Bone Dry: The Best Gun Safe Dehumidifiers

March 26, 2024

Moisture is your enemy, but these gun safe dehumidifiers will help keep your firearms happy, dry and rust-free.

Having a gun safe dehumidifier is a good idea in general for any gun owner, but it’s a downright necessity if you live in an extremely humid environment or if your firearm collection includes items of significant value or importance.

So, let's talk about what they do, what kinds there are and what features you should look for when choosing the best gun safe dehumidifier for your needs.

Why A Gun Safe Should Be Dry

Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to have some form of humidity control in a gun safe, regardless of whether you live in a swamp or a desert. Of course, the importance varies between environments, but there's moisture in the air, there's air in your gun safe, so therefore you will have moisture in your gun safe. Always.

Water, after all, is two parts hydrogen to one part oxygen, and oxygen is the great hook-up artist of the elements. It bonds with everything.

When oxygen penetrates the molecular bonds of ferrous materials (or oxidizes), it creates a ferrous oxide, otherwise known as rust. Ergo, you want to keep moisture away from iron and its cousin steel.

Rusted-Winchester-94 — A rusty Winchester 94. With all its bluing worn off, there's nothing left to protect the metal from moisture.

Unless you have an airlock gun safe with a vacuum pump or can eject your firearm collection into the great black void of outer space, the best way to keep them from rusting is with humidity control.

Dehumidification draws moisture out of the air, reducing the amount of moisture that the guns come into contact with. Do you need a dehumidifier? Well, that kind of depends on where you live and what guns you have.

Some areas are more humid than others. A gun owner in, say, Tucson, Ariz., probably won’t need a dehumidifier quite as much as one in, say, Mobile, Ala. or any other region that has high humidity.

Further, the finish on your guns matters as well. Chrome resists rust better than most finishes (that's why marine models of shotguns are chromed) and so does stainless steel. These aren’t impervious to moisture either, but they do better than most.

Winchester-SXP-Marine-Defender-chrome — A Winchester SXP Marine Defender with chrome-plated parts.

Broadly speaking, bluing is not the best firearms finish for preventing rust. The efficacy can vary depending on the exact bluing process in question, but even the best methods are susceptible to rust when not periodically treated with a protective lubricant. Parkerizing and nitride finishes do a bit better than bluing, but likewise will benefit from occasional oiling.

Cerakote and modern finishes like DLC are very good at keeping rust at bay so long as the finish remains intact, but the problem is the more you shoot, carry and generally use a gun the more the finish will wear away. While these are still excellent finishes, this means that even modern guns will eventually become vulnerable to rust after enough use.

Glock-19-holster-wear-finish — Severe holster wear on a Glock 19. Anywhere that shows bare metal is susceptible to rust. Photo: user 117legend on Reddit.

This is especially true if your ‘Kote job was done by a spray can in your backyard instead of professionally.

Ergo, it's never a bad idea to have a gun safe dehumidifier, but whether you absolutely need one depends on your local climate, the finish on your guns and the value of your collection (either monetary or sentimental). If you only collect marine shotguns and live near Death Valley, you’ll be alright without one, but for the rest of us it’s probably a worthy investment.

How Can I Tell If My Gun Safe Is Too Humid? What Humidity Should I Store Them At?

The standard for long-term gun storage and preservation is a relative humidity of 30 to 50 percent at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. You don’t want it to be too low either, as a humidity of 20 percent or less can dry out wood stocks and lead to warpage. That's the standard that's used by museums for firearm preservation, so that's what you should use too.

To get started, you need to know what the ambient temperature and humidity of your gun safe is.

There are a lot of different ways to test humidity, but the easiest—and frankly all most people need to do—is pick up a battery-powered hygrometer/thermometer device from a hardware store (they even have 'em at Walmart) for about $10. Put it in the safe, leave it for a day, open it up then have a look.

If you feel the need, put at least three in your safe—or take several days' worth of readings—and find the average.

Once you have an initial reading, you know where you stand and can plan accordingly. A little warmer than 70 degrees is not a big deal, but frequent humidity above or below 30 to 50 percent means that you’re going to need to do something to control the humidity. If it’s too high, a gun safe dehumidifier is the obvious solution. If it’s too low, however, you’ll need a different solution. Adding humidity is a whole other ball game, so we’ll save that conversation for another day.

Types Of Gun Safe Dehumidifiers

There are two main kinds of dehumidifiers, air heaters and desiccant.

Air heaters basically add a little heat to the equation, preventing the air inside the gun safe from cooling and the moisture in the air condensing, thus controlling humidity.

Desiccant dehumidifiers subject the air to a hydrophilic material, usually silica gel like what you find in packets in bags of beef jerky. The silica absorbs moisture out of the air until the desiccant is saturated.

Which is best? That depends on the amount of humidity you need to control and how big your safe is.

Desiccant dehumidifiers for gun safes are usually canisters, boxes, or little bags or pillows of desiccant that are placed in the safe. Most are rechargeable, meaning that you can dry out the desiccant material (usually in the oven) and use it again.

You should check the humidity every so often and recharge/replace the dehumidifiers as needed. Canister-style desiccant dehumidifiers are fine for rifle safes, but bags or pillows are best suited for compact or pistol safes.

Most people get a month or two of use before having to dry out the desiccant in reusable models, but your mileage can vary depending on the humidity of your environment.

Heated air dehumidifiers such as the box or rod type require a power source, so you'll either need to stay on top of the batteries or have a plug available. However, you also need to be aware of the square footage of your safe and the capacity of the dehumidifier. For example, if you have a 200 cubic-foot safe, you’ll need a device capable of at least 200 cubic feet of dehumidification.

rod-style-gun-safe-dehumidifier-lockdown

The rod style of gun safe dehumidifier is the most convenient as it takes up the least amount of space, though an outlet is required which can be inconvenient if your safe doesn't have an outlet or the means to run a cable into it. Additionally, you'll want to ensure the rod doesn't make any contact with the safe lining or any gun powder or powder residue.

Franky, what matters most is capacity and dimensions. Does it fit in your safe, and does it have a cubic-foot capacity allowing it to efficiently warm the air inside it?

That said, very few gun safes have a volume over 60 cubic feet, but not all have an interior width of 12 inches which is how long many small rod-style dehumidifiers are. So, make sure to know your measurements before purchasing.

The Best Gun Safe Dehumidifiers

Lockdown Golden Rod Dehumidifier

The Golden Rod gun safe dehumidifier from Lockdown is a rod-style air warmer dehumidifier available in 12-, 18-, 24- and 36-inch lengths, and they can dehumidify 100 to 500 cubic feet based on the length. The 12-inch model should be sufficient for most gun safes, though the 18-inch model may be better for warmer climates.

It requires an outlet to use and comes with stands to place on the floor of the gun safe. Prices start at $49 and go up depending on the size of the rod.

