I think big loud ass guns are cool and all but I just got my silencers about 2 months ago and I really like them. I think guns that don't advertise to everyone for a mile or 2 that you are shooting something are the more intelligent way to conduct day to day business. My GM22 silencer is a little cheap $200 simple mono core can ( plus tax ). It dampens muzzel blast a lot on 22LR from a pistol. On a long gun it can deaden the blast even more. The other silencer is an integral 10/22 barrel, it's really freaking quiet. The gemtech integral barrel is kind of a bitch to clean, the ruger integral barrel looks like it may be a better design, stamped sheet metal baffles that come complete apart and you could clean them with a baking soda blaster or worse. Both are about $600 plus "the tax". An entry level can is going to run total about $300 to $400. The integral barrel system 10/22 budget so far is around $1,500, gun, title 2 barrel suppressor system, optic, tax. If those are too rich for your blood then you can always buy a politically correct Henry rifle or a boring bolt action with the longest barrel option and shoot sub sonics or CB short. My legally silent fire arm before that was some old lever gun with a 24 inch barrel. It would hold 18 rounds of 22 short in the mag tube, you could load it on Sunday and shoot it all damn week. Just the 24 inch barrel and lower power ammo was the key. I would say the long barrel lever gun firing subsonic ammo is quieter than my pistol with simple can on it. I can no longer do a side by side comparison as my sibling "barrowed" the rifle some time around 2003 then "lost it" around 2005. You might think "but a pellet gun is quieter" not necessarily. I did do lots of side by side comparison with my air rifle and the lever gun. The lever gun with CB short definitely quieter than my air rifle. The lever gun with sub sonic LR ammo was about the same noise as the air rifle but the sub sonic LR ammo was way more powerful than the .177 air rifle. There are also spring air guns. These things go up to at least 9mm. I have a .25 cal one. I exceeds the power of a 22 CB short from a 24 inch bbl. But the spring air is definitely louder than a 22 CB short. Plus if you hunt small game something like a 5.56 will turn most small game into meat spray. So no point in using it any way.
I used to have a Marlin bolt action with a 22 inch barrel that was really quiet with CB caps, .22 short, even long rifle wasn't that loud. I used to shoot .22 short down the bedroom hallway into a stack of newspaper as a backstop . Young and crazy days. The tubular magazine had a funky feed mechanism that eventually screwed up and jammed on every shot. Never bothered to look into repair. If I purchase another one, I'll opt for the "stick" style magazine even though there is always the possibility they could get lost.
The problem with the CB caps is limited range and hitting power. I assume you are feeding your suppressors sub sonic ammo. If not, get some. You'll like it. If you have a one of the ultrasonic cleaners for reloading use it to clean your can internals. They do a bang up job. I personally don't have one but several of my buddies do and if I didn't have a solvent tank set up just for firearms I would invest. 2.5 Liter Ultrasonic Cleaner As you can see from the above, you don't have to spend a ton for one either.
I used to almost never use, almost never bought subsonics. But now that's usually all I get. The pistol with 4.5 inch barrel renders all but the hottest long rifle ammo sub sonic. I can fire standard velocity 40 grain ammo out of the pistol and it doesn't crack.
I run a Hybrid Maxium suppressor on every thing, they really do a steller job, from every thing .22 on up to .33 cal, the difference is startling to those who have never experienced a really efficient suppressor. With standard velocity. 22 ammo in my 20 inch barrel bolt action, all you hear is the fireing pin snap! Even on the big boomin. 338 L.M. you only hear the bullet crack, no boom and no flash/blast!
