Shoot Without Noise  7.62x39 "Thumper" Project Rifle   The road
less traveled sometimes is the more interesting journey.  You
are about to enter a region of the reloading world where no
official published data exists, where truths, half-truths and
old shooter's tales are inexorably entwined. The entire
miscellany of legend and fact is bound up in the threads of
history, which must be carefully unwrapped in order to get at
the truth. There is a general fascination in the firearms world
with the unusual and the exotic. This tale involves both.  Ever
since firearms became practical tools, methods have been
explored to minimize or eliminate the noise associated with
muzzle blast. While it is not possible to completely eliminate
(silence) all the various noises involved in the firing process,
it is possible to greatly reduce the magnitude of the muzzle
signature.  The earliest methods of noise reduction were
developed shortly after the introduction of the metallic
cartridge with major innovations in quiet shooting