Anyone have experience with suppressed levers?

[Malamute]

A discussion elsewhere brought up some questions about suppressed lever actions. Is there any increased fouling in the action? How does the 30-30 do suppressed with both full power and subsonic loads? How much velocity loss is there with shorter barrels? I've seen info about 16" guns, but don't recall where or what the velocity was compared to 20" barrels. Even shorter barrels would presumably lose a bit more?

[AJMD429]

I have a suppressed Ruger 96, and it is one of my favorite plinking guns, and definitely my favorite 'showing a newbie how to shoot' gun. Unfortunately it is not my 96/44, (although I've seen internet write-ups on several 96/44 and 77/44's with integral suppressors), but is my 96/22.

The 22 LR of course is just about silent, and with no recoil, and a non-intimidating wood-and-blued-steel, easy-to-operate action, I topped it with a red-dot sight, and newbies get the FUN of shooting (and hitting) targets, without the 'scary' stuff like noise and recoil.

That gun does get a bit 'dirty' and I have to spray out the firing-pin channel fairly often, but I think 90% of that is the fact that it is a 22 LR, and it seems no dirtier than my 10/22's or 77/22 get. The suppressor is an integrally-made one called the 'Operative', by Thompson Machine and Tool, for the 10/22. Takes about 5 minutes and an allen wrench to swap it between a 10/22 or 96/22. You do have to hand-cut a second extractor groove for the dual extractors of the 96/22, but a small file and 10 minutes takes care of that.

I run a Gemtech 'Trek' on an AR-15 though, and I know what you mean about extra 'dirt' getting blown back into the action. You can tell that easily if you look at how sooty an unfired cartridge gets just being chambered. I use it mostly on a piston-upper but I'm not sure that really matters.

I would really like to get one of my 357 Mag lever guns threaded though, because I have a LibertyCans 'Mystic' that handles .357" stuff, including subsonic 308 Win, 35 Rem, 357 Max, etc., as well as the normal 'pistol' cartridges like 357 Mag, 38 Special, & 9mm. It's one of the few with that large a bore that is both lightweight, and can be taken apart for cleaning like the rimfire cans. That makes it ideal for cast-lead bullets, and leverguns...!

One thing I'm sure you've noticed with 'light' loads, especially in chambering like 45 Colt, is that a generous-sized chamber plus a non-maximum load leads to so much sooty blow-back. Even the round next-in-line to fire can get sooted up by blowback. I don't know if a suppressor would increase that, but I would expect it to, plus the most useful loads with suppressors are subsonic, and even with a heavy-for-caliber subsonic load, I would expect pressures aren't high enough for a particularly great seal.

So - sorry I can't answer to the center-fire cartridges, but I will follow this thread because I have some of the same questions.

For the most part, I would think the 'pistol-caliber' leverguns would be the most practical for suppressors, because their relatively heavy bullets still make big holes and have decent energy even at 1000 fps or less, and the actions are a bit shorter, so when you add the length of a suppressor it isn't as dramatically ungainly as the long-action leverguns would be. Plus if you have to shorten the magazine tube you still have a fairly decent round capacity in the 'pistol' chamberings.

Of course if you really wanted to keep the setup compact, an integrally-suppressed barrel could be used, where the whole barrel was 16" long, but internally the rifled barrel part maybe only 8" or 10" (that is the way the 'Operative' is set up for the 10/22 or 96/22). Unfortunately on all the centerfires I know of, you wouldn't be able to switch the barrel to anything else like on the Rugers. The other issue is you'd either need to use a box-magazine gun like the Ruger 96 or a Savage 99 [ ] or BLR, or put a smooth S-bend in the magazine-tube so it would clear the larger diameter of the barrel as of a few inches in front of the receiver.

I guess the other option for compactness, since you're going into Tax-Stamp-land with the suppressor anyway, would be to do the extra paperwork and $$ to make the levergun an official SBR.

For an ordinary threaded-muzzle attachment though, I think a 16" Rossi or Marlin in 357 Mag would be a great candidate for suppressing.

Looking forward to hearing from someone who's actually done that...!

[Malamute]

Is there any noticeable change in how much fouling accumulates in the action when its suppressed?

[AJMD429]

Is there any noticeable change in how much fouling accumulates in the action when its suppressed?

I really don't think so, comparing the Ruger 96 in 22 LR with the normal barrel and the Operative, and the fouling is about the same as my 10/22's with the regular barrels.

I played with the Operative on a 10/22 when I first got it, but the clunking of the action was annoying (which is normally totally drowned out by the muzzle blast), so I put it on the 96/22 and keep it there now permanently (and it is SO quiet that shooting to a hillside 200 yards away that is covered in 2 foot snow drifts the loudest thing you hear is the impact of the bullet).

But my daughter also has a 96/22, and they foul about the same. The firing pin channels in that design get cruddier than the 10/22's (which are made very differently internally).

Also, sometimes I run the Trek or Mystic on a threaded-muzzle 10/22 I have, and I detect NO difference in fouling with those in place. Of course the Mystic is over-bore for a 22, and although it makes it pretty quiet, there probably isn't quite as much back-pressure.

[Malamute]

Heres the other discussion, if youd like to see it. It wasn't specific to lever guns, but was part of the discussion. I don't think an SBR is out of the question in this topic. It would help keep the overall length manageable.

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php ... pose-rifle


And thanks for the posts AJ, you were one of the people Id hoped would post. I didn't recall what all you had suppressed.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

I have a suppressed Ruger 96, and it is one of my favorite plinking guns, and definitely my favorite '............................................
I guess the other option for compactness, since you're going into Tax-Stamp-land with the suppressor anyway, would be to do the extra paperwork and $$ to make the levergun an official SBR.
...................................
Looking forward to hearing from someone who's actually done that...!

That's what I did to this Ranch hand.


It's a 38/357. I don't have much trigger time on it. But, I do know the158gr. 38's running about 950 FPS tend to blow back more with the can on than off.
When I get the time I plan to bump them up some to see if it will seal better.

[AJMD429]

Heres the other discussion, if youd like to see it. It wasn't specific to lever guns, but was part of the discussion. I don't think an SBR is out of the question in this topic. It would help keep the overall length manageable.

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php ... pose-rifle


And thanks for the posts AJ, you were one of the people Id hoped would post. I didn't recall what all you had suppressed.

That guy ought to get a 'pistol' lower for an AR, then put an 8-10" upper on it in 300 Blk, and suppress that. Handy, rugged, no gunsmith services needed, easy on the ears, versatile for protection in home or vehicle, woods-walking, or plinking, and legal.

But......it wouldn't be as COOL as a levergun...

[Old Ironsights]

IIRC the original Maxxim Silencer was debuted on a Levergun...

[wvfarrier]

Hickok 45 on you tube had a video of a suppressed ranch hand 357 (shooting 38s) . Was pretty neat

[Malamute]

Nice suppressed little Rossi baby carbine Steve. Very cute. Seriously. Thanks for posting it.