Where is the Brass?

[Grognaurd]

We know of a silenced Berreta and a Silenced MP5. I do not have too much knowledge of guns. But, I think they are side discharge weapons.

If so, there should be four brass cases on the floor. From what we heard, it does not seem that shooter took the time to pick them up. But, there was some pause between shots, so maybe the shooter did.

If there are not any cases we are looking for a revolver, right? Alternatively, the brass was not seen admists the turmoil and the Shooter doubled back to pick them up at a later time.

It is interesting to note that the person left alone in the guard room after the shooting is Riley.

[Tandem25]

That's a good point. I hadn't thought about that.

When I saw your thread I thought you were going to ask where the "Brass" was. Like the higher ups in the military or government. I can't believe that we haven't heard anything from anyone with any "Authority".

I am going to have to go back and listen again fro the casings. I don't remember hearing any either. I don't think it matters but, ehh it's something WA related. So, why not.

[Kc]

That's a good point. I hadn't thought about that.

When I saw your thread I thought you were going to ask where the "Brass" was. Like the higher ups in the military or government. I can't believe that we haven't heard anything from anyone with any "Authority".

I am going to have to go back and listen again fro the casings. I don't remember hearing any either. I don't think it matters but, ehh it's something WA related. So, why not.

There were no casings found at the scene-

[cupcakezombie]

There were no casings found at the scene-

That opens up new lines of thought. Either someone really knew what they were doing (enough to keep their head), or do we have a new gun?

Also, great thinking Arthur!

[j0be]

There were no casings found at the scene-

Before or after Riley's guard duy?

[cupcakezombie]

Before or after Riley's guard duy?

Oh, that is a good point too!

[nikvoodoo]

Here's my only issue with the idea of a revolver using a suppressor: the gap between the cylinder barrel. This gap still allows the expanding gas to escape which is where the sound of a gunshot comes from. A suppressor screwed into the end of a gun wouldn't account for this, so we should have heard a louder gun shot and not the typical "Hollywood" effect of the silenced discharge.

That means to me that the shooter had to police their brass. There is a gap between the shooter's first three shots and the final one. It could be during that time that the casings were picked up. And maybe they were able to pick up the last one directed at the radio as they were leaving.

[Grognaurd]

You know a lot more about it than I do. I do not want to parse the sound effects closely. What we heard was the classic holywood sound effect of a silenced pistol. In the field ('Nam) the silencer was developed not to make the weapon silent it Was to make it so it did not sound like a gun shot. These weapons were called "Hushpuppies". Maybe holywood took the name silencer and hushpuppy for a silent weapon. But the terms are actually more nefarious. I will not go there here. Look it up if you are burning to know.

Last, it is also my understanding that the effectiveness degrades with each use.

[nikvoodoo]

I've posted the the general difference between what we heard in the Guard Room vs. what an actual suppressor does in the WND Episode 16 thread, but I'll repost and relocated it here:

I would just like to note my disappointment with the silencer, suppressor, whatever you want to call it. It was the typical silencer used in movies and stuff. While this is all well and good, apparently, it is not accurate. Silencers aren't as effective as we have been led to believe. Breaking Bad actually got the correct sound right from what I've read.

You are correct. That suppressor SFX heard in in 22-1 is not accurate to real life. Mythbusters recently covered the difference between Movie Suppressor SFX vs. the Real Sound. They discovered that while not exactly similar, the suppressor cuts the decibel level of a .45 caliber pistol from 161 db down to 126 db. Their conclusion was the typical movie sound effect is "Plausible" to real life in terms of its ability to suppress the sound of a shot fired from a gun, but it wasn't spot on which is why they didn't confirm it. (http://mythbustersresults.com/blow-your-own-sail)

The video you posted sounds similar to the shots Adam and Jamie fired in the episode, though they were in a firing range so it's hard to tell because the sound heard on TV was so echo-y. But it certainly doesn't sound like the familiar high pitched woosh sound we're all accustomed to hearing. Depending on the stat set you want to look at, the suppressed shot's decibel level (126db) is either just at, or just below the threshold where permanent damage is done to your hearing even with brief exposure. That is most certainly not represented by the "woosh" movie sound.

I won't speak for Kc or any of his editors/sound designers, however the main reason to use the familiar sound is just that: it's familiar. Especially not being able to see the weapon in question, it behooves creators and designers of audio dramas to use the sound most closely associated to it in popular culture. You strive to tell a clear story and sometimes you need to cheat reality. Breaking Bad has the advantage of visuals to support their sound track. We in the audience can see the suppressor on the end of the gun and will excuse the lack of typical SFX because we can see the gun in action and there's not a question as to what's happening on screen.

[Leedo2502]

Here's my only issue with the idea of a revolver using a suppressor: the gap between the cylinder barrel. This gap still allows the expanding gas to escape which is where the sound of a gunshot comes from. A suppressor screwed into the end of a gun wouldn't account for this, so we should have heard a louder gun shot and not the typical "Hollywood" effect of the silenced discharge.

That means to me that the shooter had to police their brass. There is a gap between the shooter's first three shots and the final one. It could be during that time that the casings were picked up. And maybe they were able to pick up the last one directed at the radio as they were leaving.

I'm going to lean in the direction that the shooter policed up the brass... that said you can suppress some revolvers such as the 1895 Nagant (Devils advocate: Burt could have had one and might be the special weapon). The crack that you hear in the gunshot is also when the bullet itself breaks the sound barrier, that's why if you are using a suppressed weapon you need to use subsonic rounds or you'll still get a pretty loud "crack".