Totally off the wall question, which I realize probably isn't very meaningful, but I was watching a movie where a character was using a suppressed rifle. Looked like an AR/.223 (I assume).
Well it got me thinking - how much can a given gun be suppressed (decibel reduction) before performance is significantly reduced (I assume it must impact performance, even if just a little since it's attenuating sound waves, which are energy, but what do I know?).
I'm sure it varies by round/load, barrel length, etc, so let's assume a subsonic .223 round in a 14" barrel (is that a common lenth?). Or if you know a specific case that's fine too.
Surely there are reasons why a given suppressor is chosen for a specific use case, and I don't know enough to see that (diminishing returns for length/weight?)
I tried asking chatgpt, but it just returned generic suppressor info.
The SF variant of the H&K USP actually has a locking bar to hold the slide closed. Or at least that was one of the production runs, they may have dropped that feature. The intention there is that you want something that's so quiet that even the slide racking is too much noise. You'd run it with a suppressor and subsonic ammunition.
Effectively it turns it into a manually operated pistol, allowing the user to choose when they chamber the next round.
See the MK22 pistol and modern "hush puppy" slide lock projects