Is there any mechanical reason why an AK-47 can't be fitted with a silencer?

Question

Don't bother mentioning how illegal this is, I already know.

Thanks everyone for the great answers!!!

Answer 1

It is not illegal to make a silencer in the USA, as long as you are in one of the 35 states that allow civilians to own them. Just fill out an ATF form 1 first, or buy one from a dealer. A silencer will work well many firearms that use supersonic ammunition as long as you are wiling to live with the sonic boom the bullet makes. The muzzle blast can be reduced by over 100 times the unsuppressed level.

Semi-auto rifles and machine guns also create lots of action noise from the bolt moving back and forth, the bolt can make 100 decibel noises all by itself. Machine guns can heat soften a suppressor to the point of failure quickly unless they are made from something like titanium or inconel.

I have read that the AK47 is not a good platform for using a silencer, but as I have no intentions of suppressing my own semi-auto AK clone, I never found out why. Ask this question at www.subguns.com , someone should know over there.

Every time a silencer, short barrel rifle/shotgun, or machine gun is made, bought or sold by an unlicensed person, there is a $200 tax on the transfer or making. Typical prices for machine guns are $5000 to $15000 and up. It only costs me about $50 in material to make a silencer.

Edited to add; I have read that using a silencer on a rifle that uses supersonic ammo results in a weapon whose position can be more difficult to detect. This is because the sonic boom made by the bullet will bounce off of structures between the shooter and the target, thus confusing the target as to the location of the shooter. I have heard echos of supersonic bullets, but I can not personally confirm the difficultly of locating the shooter when shot at. :)

Answer 2

OK, here is the deal, you can fit it with a silencer. I will not go into how, but I will tell you this. All the people talking about the sonic boom are right, but, if your goal is that the person you are shooting at not know where you are until you are finally able to connect a bullet with this innacurate weapon, it will work nicely. I have have rounds from an AK fly within a few inches of my head, and the sonic boom actually muffles the report of the weapon, so that it is hard to locate the damn hadgi in the first place. If a silencer was used, this effect would be even greater. You will never be able to conceal your position from others though, it is not practical for that.

Answer 3

1. The projectile is super sonic.
2. Even if you could muffle the sound of the bullet; an AK47s bolt is gas operated, (called blow back). Part of the expanding gas in the barrel is used to force the bolt back and eject the round, that makes noise.
3. Then there is the noise from the mechanical action of the bolt as it is blown back and ejecting the round.

Any automatic or semi-automatic weapon is going to be noisy because of the things mentioned above.

All in all...yes an AK47 can be fitted with a silencer but there are too many other elements to make it a "quiet" weapon...Face it, the AK47 wasn't meant for stealth.

Answer 4

every gun can be fitted to have silencers on it. the design of the barrel makes it more difficult to do, but a expert gunsmith can make one, but they are expensive. you can own any automatic weapon as long as the county your in will sign for the permits. the sherrif of each county does it. the guns are expensive as well as the silencers can cost as much if not more than the gun. there is a federal stamp on the gun and the silencer which is numbered and registered to you. the stamp is bought once. every time you sell it the fee for both stamps are paid again. five years ago it was 250.00 for the sticker on the gun and 250.00 for the silencer. it stays on the gun for life and each time its sold, another 500 goes to the government. the russians when they built the gun for fighting the germans, they fitted a few with silencers, but are rare to find.

Answer 5

You mean besides the difficulty of silencing a fully automatic or burst-fired weapon?
As a semi-auto rifle, I don't see why it could not be fitted with a silencer by a sufficiently skilled machinist.

Answer 6

It's a supersonic round. Silencers work best when the round is sub-sonic.

Answer 7

Muzzle velocity is super sonic. The weapon will not cycle with reduce loads that are subsonic. Think about supersonic planes and sonic booms and it might make sense to you.

Answer 8

SILENCER ARE NOT ILLEGAL EVERYWHERE YOU CAN GET A CLASS 3 PERMIT JUST LIKE YOU CAN GET A MACHINE GUN I GOT ONE

Answer 9

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Answer 10

i have wondered about this,too