Hornady Rechargeable Gun Safe Dehumidifier

The Hornady Rechargeable Gun Safe Dehumidifier is a compact wall-mounted desiccant dehumidifier with moisture-control crystals. It dehumidifies up to 333 cubic feet, sufficient for most gun safes in most environments. The unit is very compact as well, making it a viable option for even small safes.

You’ll need to mount a bracket inside your safe in order to attach the unit. Once the desiccant crystals turn pink, you take it out of the safe and plug it into a wall socket until the crystals turn blue, at which point they have dried and the unit can be reused. MSRP is only $27.

PEET Dryer SafeKeeping Dehumidifier & Dryer

PEET Dryer specializes in boot dryers, but the company decided to make a gun safe dehumidifier as well since it’s essentially the same technology. Their model is a single vertical rod that will heat up to 300 cubic feet, and at only 8.5 inches tall it doesn't take up too much space and is perfect for most gun safes. However, it does require a power outlet. MSRP is $40.

SnapSafe Canister Dehumidifier

The SnapSafe Canister Dehumidifier is a desiccant dehumidifier that should be able to control most sizes of gun safe It’s best feature is its rechargeability, as the crystals are blue and turn pink after they absorb enough moisture. You put them in the oven at 325 degrees until they turn blue again and then put them back in the canister after they've cooled. SnapSafe says you can do this an unlimited number of times, so it should last a lifetime.

It's about the size of a coffee can and MSRP is $33.

More Tips On Firearms Maintenence:

Gun Cleaning: How Much Is Too Much?
Ultrasonic Gun Cleaners: Are They Worth The Money?
Video: Rimfire Rifle Cleaning: How And How Often?
Breakthrough Clean Technologies' MSR Carbon Removal Tool
How To: Suppressor Cleaning

Behind The Shine Of Chrome-Lined Barrels

Josh Wayner

March 25, 2024

Chrome-lined barrels may glitter, but are they gold? The author weighs their pros and cons to measure their utility.

In my time as a gun writer, I’ve come in contact with just about every corner of the shooting public and their unique cultures. Just like anything we obsess over, barrels are one of those topics that can polarize people. For every 10 shooters, you’ll find 10 different schools of thought on what barrels to buy, what length, what contour, carbon or steel, favored twist rates and so on.

One of the more controversial barrel configurations of our day is chrome lining. This feature has passionate proponents—and decided detractors. Let’s look at just what chrome lining is and why it has generated so much divisiveness in the shooting community.

An Unpolished Past

Before we dive into the technical merits of chrome-lined barrels, we should first look at them from the point of view of the American consumer and how our experience with them has shaped our current opinions.

chrome-lined-barrels-AR-build — Two decades ago, this rifle would have been considered a hyperbole. It bears a 16-inch chrome-lined, hammer-forged Geissele barrel, is chambered in 5.56mm and is an accuracy machine with virtually no recoil, accurate on plates to 800 yards and beyond. The build is carbine size yet is able to deliver long-range performance on par with many dedicated match rifles, while also being easy to keep clean and consistent for long periods of time. Today’s AR builds can deliver incredible performance. Optics are by US Optics and Armasight.

Much of the shooting public doesn’t consider chromed barrels to be accurate. A large reason why is due to the plethora of cheap, Eastern Bloc guns that were imported here for decades during the Golden Era of military surplus in the 2000s. Yes, these were those halcyon days of $60 Mosin Nagants and $40 cases of 440 rounds in sealed tins. As a result, a significant number of these guns arriving stateside from Soviet-sphere countries had chrome-lined bores and weren’t of the quality that we’ve come to expect from Western guns.

This, combined with the relatively low quality of Eastern Bloc ammo, bad triggers and unaligned sights on many types of rifles, led the American gun buyer to eventually associate the often-advertised “comes with chrome-lined barrel” feature with low accuracy and poor quality.

Another angle to consider was the American military misadventure with the M16 rifle in Vietnam, which was given a chrome-lined barrel and chamber well after corrosion problems caused malfunctions and likely preventable soldier deaths. This situation, dating back to the 1960s, caused the public to see the process as remedial and a bandage for keeping unreliable guns running for cheap. The M16 and later variants struggled for years to repair this early series of reputation-killing failures. Chrome lining, as a result of all these things, was generally looked down upon by serious shooters as an accuracy-robbing tactic to ensnare naive buyers.

WWII-m1-garand-barrel — An original WWII M1 Garand barrel. These old barrels were good for their time, but without lining and firing corrosive ammunition, they had to be kept clean all the time. Note the erosion at the muzzle, which largely would arise from aggressive cleaning.

Today, we see that accurate rifles are the boring norm, indeed the old myths and miracles worked by yesteryear’s gunsmiths are really a thing of the past. Chassis rifles with even medium-quality barrels will shoot very well in many cases using mass-manufactured, button-rifled barrels. Our cumulative understanding of accuracy has come to near completeness within the past 20 years, and the average shooter has rifles that are so much better than what existed before that he or she might not even realize it. But, for all that, chrome lining hasn’t been killed off, and instead is making a dramatic comeback—and giving other barrel types a run for their money.

Barrel Business

I recently spoke to several companies that all manufacture both standard and chrome-lined barrels. I’ll admit that I was a bit surprised to see how things have changed in this world, and how my own perceptions of chrome-lined barrels have changed. What needs to be generally understood is that the early opinions about these types of barrels were, in large part, correct: It was hard to find rifles with lined barrels that were really as accurate as those without.

A large reason for this is that chrome lining is an additive process, meaning it’s a material that’s applied to the surface and adding a layer of thickness. Other processes, such as the well-known salt bath nitride method is, without going into an incredibly long description, a hardening and finishing technique, related in a roundabout way to case hardening. The dimensions of the metal don’t change; the tolerances are held very tightly, and the chemical reaction of the heated bath actually penetrates the metal surface and gives it color and hardness. This is a faster process than chrome lining and offers a wide range of benefits, not a small one being reduced cost with no accuracy loss.

faxon-firearms-barrel-nitride-finish — A Faxon Firearms barrel showing salt bath nitride finish. This is a surface-hardening process, not an additive process like chrome lining.

Homogeneous metal barrels are commonly those we associate with being “match” quality. You see this in stainless-steel barrels that are commonly used by precision rifle shops. These blanks can be turned, threaded and finished by either simple polish or bead blast, sometimes non-penetrating surface finishes like Cerakote.

The steel for these barrels is somewhat naturally corrosion resistant, but is limited in total finish options and has, in theory, less barrel life than lined or finished barrels. This is entirely subjective, as barrel life, wear and accuracy are all based on intended end use. Are stainless barrels completely inferior to lined or finished barrels? Absolutely not. But your choice of barrel should be determined by how you’ll actually use your rifle and intend to modify or alter it in the future.

case-hardened-revolver — A Single Action Army revolver demonstrating a case-hardened finish. This is an old technique that’s still used today to create a hardened surface on steel. The core remains softer, and similar techniques are used today but with vastly different chemicals and added benefits. Similar Old West guns are often nickel plated—an additive process known for its ease of cleaning up with black powder. Notice a trend here?

