My first suppressor....?

Assuming we are talking about rimfire supressors here, I would recommend the SWR Spectre. Outstanding sound reduction, well constructed with a great design and easy teardown for cleaning... I went with a cheaper can for my first one and wish I'd spent the extra coin and gotten the SWR. I'm still happy with my YHM Mite but after some experience and shooting these cans side by side I would do things differently now.

 

HEY RUSTY,

Does the weight of the Specter bother you?

 

It just so happens that someone else recently asked me this question. Here's the advice I offered him:

I have an AAC Pilot on my TacSol barreled Buckmark. http://www.advanced-armament.com/product.aspx?pid=47 It's a very nice can for a pistol. It has good suppression levels in a small, light package. If you're going to leave it on a pistol, I'd say it's a top choice. It's only 5.25" long and 3.4oz with a 36 dB rating, which makes it one of the smaller and lighter cans available.

However, it does have 2 drawbacks. It's a sealed can so you can't disassemble it for cleaning. It's not full auto rated either. Since I have the M16 full auto .22 upper, I'm wishing I'd gone a different route. Now I'm looking at buying another .22 can, and that's expensive.

I had it narrowed it down to two suppressors:

The SWR Spectre, which has an industry leading 44dB sound reduction and it's only 6" long. http://www.swrmfg.com/ProductDetails.asp?ID=22 It can be disassembled for cleaning and it's full auto rated. However, at 8.5oz it's more than double the weight of my Pilot. I think with the Pilot for pistols AND the Spectre for rifles and full auto, I'd be very happy. But I'm not sure I'd be happy if the Spectre was my only .22 can.

The other one is from a relative newcomer on the market. It's the Silencerco Sparrow. http://www.silencerco.com/Silencerco/#/22sparrow/ It's a little longer than the other two at 6.125" and a little larger diameter at 1.062" (The Pilot and Spectre are 1" O.D.), so it may occlude the sights a little more on small guns such as the Walther P-22. At 40 dB rated, it's right in between the Pilot and Spectre for sound levels. It's weight however is only 4.7 oz, which is much closer to the Pilot and it's full auto rated. It's primary appeal is the use of interior "half tubes" which allow easy disassembly even when the suppressor is heavily fouled. Other cans designed for disassembly can be difficult to disassemble if you go too long between cleanings because the lead fouling tends to seal the can together. I've shot this can and taken it apart. I thought is was a very clever design.

But nothing is static and being an AAC fan, they have 2 more cans on the market. The Prodigy http://www.advanced-armament.com/product.aspx?pid=181 and the Element http://www.advanced-armament.com/product.aspx?pid=109 Both are cleanable cans and both are full auto rated, yet both are under 6" long and offer 40-41 dB reductions. The prodigy is only 3.6oz and the Element is only 4.85oz.

The Element is the most expensive .22 can at $595 MSRP, but I'm thinking it would be the first, last and only .22 can you'd ever have to buy. AAC is a huge name in the business and they recently got bought out by Remington's military division, so they'll be around forever for after the sale service. But the Silencerco Sparrow is $150 cheaper and offers nearly the same performance and envelope with a neat system for disassembly.

Since I already have the Pilot for the small, light setup, I'll probably go with the Spectre for superior performance. If I didn't have it, I'd either go with the Element or the Sparrow.

Hope this helps!

 

Unfortunately I don't own a Specter... the weight is a consideration but most of my supressed rimfire shooting is done with a .22 AR-15 so the extra weight doesn't matter as much. GTG makes a great point about the weight of the can on a pistol... The Mite is very light but not as quiet as some of the others...

 

I think the Spectre is the only one of the silencers mentioned that is warranted for use with 5.7. I don't know if you had planned on it or not, but I would never buy anything from H&H that was class III. They used to (and pretty sure they still do) charge a $100 paperwork fee that is ridiculous IMO. Get with Major Malfunction if you want a can. Chances are he has them in stock and won't charge the asinine fee that H&H will.

 

if you dont want to deal with all the fee, go to Major Malfunction or Mas Gun Work, they are awesome. And remember to ask Major to adopt you too.