Rimfire Supressors

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  • Areoflyer09

    Master
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    14   0   0
    Feb 28, 2017
    4,637
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    Indianapolis
    Over the weekend I dropped a rifle off with AllenM and decided that I’m interested in picking up a supressor. I started browsing the different companies sites and am not left feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of options. So I tried making a list of the ones that appeared would be good options and ended up with 20+ on the list. Yep, I realized that I have no idea what I’m doing.

    Let’s start with some basic wants/uses:
    -Primary use for the foreseeable future will be on a rifle
    -22LR is the primary use, I don’t have any other rimfire calibers but they aren’t off the as an option
    -Weight - the above rifle is heavy for a 22 as is, I’d like to minizmize weight as is reasonable, though no rimfire appears to more than 6-7oz.
    -Length - the above rifle was over 41” long from the factory. Along with being threaded, the barrel is being cut from 22” to 16 1/4”. Ideally less than 6” length would be nice.
    -Cost - I’m willingly to wait on this and buy right the first time if that means buying a $500 option is worth the extra $200 over the $300 options.

    I know that doesn’t help narrow thing down a lot. It’s rather vague really, but I don’t know enough to know what I’m missing.

    I know there are those that prefer all steel construction, others are OK with the aluminum ones. I’ve read about the cleaning difficulties some have due to design/materials. Some have modularity, some don’t. Overall, I’m feeling rather overwhelmed by options.

    Here are a couple that I liked and why:

    Q Erector:
    +2.6oz
    +Complete modularity
    -Cost
    -Mostly Aluminum

    SilencerCo Warlock:
    +3oz
    +Cost
    -No modularity
    -Aluminum

    AAC Element 2:
    +4.1oz
    -No Modularity
    -Cost
    +Steel/Titanium

    AAC Halcyon:
    +\- ?/6oz (I couldn’t locate the weight of the short length)
    +Modularity
    +Steel/Titanium/Aluminum
    -Cost

    Rugged Occulus 22:
    -Cost
    +\- 4.3oz/6.9oz
    +Steel
    +Modularity


    I based cost comparison on MSRP strictly because it was hard to find one shop that carried everything and the Silencer Shop site is having maintenance. I gave aluminum a negative only because of what I could find to read and it seems most people prefer steel. This is how I ended up with a list of 20+ options. Some of the above are multi-caliber, some aren’t. I’m neither for or against that aspect as I don’t have any other ringer calibers.

    I’m really drawn to the Q Erector, it’s more expensive than others but 2.6oz fully assembled and you can run 1-9 baffles on it.

    Is there a better option than the Erector, or any of them I have listed? Is there a better way to figure out what to get?

    Thanks!
     

    Bfish

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    13   0   0
    Feb 24, 2013
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    I personally like being able to drop my baffles into something and clean them, aluminum is just a pain in the butt for that. However, the erector is a sweet can! My local shop has all of those on the shelf except the element 2 I think so I've shot and or had hands on with the ones you are looking at. I will say that the erector is super light, but if weight isn't an issue I'd consider springing for stainless steel. You may also look at Q's other 22 offering if weight is an issue, it's not modular but it's a super light weight stainless can. I get the feeling you want modular though from you list and or cheap. You can get the spikes can which sounds good for well under $300 after sales tax if you want cheap though and not junk.

    I saw your criteria, but what's most important? Do you want best possible suppression? Modular? Lightweight? Length? Or what exactly, it seems modular like I said, but if there are some other goals there you can narrow the field a lot!

    Of all of the cans you mentioned it'd be between the erector and the oculus 22 if it were me. Down sides to the erector are cleaning and it's only 22lr. The down sides of the oculus is weight. Those two cans are probably the most expensive however, the Erector is easily the most expensive on the list, it's $60 more than the Oculus.

    If I were buying my first 22 can though I'd go with the Dead Air Mask. It's short, a great performer, and as you stated, no matter what you choose weight isn't really all that bad with 22cans. It's also cheaper than the Erector and Oculus. I personally think AAC has terrible customer service and would stay away from them without a doubt. The warlock is cheap but there is better performance out there.
     
    Last edited:

    Areoflyer09

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    Indianapolis
    I don’t have anything that I could drop the baffles into clean them currently, that can be bought though. So that isn’t something I can say I have a preference for currently. But hearing the experience from others can influence that so I appreciate it.

    I like the concept of modularity. How useful is it really? I like the concept of the super light weight, but again how much do you notice 2.6oz vs 6oz at the end of a rifle? What about on a pistol? (Don’t have one that is threaded yet but it’s a possible addition)

    I think the thing that gets about the Erector is that is so light and so modular. If it was like the Occulus I’d be less enamored that I am with it.

    Narrowing things down down would help a bunch, I’m all over the place. This where the lack of information hurts. Let’s see if I can make it better.

    Modular - I like the idea that I could run the minimum needed to make thing hearing safe on a rifle. From videos the Erector needs less than full length to get there. Maybe this is more of a length issue than a modular, the longer it is the further out the balance point it. Maybe a shorter length can would work as well?

    Weight - This one is tougher. Part of the reason I chose to have this rifle cut from 22” to 16 1/4” is to reduce the weight out front. It’s heavy enough and the weight sits in the left arm that my wife can’t easily use it (she has a pin in her elbow). I don’t want to add any more weight any further out than needed.

    Suppression - The best I can get that meets the above two points. If it’s a dB louder, but is easier for my wife to handle due to weight than that is an acceptable sacrifice.

    Did that help narrow things down? I have NA idea in my head for what I want to accomplish, but getting it out of my head seem to be harder.
     