The basis here is that, in general, some sort of finish or lining will extend the functional life of your barrel, but each of these techniques has a different set of benefits that apply directly to each barrel. For instance, if you have a stainless-steel barrel, you’re basically free to cut it down to whatever length you like and you’ll suffer no problems in that modification, and you can also have it easily rechambered or otherwise changed. This is a very flexible material to use, and this is why it’s very common in the precision community. You cannot do this on chrome-lined or finished barrels without destroying the benefits they offer.

stainless-steel-barrel — Stainless barrels like this one aren’t impervious to rust or wear, but they’re the easiest type of barrel to work with material-wise.

Chrome-lined barrels are the least flexible when it comes to modification. The chrome lining itself is a physical plating that can be chipped and cracked if you attempt to cut the barrel shorter. The length you purchase is the length you get. Attempting to re-chamber a chrome-lined barrel will also destroy it—you’d remove and ruin the plating. Likewise, there’s no re-crowning of these barrels; the plating extends to the muzzle.

This brings an interesting challenge to gunsmiths and hobbyists. You cannot control the headspace on a chrome-lined barrel; instead, you must install the barrel and then headspace the bolt and even receiver to the barrel, such as is the case with both the Fulton Armory M14 and M1 Garand featured here in this article. Each of these guns uses a Criterion chrome-lined barrel and has to be painstakingly hand-fit to ensure headspace.

But, after all that, the accuracy is superb.

fulton-armory-m14 — Fulton Armory’s M14 rifle is available with a chrome-lined barrel as well as several other options, including length and material. These classic rifles were some of the first American military rifles to be chrome lined and were often seen as ideal for use in the wet jungle environment of Vietnam, though they were large and somewhat heavy. It would be only later on that the M16 would receive chrome lining, after corrosion had caused many stuck cases and preventable deaths due to jammed rifles.

Accuracy in Question

The idea that chrome-lined barrels are less accurate than their counterparts is true in some cases … and false in others. What it comes down to is that you must start with a high-quality barrel if you want high-quality results.

In decades prior, it’s true that the guns being brought in with chrome-lined barrels weren’t very accurate, and many had lots of issues with their bores: There was little attention paid to the uniformity of the plating, and even worse, many importers reassembled rifles on a whim from parts kits and various other means as they bought surplus from other parts of the world. Headspacing on these guns varies widely, and when using less- than-optimum ammunition, the results were not stellar. So, in a way, there’s a kernel of truth in the commercial history of chrome-lined barrels in that they were at times not very good.

Today, at least in American manufacturing, this has dramatically changed. Criterion told me that chrome-lined barrels account for as much as 30 percent of their total manufacturing output. That’s how much shooters have come to understand the benefits of such a process. Other companies I spoke to, such as Faxon Firearms, do produce OEM chrome-lined barrels but only sell salt bath nitride to the public. As the surplus market has dried up (both a good thing and a bad one), today’s shooters are only being introduced to these high-end barrels, and the response has been extremely positive.

Accuracy isn’t a question anymore with chrome-lined barrels. The three featured in this article, one by Geissele and two by Criterion (gunsmithed by Fulton Armory), are all tack drivers. To the point that my day/night 5.56mm AR build with Armasight clip-on is capable of 1/4 MOA at 100 meters using 77-grain Black Hills MK262 loads. I primarily fire this rifle suppressed, and the chromed bore makes cleaning up after shooting extremely easy. The rest of the gun … well, let’s say I’m not above getting out the hose.

Fulton-Armory-M1-muzzle — The chromed chamber of the FA M1 is clearly visible here. It has seen a touch over 3,000 rounds and has only been wiped down as needed, a testament to the high quality of Criterion barrels.

The Fulton Armory M14 and M1 Garand are both very solid shooters, enjoy incredible accuracy and also run very clean. These rifles are meant for heavy use in the field or the competition line and are expected to see a relatively high round count. The .30-06 and .308 Win. aren’t known to be barrel burners in the slightest. I have a few thousand rounds of .30-06 on the M1 from last year’s competition season, and it has performed extremely well with minimal maintenance.

My average with this rifle and the M14 is hovering at 1.5 MOA from the bench with irons, a bit wider when I’m slung up. Factory Hornady 168-grain Garand Match runs great in .30-06, as does Hornady and BHA match loads in .308 Win. Firing hunting loads, such as the Remington Tipped Core-Lokt in .308 Win. generates accuracy approaching an inch at 100 yards from the M14 when equipped with a UltiMak rail and Trijicon MRO. These barrels are accurate, plain and simple, even in classic military rifles.

Realistic Expectations

Where we see the greatest benefits from chrome lining are in firing durability and corrosion resistance. This isn’t to say that a stainless or salt bath nitride barrel will be completely useless by comparison; it’s again about what you want out of your barrel. If you’re a comp guy and routinely change barrels at 7,000 rounds, buy cheaper barrels you plan to get hot.

I don’t think anyone will debate you, but there will be that one guy who says to buy a chrome-lined barrel because it should last to 14,000 rounds. Heat is the true killer of barrels, and the hotter you get your barrels for longer, the sooner you’ll cause them damage. Where chrome lining stands out is in providing an extremely hard, wear-resistant surface that’s easy to keep clean and accurate. If you abuse it, you lose it.

Of interest is that there’s no actual metric to determine what barrel life is. In my experience with all barrel types, I find that there’s little to no difference in accuracy: I have some chrome-lined AR carbine barrels that shoot as well as hand-fitted carbon-fiber match barrels on bolt actions, so what it does come down to is what you want and how you plan to get there. Plating is a common and popular practice.

Today, it stands largely on its tradition as much as it does its functionality, and it could be argued it’s an inferior process to start that adds cost for a subjective amount of benefit. For instance, I can plan on an accurate (under 1 MOA) life for my Geissele 5.56 barrel of somewhere around 10,000 rounds, but I can’t imagine getting there. I’d also expect it to last, in terms of functional accuracy, far beyond that point. I’ve put about 3,000 through this barrel, and it has had no accuracy issues. I don’t expect that to change in the next several years with how slowly I fire this rifle in practice. Likewise, I’ve put thousands through nitrided Faxon barrels with no accuracy degradation, but with more cleaning.

m1-garand-barrel — An original M1 Garand barrel showing lack of chrome lining.

Anyone who says you absolutely will get double the barrel life with chrome over a nitride or other barrel is lying to you; there has been no widespread study to prove this claim. In practice, it’s generally considered to be true that chrome-lined barrels do have longer lives, but this again is down to the individual user, not to a whole product category. If I keep my rifle cool and fire 10,000 rounds equally timed in a year at constant temperature, I’ll experience less wear in general than if I fired 10,000 rounds in 10 hours. Heat, again, is the killer here, and it accelerates erosion of the interior of the barrel.

What about 10,000 rounds in 6 months? Well, again, I don’t quite know; there hasn’t been a large-sample study done to evaluate this subject. We know, in general, that chromed barrels hold up better longitudinally, but that gap is getting smaller every passing year as new finishing processes become available.

