Quoted: Hey Scott,
Before you buy it read the suppressor measurements thread on Full-auto. Ops Inc cans are nowhere near as silent as people think!!! The db "data" on their web site is RECORDED 96 FEET AWAY!!!! And without mil-std equipment....
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Measuring the sound level 96 feet in front of the muzzle makes perfect sense if you think about it. Ops Inc does not design their suppressors to protect the hearing of the shooter or the hearing of the people near the shooter. The idea of the suppressor is to make the shooter's (an operator, not a civilian user) location difficult for the enemy to figure out. That's why it is more important to have good down-range attenuation and not concentrate on the sound level just one meter away from the shooter.
If you have the chance, go listen to a suppressed rifle (using full house loads, not subsonic) in front of the muzzle. The origin of the shot will be very difficult to pinpoint, which is exactly the reason why militaries use suppressors. Not for hearing protection but for stealth. Very typically the suppressed shot appears to come from a direction totally opposite of the actual shooter. This is because the flight noise (over 140db for 7.62x51 for example) echoes from the terrain around the listener. The actual shot is hard to discern and even harder to pinpoint.
In my opinion you're way out of line in saying that Ops Inc cans are not as silent as they claim. A can that is loud next to the shooter can be very effective down-range. It's all about what you want the can to do: protect your hearing, protect the hearing of others around you or hide you from the enemy. I've yet to see a can that does all three better than the competition.