We spend many hours on the range shooting an array of different wildcats. Ever tried to shoot distance from a bench with headphones on? I sort of doubt dad would let someone thread the end of the barrel on a 40x he owned and I know damn well I wouldn't let anyone do it to one of mine. But imagine you could buy that 40x custom barrel already threaded by a master? Would they have been more mainstream and part of the typical setup? 10 bucks said it would and everyone at the range would benefit from it.

My only reservation would be wondering what a device like that would do to accuracy.. and do they even make one that could survive a 25-06, 220 swift or .222 for more than a dozen shots. I've never even seen the inside of one so I can't even speak intelligently about that part of it.

[Charles Martel]

It's interesting that in European countries where firearms ownership is more rigorously controlled, there is no irrational fear of "silencers". In some areas, you must have them in order to hunt or shoot on a rifle/pistol range.

Of all the hoplophobic weirdness that we have in this country on the political left, this is the most puzzling. Perhaps it's because they know that eventually, they'll be able to use "noise pollution" laws to close down ranges and hunting leases.

[GladesGuru]

“...and do they even make one that could survive a 25-06, 220 swift or .222 for more than a dozen shots...”

Just about any cartridge you can name can be equipped with a silencer.

[Blood of Tyrants]

It depends on the design. Suppressors with steel or copper wool in the baffles will not stand more than a few rounds of fire from a high powered rifle. But the kind with baffles similar to those used in automobile mufflers will last many thousands of rounds.