1903-springfield-muzzle — The muzzle of a 1903 Springfield showing no chrome lining. Note that there’s some visible buildup of carbon and a little blue fuzz from jacket metal left in the rifling. Chrome-lined barrels don’t really suffer from this type of buildup and are very easy to keep clean.

While I could go into a number of anecdotes about what I’ve personally experienced, I’ve simply come to understand that all but a select few people never truly need to change out a barrel due to shooting wear. It does happen, but cleaning is a far more dangerous process to a barrel than shooting is—and in this aspect, chrome-lined versions have a distinct advantage.

There’s seldom any copper or other fouling to remove because it rarely collects on the hard, smooth surface like it does in other barrel types, which need a degree of fouling to be truly consistent. I find that I don’t even need to break in a chromed barrel, and I can just start shooting with no bad results. It’s my firsthand opinion that these barrels ultimately have the ability to last longer because they require less hands-on maintenance.

The general rule of thumb you should be looking at is this: If you’re going to experience harsh, extreme environments, going from cold to hot, wet to dry, and want to reduce cleaning and having to foul your barrel every few thousand rounds, go with a chrome-lined barrel—you won’t be sorry you did.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the May 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

More On Barrels:

Rifle Barrels 101
How does Barrel Length Affect Accuracy & Ballistics
The Truth About Barrel Length and Velocity
How To Calculate Barrel Twist Rate
Barrel Break-In: Necessary With a Rimfire?
Are Carbon-Fiber Barrels Worth It?
Suppressors Vs. Barrel Length

The Franchi SPAS-12: Pick Your Poison

Robert Sadowski

March 22, 2024

A deep dive into the Italian Franchi SPAS-12, a classic combat shotgun that left a big impression.

The SPAS-12 has that it factor, a mix of menacing good looks, high-tech functionality and firepower. It’s not like any pump-action or semi-automatic shotgun you’ve ever seen—it’s actually both.

A ridiculous number of action movies made since the 1980s have featured the SPAS-12, pitting it against formidable foes from cyborgs to velociraptors. Today, video games still frequently include the SPAS-12 as a choice weapon offering plenty of firepower even though the design is more than 40 years old and better options are widely available.

It’s not that the SPAS-12 is just a make-believe Hollywood prop, it was designed for real-world use for law enforcement and the military. That said, it wasn’t the real-world use that made the SPAS-12 so famous, Hollywood did.

Franchi-SPAS-fixed-stock — A SPAS-12 with a fixed stock. Photo: Rock Island Auction Company.

Action

SPAS originally stood for “Special Purpose Automatic Shotgun”, but that changed in the late 1990s, which I’ll get into later. The SPAS-12 has a high-tech, modern look to it due to the folding metal stock with a strange hook at the end of it, complemented by a rectangular metal heat shield over the barrel, a pistol grip and a polymer forend. Simply put, it looks badass.

The most unique feature of the SPAS-12 is that it is capable of shooting in either semi-automatic mode or in manual pump-action mode with a simple press of a large button under the forend. Press the button and retract the forend slightly to lock it into manual mode. Press the button again and slide the forend fully forward until it locks to put it into semi-auto mode. It’s that easy to switch and can be quickly done on the fly.

SPAS-forend — The forend of a SPAS-12 with a laser device attached. Photo: Rock Island Auction Company.

In semi-auto mode, the SPAS-12 uses a short-stroke gas piston system similar to many gas-operated shotguns. Gas is diverted from ports in the barrel to operate two recoil rods that push on the bolt. Also like similar gas-operated shotguns, the SPAS-12 features a tubular magazine under the barrel. It easily functions in semi-auto when feeding off high-power shells, but like many semi-auto guns, it can be finicky about cycling low-velocity loads.

Switching to manual mode allows the user to manually pump the forend to cycle low-power loads. It also gives the SPAS-12 the ability to run non-lethal rounds like beanbags, plastic pellets, rubber slugs and tear gas which do not cycle in semi-auto guns. The ability to change from semi-auto to manual pump-action makes the SPAS-12 very versatile. Some may call the feature a gimmick, but for law enforcement groups who use a variety of ammo types, it could potentially make a lot of sense.

There is also a magazine cut-off feature that allows the user to close off the magazine and feed single shells in the chamber. This is helpful in the event the user wants to quickly shoot non-lethal rounds when the magazine is loaded with buckshot.

Specs

Since the SPAS-12 was designed for military and law enforcement use, it was available in a variety of barrel lengths including 18, 19.875, 21.5, and 24 inches, as well as magazine capacities of 5+1, 6+1, 7+1 and 8+1. The weapon is heavy as well, weighing in at over 9.5 pounds. With the stock folded, the SPAS-12 is a fairly compact package at 32.5 inches with the short barrel, but the most common version in the U.S. was the 21.5-inch barrel model.

SPAS-12-folded-stock — The SPAS-12 with its stock folded and the hook attached. The hook can also be removed to make a more streamlined, compact package. Photo: Rock Island Auction Company.

The heat shield is a rectangular box of stamped steel with oblong cooling slots covering both the barrel and magazine tube. Dual push rods attached to the forend are located inside the heat shield and manipulate the bolt when the SPAS-12 is in pump-action mode. The polymer forend also slides in shallow channels on the outside of the heat shield. Combined, these features make for one boxy-looking gun.

Sights

As for its irons, the SPAS-12 features something similar to today's ghost ring sights. It consists of a large rear aperture and a front blade, neither of which are adjustable. Seemingly simple, the system has a trick up its sleeve, as well. The rear aperture has a notch in the bottom that’s meant to be aligned with the front sight when shooting slugs for increased precision. For all other loads, one aims normally with the front sight centered in the ring.

Stock

The hook on the end of the folding stock is another unique feature of the SPAS-12. The hook can be rotated 90 degrees to make it easier for the user to fire the SPAS-12 one-handed. At nearly 10 pounds, the SPAS-12 is difficult to wield with a single arm, but the hook helps to support the weight and allows the user to aim it at least somewhat effectively for close-range engagements. In this way, it’s somewhat similar to the braces used on modern AR pistols and the like. However, the hook can easily be attached and reattached without tools to make the package more compact.

SPAS-12 Variants

In the years between the importation restrictions enacted in 1989 and the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, Franchi imported the SPAS-12 configured in different ways to circumvent the new rules. This is why the fixed-stock models are more common in the U.S. compared to the more iconic folding stock models. In addition to the SPAS-12, Franchi produced the LAW-12, a semi-auto-only version aimed at the American law enforcement market as well as the SAS-12, a pump-action-only variant.

Franchi-LAW-12 — Franchi's semi-auto-only LAW-12 variant. Photo: Rock Island Auction Company.