    Rookie

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    14   0   0
    Sep 22, 2008
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    Kokomo
    I bought a CF Gunworks Helix. It's very light, very quiet, and reasonable. There's so many out there, it's kind of hard to go wrong with a rimfire suppressor.
     

    Rookie

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    14   0   0
    Sep 22, 2008
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    Kokomo
    As far as weight, it's light enough that I don't notice it on my 22/45 lite. If you're ever near Kokomo, you could stop by and take it for a test drive.
     

    cayce

    Shooter
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    0   0   0
    Feb 17, 2018
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    Carmel
    I have the Warlock. LOVE IT. I use it on my 10/22 and also Victory with threaded barrel. Comes apart with a twist, soak it in Hoppey's for 24 hours, wipe it down, no scrubbing needed, but to keep the carbon from sticking you MUST spray baffles with Super QCG for easier cleaning.

    If not you can clean with a 12 gauge brass bore brush. The QCG is easier.
     

    Bfish

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    If it were me I'd take your rifle with you and you can thread on a few different options on and see what you think of them on your rifle. Then you'll know before you buy. I'm sure shops have threaded pistols you can try them out on too. You may not be shooting them but at least then you can see how they handle since you are concerned about weight and things.
     

    Areoflyer09

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    Taking the rifle along is a good idea Bfish! I’m still in research mode for the time being, so that will help whittle some options down while the work is being done in the rifle.

    Getting objective reviews if the different options options is not as easy as I had hoped when I started looking. I didn’t find several reviews that did a group of them, and the differences really seemed to be from FRP, POI shift, accuracy than it was actual sound. Though one of the reviews noted that the dBs may be close but they can have different tones which changes the perception of the volume.
     

    ROLEXrifleman

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    Feb 7, 2009
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    NW Indiana
    Gemtech GM-22 if lightweight is a must and rifle is the main purpose. Otherwise Element 2 is the best out there for the money. Capitol Armory has the Element 2 for $230. Call and ask for Jorge, tell him gunrunner219 sent you
     

    1nderbeard

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    Apr 3, 2017
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    Gemtech GM-22 if lightweight is a must and rifle is the main purpose. Otherwise Element 2 is the best out there for the money. Capitol Armory has the Element 2 for $230. Call and ask for Jorge, tell him gunrunner219 sent you

    I'd also consider the Gemtech. Super lightweight, and easy to disassemble/clean. Believe the price is also sub $300.
     

    Ggreen

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    Sep 19, 2016
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    I went with a thunderbeast 22 takedown. The single common response while shopping for a rimfire suppressor was to get one that tears down for cleaning. The second was get one rated for 5.7 pistol to maximize the range of useful calibers. The thunderbeast seemed to be one of the most recommended that met takedown, lightweight, and 5.7 rated. I feel like it was more expensive than a lot of other options, but I did this shopping 6 months ago and honestly have forgotten.
     

    Bfish

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    All three of the cans mentioned are fantastic. The GM22, Mask, and Thunderbeast 22 takedown are constantly top performers in the DB categories depending on hosts. I'm pretty big on the TBAC and Dead Air 22 cans. Gemtech can is amazing if you don't mind aluminum but I can't remember how it does with FRP. Someone did a video online shooting a myriad of cans on the same hosts for pistol and rifle with a db meter and posted the results. Super cool to check out. Recoil did something similar as well but I think you have to just look at their table of data i.e. no video I'm aware of.
     

    Bfish

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    Yes this test was being done by the guys over at Dead Air and yes theirs won. However, it seems consistent with the recoil test I was talking about. Where the TBAC and Gemtech offerings were also top performers in some areas. There is always new stuff coming out so the oculus and erector were not available at the time this video was made.
    [video=youtube;hiWBaizCf3Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiWBaizCf3Y[/video]
     

    ROLEXrifleman

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    54   0   0
    Feb 7, 2009
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    As a GM-22 owner I can tell you it has pros and cons. The thing weighs nothing! It's 2.6oz. As far as FRP, since it's a monocore it has a good amount of air that needs to be purged b4 it settles down. In 6" barrels or less the pop isn't horrible but it's noticeable. After the 2nd round though it's pretty damn quiet. Watch out with supersonic rounds though, you can tell when they get shot. In a rifle length barrel 16"+ it's amazingly quiet with no FRP. Again though, watch out with supersonic rounds though as the crack down range will seem loud. And as stated, being aluminum it can't be dropped in a dip solution but if you clean it out about every 500 rounds you'll be ok. For me it's the ultimate bolt action precision / hunting can.
     

    Areoflyer09

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    Is the big difference between aluminum and steel/titanium the ability to be chemically cleaned? Is there any signifactly higher chance of damaging or having wear issues with aluminum?

    Thanks for the new suggestions everyone! I’ve got more options to research now.

    I did hear from Allen today and my rifle is done much, much sooner than he told me to expect it. As such I’ll be able to stop by somewhere that has cans in stock and see if they will let me try fitting them and see if heavier or lighter options feel any different. Seems to the best path forward at the moment.
     

    DanVoils

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    I also have one of these and have been very happy with it. But will admit I have nothing to compare it to.

    I've used Simple Green Purple solution for years with my sonic cleaner and aluminum with zero problems. It isn't acidic towards aluminum. I use a 50/50 solution.
     

    M67

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    23   0   0
    Jan 15, 2011
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    I've been waiting on an Oculus since last May. I liked the modularity and I've shot them before and the claims are spot on, you can't tell the first round over the last. It's stupid quiet

    This will be my third 22 can and I won't go back to aluminum baffels. With steel the cleaning and maintenance is much lower and you don't have to worry about what chemicals you clean the baffels with
     
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