Firearms Stack Exchange Archive

What is a breaching suppressor?

I’ve seen shotguns advertised with breaching suppressors. What is this? Is it useful for the average user?

Answer 252

Breaching attachments for shotguns are just stand-off devices, not suppressors. They do nothing to mitigate recoil, sound, or muzzle flash. What they do for the shotgun is allow a way for the gasses to escape when the stand-off device is placed directly against a door frame, hinge, or lock.

When breaching with a shotgun that does not have one of these devices, you must take care to not place the barrel directly against the target. We'll use a door hinge for the examples. If you place the barrel directly against the hinge you run the risk of causing a barrel obstruction.

Stand-off devices that attach to the barrel will be vented on the sides (see below), and often have an aggressive texture on the front in order for the barrel to not slip from its placement against the hinge. Stand-off devices are also available for the ammunition tube, such as those from Vang Comp.

It's extremely unlikely that you will ever breach a door outside of the law enforcement or military communities, but some of them can look really wicked-cool if that's what you're into.

Mossberg 500 breaching barrel Royal Arms breaching barrel

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