Franchi even changed what SPAS stood for by repurposing the acronym as “Sporting Purpose Automatic Shotgun” instead of the original “Special Purpose Automatic Shotgun” with the hope that the ATF would allow the gun to be sold on the U.S. commercial market as a sporting gun. The SPAS-12 was produced from 1979 to 2000 and imported into the U.S. until 1994 when the Federal Assault Weapons Ban went into effect and ended the importation of all variants for good. Of course, the ban expired in 2004, but by that time the shotgun was out of production.

Was the SPAS-12 a Good Combat Shotgun?

Even when compared to other semi-automatics of its time like the Benelli Super 90, the SPAS-12 was heavy and awkward. Sure, it looked menacing, but it was a clunky chunk of steel to handle and it weighed about 2 pounds more than a Benelli with the same barrel length. There’s a reason the Super 90 eventually evolved into the Benelli M4 and the SPAS-12 went extinct. Franchi tried to keep the SPAS name alive with the magazine-fed SPAS-15 in the mid-1980s, but it proved to be even less successful than its predecessor.

Some U.S. SWAT teams armed themselves with the SPAS-12 back in the day, but its use in the States was limited. Other tactical law enforcement teams like EKO Cobra in Austria and GIGN in France equipped themselves with the tactical Franchi, as well as many smaller military and police groups around the world.

GIGN-SPAS-12 — French GIGN operators training with a SPAS-12 in the 1990s. Notice the laser device mounted on its top.

The SPAS-12 Legacy

The real legacy of the SPAS-12 comes from movies, television shows, and video games. We all know the “clever girl” scene in the original Jurassic Park movie when the big game hunter slowly unfolds the metal stock of his SPAS-12 before he is quickly outwitted by a pair of velociraptors. Or the very first time that the shotgun graced the silver screen in The Terminator in 1984. Name an action movie or show that came out since the 1980s and there is a good chance the SPAS-12 is used by either a hero or villain, and the same goes for video games as well. While the other fads of its era have long gone out of style, the SPAS-12 remains a fashionable choice even today. Whether it still is or ever was a practical weapon is different question.

Owning A SPAS-12 Today

While there are better, more modern combat shotguns available, you can still buy an original SPAS-12 if its retro style is too much for you to resist. There are, however, a handful of states where the SPAS-12 is still banned by name. It’s the usual suspects: California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and the District of Columbia.

Depending on the importer and the year it was brought in, both pre- and post-ban SPAS-12s are available on the used market. Regardless of the exact model in question, it’s going to be very expensive. At the time of this writing, buy-now prices on online auction sites start at about $4,000 and go up from there.

Franchi-SPAS-12 — A SPAS-12 with its stock extended and the hook removed. Photo: Rock Island Auction Company.

Frankly, the Franchi isn’t worth dropping that kind of cash on if all you want is a tactical 12-gauge shotgun. But if there’s a SPAS-12-shaped hole in your heart left behind by your love for a certain piece of media, nobody would blame you for adding one of these iconic beasts to your collection.

Even if it wasn’t the greatest gun ever made from a practical point of view, the SPAS-12 will live on in the collective conscience for a very long time, and that’s worth something too.

More On Shotguns:

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Lever-Action Shotgun: Past, Present And Future
Best Budget Over Under Shotgun: Affordable Doubles (2024)
6 Best Bullpup Shotgun Options For Compact Defense

Maxim Defense DSX-D: Putting A Twist On Monocore Suppressors

Elwood Shelton

March 22, 2024

The author checks out the Maxim Defense DSX-D, a monocore suppressor specializing in short barrels.

With geometry relatively figured out and materials fairly rote, there generally isn’t much to get whomped up about when it comes to suppressors. Don’t get me wrong: There are plenty of reasons to get geeked about adding a can to a platform, but as far as leaps-and-bounds improvements on the nearly century-old device, these come along about as often as logical ATF rule changes.

That said, Maxim Defense and its DSX-D suppressor proved a breath of fresh air at CANCON Georgia last fall. Far from reinventing the wheel, the Minnesota-based manufacturer has taken a proven monocore design and enhanced it in a number of nuanced ways that allow it to stick out heads and shoulders above much of its class.

Not to mention: It’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot.

Maxim-Defense-DSX-D-suppressor — A must for shorty barrels, Maxim Defense's DSX-D suppressor does a number on minimizing report, backpressure and recoil.

Getting to the Core of the DSX-D

If you come looking for some radically new monocore engineering guaranteed to make your carbine, pistol or SBR quiet as a mouse fart, I’m sorry to disappoint. Overall, the DSX-D’s design is fairly traditional in its main components. That doesn’t mean the 7.9-inch-long and 1.75-inch diameter suppressor doesn’t work: The 17-4 core and titanium tube bring most 5.56 NATO carbines down to a manageable 134 dBs. But Maxim Defense achieves this through a fairly conventional core design.

Eyebrows start to rise with the ingenious tweaks the company has incorporated to make the can easier to maintain, service … and even potentially upgrade. This all starts with how the three-piece suppressor is serialized: the mount.

If you aren’t deep into these muzzle devices, this aspect might get lost on you. However, once you realize the serialized part of the suppressor is considered the suppressor itself, then Maxim Defense’s angle becomes apparent. Suffer a baffle strike? Send the core alone back to the company. Banged the heck out of the tube? Procure a new one from Maxim Defense. The company cooks up a new and improved core? Just buy it.

And mind you, all of this without the fuss and muss of NFT regulation and tax stamps. Now that’s convenient and goes a long way in making the DSX-D about as hassle-free as suppressors come—obviously after jumping the hoops in initially buying one.

Maxim-Defense-DSX-D-monocore — While its monocore isn’t radical in design—at least in its expansion chambers—it does have some excellent tweaks: The Carbon Cutters—ridges at the top and bottom of the core—help clean the suppressor just by disassembling it.

Clean As a Whistle

Regardless of whether you’ve considered it, when you buy a suppressor, you take on the obligation of cleaning another piece of kit. For all the device’s positives, that’s one big bummer about suppressors (aside from price and regulations). But life is made a bit easier with DSX-D and how the user-serviceable can is designed, which is to make cleaning as pain-free as possible.

When it comes to monocore suppressors, the core itself isn’t generally the dirty part—the interior of the tube is the offender. Carbon builds up on the walls, requiring a good bit of elbow grease to dislodge it after disassembly. A genius move with the DSX-D is Maxim Defense has engineered a cleaning system that works by simply taking the suppressor apart.

Called carbon cutters by Maxim, the top and bottom of the core have a sharp ridgeline running the length of the component. As its name suggests, the rather eloquent addition to the internals cuts the carbon off the interior of the tube simply through the act of unscrewing the core. To that end, Maxim Defense has put a lot of thread on the tube and mount, ensuring a thorough scraping of the built-up gunk.

Maxim-Defense-DSX-D-feature-1 — Another interesting twist—threading, and plenty of it. This ensures the Carbon Cutters do their job before the can is taken apart. Note, too, that the direct-thread mount can be pinned and welded, thus making a two-stamp gun a one-stamp affair.

