news

The prototype of a machine gun silencer developed by Knight Equipment.

In March this year, at a sniper equipment display event, the prototype of the machine gun silencer developed by Knight Equipment Company was unveiled. This type of silencer has distinct appearance features: it is thick in the front and thin in the back, shaped like an elongated miniature space recovery capsule, and has radial grids at the front and many trapezoidal openings above and below. It is said that this type of silencer has two versions that can be adapted to 5.56mm machine guns and 7.62mm machine guns.

The topic of developing and installing silencers for machine guns has caused a lot of controversy. The reason is that some people believe that as a weapon of continuous fire suppression, installing silencers on machine guns is superfluous, which not only fails to "silence" or "hide" the machine guns, but may also cause the machine guns to be unable to fire continuously due to heat and other reasons.

Nowadays, this controversy is gradually being ended by some facts - more and more gun equipment manufacturers are launching machine gun silencers. Some experts believe that the change in combat concepts is the reason for the rise of machine gun silencers: on the one hand, for special forces operations, in many cases, the benefits of "quieter" weapons outweigh the disadvantages; on the other hand, in conventional operations, especially night battles, when providing continuous suppressive firepower, with the blessing of silencers, machine guns will be "much more low-key" in terms of momentum, and will be discovered and attacked later, so they can play a greater role.

Similar to the principle of a pistol silencer, a machine gun silencer is also designed to reduce the sound of gunpowder gas leaving the barrel. There are two methods: one is to reduce the gas pressure when the gunpowder gas leaves the barrel, and the other is to extend the time required for the gunpowder gas to drop from high pressure to normal atmospheric pressure. However, unlike the "micro-sound" requirement for silent pistols, the requirements for machine gun silencers are relatively low, that is, at least its shooting characteristics must be able to "blend in" with other firearms and not be discovered too early.

Unlike the silencers installed on pistols, machine gun silencers have to withstand the high temperature and high pressure generated by continuous bullet shooting, so higher requirements are placed on the manufacturing materials. The main body of many silencers, especially the expansion chamber and baffle, are often made of chromium-nickel-iron alloy. This alloy is non-flammable at high temperatures and is often used to make the conical nozzles on space shuttles, which can withstand the heat, pressure and ablation generated by continuous shooting.

Of course, machine gun silencers are not made of this material throughout. Some machine gun silencers are made of stainless steel at the connection with the muzzle. This is because the muzzle is also mostly made of stainless steel. The same material ensures that the two have the same thermal expansion rate, making it easier to load and unload.

In order to achieve a better silencing effect, the layout of the baffles inside the machine gun silencer is very particular. The shape, number and relative position of the baffles are the result of continuous exploration and verification by the researchers. Such a layout can effectively prolong the time it takes for the gunpowder gas to drop from high pressure to low pressure, thereby achieving a better silencing effect.

From a practical point of view, the positioning of machine gun silencers by manufacturers in various countries is usually comprehensive: not only should it be able to suppress the sound of gunfire, but also should be able to reduce the characteristics of the fire and reduce the impact on the shooter's physical and mental state. For example, the RBS silencer developed by Swiss gun manufacturer B&T significantly reduces the gunpowder gas sprayed from the ejection port and the bolt handle in order to enter the US market, so that the shooter can stay away from toxic fumes.

Relevant R&D companies in Russia and the United States have tested machine gun silencers, and the results obtained can basically reflect the current level of machine gun silencers. After the PKM 7.62mm general-purpose machine gun used by Russian special forces is equipped with a silencer, its gunshot can be "obfuscated" in the battlefield environment. In a test organized by a relevant American company, on-site personnel stood about 3 meters to the side of the muzzle of the SIGLMG light machine gun equipped with an SLX silencer to observe, and confirmed that the muzzle flame, muzzle shock wave and noise were significantly reduced.

Of course, some R&D projects go a step further in this regard, such as integrating a machine gun muzzle brake with a silencer to simultaneously reduce recoil, reduce muzzle flame, and reduce gun sound. The U.S. "micro muzzle" device achieves this effect by asymmetrically setting exhaust holes to discharge pressurized gunpowder gas backwards and upwards.

It should be noted that many machine gun silencers can also be used on rifles, such as B&T's RBS silencer, which is suitable for M249, M240B machine guns and FNSCAR rifles.

The FN Minimi machine gun was once tested by firing 1,000 rounds of bullets continuously with the RBS silencer developed by B&T installed. Although the RBS silencer partially turned red after firing 150 rounds of bullets continuously, after firing 1,000 rounds of bullets according to the test rules and requirements, the part connected to the barrel did not loosen or burn, and the internal threads were still relatively clean. (Su Jian and Chen Hongjun)

(Source: Liberation Army Daily)

For more exciting information, please download the "Jimu News" client from the application market. Please do not reprint without authorization. You are welcome to provide news clues, and you will be paid once adopted.