Gun Idea - Hush Puppy Rifle

 I've had the Henry Homesteader less than a week but I've gotten to shoot a little bit with a suppressor and various rounds. For the most part, my Dead Air Wolfman in short configuration does well enough to keep the whole event of shooting down to hearing safe levels but I did note that the port pop from the rifle's action did end up being a little uncomfortable so I've taken to putting in an ear plug into my right ear to mitigate that. That applies to both subs and supersonic loads. The levels are low enough that at the distances on the GA homestead, the neighbors won't be bothered with subs but they'll still know what I'm up to. 

I got to thinking about it and tried holding the bolt closed with my left thumb. I can keep the action closed and can manually cycle as desired. It does take some effort but doable. The effect is that there is no more port pop since the action isn't opening. The muzzle end is still a little loud even with 147 grain FMJs. I think I can come up with a handload that is better for sound. Maybe a 160 grain cast bullet with HS-6. 

The amount of effort needed to keep the bolt closed detracts from the shooting experience but it got me thinking about could you lock the bolt? A long time ago, there was a pistol known as the Hush Puppy. The MK22 was a suppressed Smith and Wesson with a lock that prevented the slide from opening. 

My idea is, what if you put a locking mechanism to prevent the bolt from opening on a semi-auto 9mm rifle like the Homesteader or a Ruger PC Carbine? The simple solution would be to replace one of the pins with a lever that rotates into place. Alternatively, what if you made an AR-9 but used a straight pull mechanism? 

Anyway, I like the idea of having a 9mm rifle that is quiet and still uses Glock magazines but the semi-auto mechanism is still pretty loud. We'll see if Bond Arms' Lever Action Rifle does actually come in 9mm. I won't bother with the Tombstone rifle. It's just too expensive. In the end, none of these are quieter than a .22 rifle will ever be.