Sized Right

Truth be told, the DSX-D is a bit on the chunky side in its diameter. But, the can is sized right for length, particularly when it comes to abbreviated barrel guns. A little elementary school math and it’s easy to deduce that, when added to a 10.3-inch barreled gun, it brings the length to a flat 16 inches. It’s almost like Maxim Defense planned it that way.

Indeed, the company did, making the directly threaded suppressor capable of being pinned and welded. Doing so takes a two-stamp gun and makes it a one-stamp affair before purchase, which for anyone who’s gone through the paperwork rigmarole, makes for a lot less hassle. Not to mention, $200 extra in your pocket.

Shooting The DSX-D

Honestly, this can feels and sounds phenomenal. I tested the DSX-D on a 10.3-inch barreled, full-auto Maxim carbine at CANCON, and not only did it mute the 5.56 NATO to a near whisper, but it had next to nothing for backpressure. For short guns, this is a distinctive advantage in terms of maintaining situational awareness, but also a lot healthier in the long run.

Better yet, the suppressor made the SBR a snap to keep on target. Three-round bursts stacked shots practically on top of each other, while mag dumps were incredibly controllable—center mass all day long.

As a full-auto-rated, short-barrel-rated suppressor, it’s tough to beat what the DSX-D brings to the table. All the added extras make dang near a must-have for serious suppressed shooters.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Suppressor Special 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

More On Suppressors:

The Suppressor: How They're Made, How They Work, And How To Buy One
Best AR-15 Suppressor Options For A Quiet Advantage
Handgun Gear: Best 9mm Suppressor Choices
Best .22 Suppressor Choices To Mute Your Plinker

Reloading: The Cost Of Components

Philip Massaro

March 22, 2024

The cost of reloading components just took a significant uptick, is bullet building still worth it?

I was checking the availability of a particular powder that my .300 Winchester Magnum enjoys very much, when I did a double take. While available, the price was $69.99 per pound. Reeling from the dramatic price increase, I turned to my wife, opened my mouth and heard my father’s voice come as I gave an uncontrollable dissertation on the cost of ammunition and components. Why in the world would there be such a drastic increase in the cost of powder, and why does it seem that the amounts of available powder is diminishing just as quickly?

Vista Outdoor announced a price increase just before the 2023 holiday season, indicating that not only would loaded ammunition of all sorts—from rimfire to centerfire to shotshell—see an increase in price, but the components would be going up commensurately. Now, I don’t pretend to be an economist of any sort, but a simple trip to the grocery store will show you exactly how far our dollar doesn’t go anymore, and it seems that this has translated to the shooting world as well.

338-06-a-square — Some cartridges, like the .338-06 A-Square, need to be handloaded to be kept alive. *Photo: Massaro Media Group.*

Once upon a time in the not-so-distant past, a guy could use the same components as the premium ammunition brands, and handload his own ammunition far cheaper than it would be to purchase it. Slowly but surely, that price gap has shrunk to the point where it may not even exist any longer.

The Cost of Reloading Components

Using the popular .300 Winchester Magnum as an example, you will find that purchasing new brass cases will cost anywhere from $1 to $2.25 per piece, and, yes, I am aware that these are the one part of the equation that can be reused, so I’ll adjust costs at the end for that factor. A 180-grain Nosler Partition, a very popular choice for the .300 Winchester, will cost $87 for a box of 50, or $1.75 a bullet.

Large rifle magnum primers are running between 10 and 12 cents per piece, and powder—depending on what you choose—is now priced somewhere between 0.6 and 1 cent per grain. With a powder charge of 70 grains, we’re looking at a cost of between $0.42 and $0.70 per cartridge. If I were to ignore the cost of dies, presses, scales, trimmers and the like, and I were to average the component costs—I figured the cases would cost $0.25 per loading based upon reloading them six times or so—I get a component cost of $2.67 per cartridge, not factoring in your time and labor.

cost-of-reloading-components-primers — Primer prices have gone up commensurately, now ranging from $0.10 to $0.15 each. *Photo: Massaro Media Group.*

Looking at the price of a box of Federal Premium 180-grain Nosler Partition ammo for the .300 Winchester, I’m seeing a street price of $65.99, or $3.30 a round, and if you were to purchase the same load from Nosler, you’ll pay $119.95 a box or $6 a round, so there’s a definite savings in comparison to that.

If a guy wanted to shave prices further, a more economical projectile could be chosen, but when you add in the cost of equipment, even averaged over time, the cost of reloading has probably risen to the point of the more affordable premium factory-loaded offerings. Certainly, precision shooters will still opt for the control that reloading offers, allowing them to customize their ammunition to their rifle.

However, considering the improvement in performance of factory ammunition in the past 2 decades, a big-game hunter who shoots less than one box of cartridges per year might not need the handloaded ammunition. But even then, there’s the question of availability.

318-westley-richards — The author’s .318 Westley Richards loves Alliant’s Reloder 16, but a 1-pound canister now costs $70 before tax … or shipping. *Photo: Massaro Media Group.*

Despite the return of most components after the huge crunch of 2020 to 2021, where COVID-19 and millions of first-time gun owners combined to both reduce supply and radically increase demand, I’m seeing an awful lot of “out of stock” on various supply houses. Whether this is attributed to the multiple military conflicts around the world, our own governmental agencies buying large amounts of both loaded ammunition and components, or other factors like the explosion at the Minden, Louisiana, blackpowder factory (which had more ramifications than even I realized), the bottom line is that our supplies are once again dwindling.

Fewer available products plus a dramatic increase in the costs of what components are available equals a terrible time for reloaders. The bottom line, at least for me, is that I’m actually shooting less as a result of this situation, and I’m considering the amount of product I’m running through for certain projects. It means that I buy in bulk when I find those components I know I am going to need going forward, especially for those cartridges which aren’t currently loaded in factory ammunition.

Primers are once again drying up, powder is either expensive or unavailable, and projectile prices are climbing as well. Without getting into conspiracy theories or delving into a political debate about the cause of the component/ammunition shortage, it seems to be a real thing … once again. But what the current situation means to me is that I am, once again, actively concerned about the amount of the components I will need for my own shooting regimens.

cost-of-reloading-components-powder — Marked at $17.95 and $39.99 respectively, these prices may never be seen again. *Photo: Massaro Media Group.*

What’s the End Game?

I’m often asked by prospective reloaders, who have neither experience nor gear, if delving into reloading is worthwhile. Twenty years ago, I would’ve unabashedly answered in the affirmative. Today, I would have to ask about their goals. If they were the 2-weeks-a-year deer hunter, I might point out the possibility that it might not be fiscally wise.

But, if the inquisitor wanted to participate in competitive shooting, be that precision rifle or a timed handgun competition, reloading still maintains a definite value. If you like shooting and hunting with big-bore rifles, reloading is definitely a value. Factory ammunition for my .470 Nitro Express costs between $12 and $16 per cartridge, and I can easily cut that in half by hand-loading. But for the .308 Winchester, .30-’06 Springfield, 6.5 Creedmoor and other common cartridges, the margin is much slimmer.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the May 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

More On Reloading:

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Loving Your Luger: Reloading the 9mm Luger
Handloading: Tips For Reloading The 7mm Rem Mag
How To: Tips For Reloading the .223 Remington
Reloading Bench: The Inside On Reloading For The .30-30 Winchester

Behind The Brand: Silencer Central

Elwood Shelton

March 21, 2024

A closer look at Silencer Central, a company that has proven efficient for the arduous endeavor of hushing up a firearm.

When Brandon Maddox passed me his card, one part of the text jumped out at me immediately—pharmacist. At this point, it’s been a cup of coffee since the founder and chief muckety-muck of Silencer Central plied this trade. But forgive him: He’s been too busy reinventing the retail suppressor market, building one of the premier purveyors of the ever-so-popular muzzle device. Yet, it struck me that he continues to keep this moniker from a past life alive—along with his license in a handful of states.

Sure enough, he invested blood, sweat and likely caffeinated nights to earn the professional degree at University of North Carolina and Duke. In turn, hard work, pride and a little family honor are wrapped up in the title. But scratch the surface of Silencer Central and the company’s success is wrapped up—in part—in pharmacy. Well, that, and bad consumer experiences, the great state of South Dakota and prairie dog hunting.

Confused yet? Here, I’ll explain …

The Need to Hush Up

The easiest place to start is South Dakota—Sioux Falls, to be exact. Prompted by his wife, Maddox left the East Coast for his wife's hometown in the southeast corner of The Rushmore State. As it does so many folks, the ample sportsman opportunities of the more tropical of the Dakotas enraptured Maddox. In particular, the state’s ample prairie dog population.

silencer-central-suppressor-spread — Honestly, Silencer Central offers a can for every occasion.

As anyone who’s dusted off the plains varmints knows, the draw of the sport is high-volume shooting. Few other styles of hunting outside of doves and snow geese offer the opportunity of as many trigger pulls. But unlike the wingshooting disciplines, Maddox was quick to observe one of the paradoxes of the endeavor: Send your first varmint to Valhalla, and the rest of the town tends to keep their heads low for a long time.

Sigh. A half a day’s drive to a shoot for a fraction of expected trigger pulls is not exactly the recipe for excitement. Maddox, however, had a plan to improve his chances in the field. All it would take was a modest investment in what was then a somewhat rare device—a suppressor.

Brandon-Maddox-2 — Maddox (front) has used a load of personal experience—from his career in the pharmaceuticals industry to bad experiences buying suppressors—to build Silencer Central into a success.

Problem solved, right?

Blasted by the Suppressor Market

We’ll get into buying a suppressor in a bit and how Silencer Central has streamlined the process. Suffice to say, this was not the environment Maddox operated in during the early 2000s when he set out to buy his first device. Sure, the NFA paperwork, the $200 tax stamp and waiting (and waiting and waiting) were all the same. Where you did business was different.

Then, the nation had yet to embrace the wonders and conveniences of the internet, so your one choice to buy a suppressor was through your local gun store. Maddox came to find out it was subprime.

silencer-central-warehouse — The company’s HQ is also its warehouse, with all suppressors passing through it before being shipped around the nation.

First off, you were dealing with a retailer not exactly enthralled with the prospect of exercising their Class 3 license. Why would they be? Brick-and-mortar operations are set up for a sell-and-shake transaction: You pick a gun, they collect the cash and both of you are on your merry way. Suppressors are a longer-term commitment in the sales process, with money up front and hand wringing on both ends.

Additionally, back then, most mom-and-pop operations had a passing knowledge of the rarely sold devices. They knew suppressors suppressed the report of the gun; if they were experienced, they might be cognizant a can would reduce recoil. Gaining in-depth insight into the nuances of suppressors, which make up a slew of the reasons why one is preferable to another, was lost on most of this era’s retailers. Hence the reason why Maddox’s first can was akin to threading a car muffler on his rifle. Worse yet, when he attempted to rectify his mistake with a new model, he was back to square one in the process and came out with one equally unsatisfying, albeit for other reasons.

It seemed if Maddox was going to rectify the issue of hit-and-miss—mostly miss at this point—suppressor purchases, he was going to have to take matters into his own hands. Luckily, he had a few things going for him.

Prescription for the Suppressor Market

The first ace Maddox played was his father-in-law, who was an FFL. Through his tutelage, the then pharmacist in charge of a mail-delivery national pharmacy gained his licensure to sell firearms and, more importantly, suppressors. This kicked off his basement business, South Dakota Silencers, which sold at state-wide gun shows.

Maddox’s next ace was his pharmacy background, particularly the business end of the industry. With his keen eye, he was quickly aware of how many folks from neighboring states were beating a path to his business at the shows. This was money left on the table—given he couldn’t sell out of state—which led him to look to expand. From his company, he evolved into Dakota Suppressors, first to North Dakota, then Nebraska and continuing growing from there.

And for the next aspect pharmaceuticals play in building a suppressor empire: Maddox was also uniquely qualified to navigate the highly regulated world of national NFA device sales. Let’s just say that he knew his way around the block.

SC-suppressor-spare-parts — Suffer a baffle strike? No worries. Silencer Central’s shop has the parts to get your suppressor back up in running order.

“At GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), I worked on the first pharmaceutical product to do direct-to-consumer advertising in the industry,” Maddox said. “All direct-to-consumer advertising had to be pre-approved by the FDA before we could use it commercially with consumers. Watching our team at GSK work directly with the federal regulatory branch, the FDA was instrumental in navigating the federal regulations in firearms with the ATF.”

Finally, Maddox knew the biggest barrier for the consumer was the process itself. Much like the nationwide mail pharmacy he worked for when he started what would become Silencer Central, Maddox knew the red tape had to be cut—or at least alleviated—to build a successful business in the niche.

This all leads us to …

The Rise of Silencer Central

Modestly tidy and residing at the edge of an industrial park in northwest Sioux Falls, Silencer Central’s HQ represents the axis mundi of American suppressor sales. At present, nearly 200 employees buzz around this hive, marketing, taking orders, filling orders and helping potential customers route a course to suppressor ownership. This doesn’t count its off-site employees, with FFLs on the payroll in the 42 states where suppressors sales are legal … and their partners who manufacture Silencer Central’s Banish line of cans. And this success all comes from demystifying and de-fanging one of the most unnecessarily arduous processes in all consumerism.

silencer-central-legality-map — Silencer Central sells suppressors in all 42 states where the device is legal.

Overall, this was Maddox’s main aim: simplification. And he’s achieved it in spades.

Silencer Central experts assist customers in selecting a suppressor and take care of paperwork submission after a brief phone consultation. Customers only need to answer questions and provide necessary information. Silencer Central offers a free trust service, allowing the easy addition of members post-purchase.

The paperwork end of things takes a mere 15- to 20-minute chat, and the hands-on aspects—passport-style photos and fingerprints—are flawlessly facilitated with clear instructions and tutorial videos. Heck, Silencer Central even provides flexible payment options, including a four-installment plan and personalized schedules.

Approval typically takes 8 to 10 months, during which Silencer Central maintains communication with monthly check-ins. Once approved, customers digitally complete Form 4473, and the suppressor is shipped to their door after passing through the company’s South Dakota facility. Ongoing customer support is available 6 days a week during business hours.

muzzle-barrel-threading-SC — Don’t have a gun with a threaded muzzle? No sweat, Silencer Central’s shop will thread your barrel for you.

Not that these completely within-the-bounds innovations still didn’t turn heads, but when Silencer Central officially lifted off the ground in 2019 as a national company, Maddox was politely invited to meet with the ATF in Washington, D.C. Far from a one-on-one inquiry of his business, he walked into a room brimming with more than 4 dozen federal agents and officials.

Honestly, it sounds more ominous than it turned out. The officials were mainly interested in his business model—given nothing like it existed previously. Bureaucrats are going to bureaucrat, so in return for the info, they offered guidelines for running his business. These have been implemented to keep the powers that be at bay, and they haven’t made Silencer Central miss a step in delivering what they promise—a painless process from picking a can to picking it up.

Proof in the Pudding

So, have Maddox’s efforts been worth it? On my trip to Sioux Falls, I went through the process of filing the paperwork for a suppressor and creating a trust. Honestly, I would have put it at a 10-minute ordeal. Then, we took the time to sample the company’s wares at the range, including Silencer Central’s brand-spanking-new BUCK 30 and Banish Speed K, along with its classics. Top to bottom—from .22 LR to .338 Lapua—the suppressors performed.

SC-Banish-Speed-K-suppressor — The company continues to innovate suppressors, such as its shorty and tactically minded Banish Speed K.

Maddox is fond of saying, “If you shoot suppressed, you’ll never want to shoot unsuppressed again.” He’s right. And with the streamlined process he’s concocted at Silencer Central, he’s given you every reason to put the assertion to the test.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Suppressor Special 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

More On Suppressors:

The Suppressor: How They're Made, How They Work, And How To Buy One
Best AR-15 Suppressor Options For A Quiet Advantage
Handgun Gear: Best 9mm Suppressor Choices
Best .22 Suppressor Choices To Mute Your Plinker

Springfield Armory Announces Emissary Black Pistols

Adam Borisenko

March 21, 2024

Springfield Armory has just announced the Emissary Black line of 1911 pistols, available in both 9mm and .45 ACP and with two barrel length options.

Described as guns that bridge the best features of defensive and custom pistols, Springfield Armory’s line of Emissary 1911s has been popular since their release. While they’ve been available in both 9mm and .45 ACP chamberings and with 5- and 4.25-inch barrels from the beginning, the only finish option until now has been two-tone. For those who like their 1911s a little bit darker, Springfield has just announced the Emissary Black series.

Springfield-Armory-Emissary-Black-1911-1 — Springfield Armory Emissary Black 1911, .45 ACP 5-inch model.

Besides the new finish color, the four Emissary Black pistols are otherwise nearly identical to their two-tone counterparts, including their MSRPs ($1,378). Some of the carried-over features include a luminescent tritium front sight/Tactical Rack U-notch rear sight, Thin-Line G10 VZ Grips and distinctive “Tri-Top” cut slides. The full-size models also have one-piece, full-length guide rods while the 4.25-inch models have commander-length recoil systems. Also, regardless of the model selected, each pistol will ship with two magazines (8-round mags for .45 ACP, 9-round mags for 9mm) and a soft handgun case.

Springfield-Armory-Emissary-Black-1911-2 — Springfield Armory Emissary Black 1911, 9mm 4.25-inch model.

One area of difference between the original and new models pertains to accessory rails. The full-size two-tone models feature one while the 4.25-inch versions do not. However, all four models of Emissary Black 1911s do include a rail. For those who like to carry with a weapon light or a laser equipped, the new series provides better options to do it with.

For more information, please visit springfield-armory.com.

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First Look: B&T Rotex-SF HUB

Gun Digest Editors

March 20, 2024

A quick look at the Rotex-SF, a new suppressor HUB device from B&T.

Those closely monitoring suppressor developments may have noticed B&T and SureFire share compatible mounting interfaces for their rifle suppressors, providing both manufacturers’ customers with additional options.

B&T recently released a HUB device called the Rotex-SF constructed of titanium that’s fully compatible with all 1.375x24TPI HUB-capable suppressors on the market. This accessory HUB is compatible with all B&T Rotex flash hiders, as well as all SureFire SOCOM flash hiders, muzzle brakes and WarComp muzzle devices, and it’s simply threaded into compatible suppressors and quickly snugged up with a spanner wrench.

The Rotex-SF HUB will ship standard with all B&T Rotex and SRBS rifle suppressors and will also be sold as an accessory item for those wishing to mount their Dead Air, SilencerCo or other HUB-compatible suppressors to muzzle devices from B&T or SureFire that they may already own. With an MSRP of $355, this is an excellent and easy to use option.

B&T USA also recently released a new collection of suppressors that provides a selection of their 600-plus suppressor models offered globally into more of a bite-size selection called “Mainline.” This is designed to aid customers in selecting the right suppressor for their intended uses.

The new rifle suppressors are made up of their traditional baffled Rotex and hybrid Slim Reduced Backpressure System (SRBS), and both are available in 5.56 and 7.62. The 5.56 Rotex suppressors are available in three sizes, while 7.62 and SRBS models are offered in compact and full-size variants.

Each suppressor is constructed using laser bed fusion manufacturing techniques and are available in 718 Inconel or 100 percent titanium. Both suppressors are fully 3D printed, completely weldless and are HUB compatible. This means they’re threaded in 1.375×24 TPI, making them compatible with most other manufacturers’ attachment HUBs and giving users the choice of muzzle devices they want to use.

Each rifle suppressor will ship with a Rotex-SF HUB compatible with all B&T Rotex flash hiders and all SureFire SOCOM flash hiders, muzzle brakes and WarComp hybrid muzzle devices. The Rotex-SF HUB is machined out of titanium bar stock. Direct Mount HUB assemblies are available in Inconel or titanium.

Two features stand out with these new suppressors. The first is the weight; the full-size Rotex 7.62 Titanium model weighs a mere 6.9 ounces with a direct-thread HUB. The second is the price—all Rotex Inconel suppressors retail at $775.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Suppressor Special 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

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The Suppressor: How They're Made, How They Work, And How To Buy One
Best AR-15 Suppressor Options For A Quiet Advantage
Handgun Gear: Best 9mm Suppressor Choices
Best .22 Suppressor Choices To Mute Your Plinker

What To Know Before Buying A Suppressor

Josh Wayner

March 19, 2024

The author covers a few facts you should know before starting your suppressor-buying journey.

In the past few years, I’ve become something of a suppressor collector. I have a pretty decent number of tax stamps, and I really enjoy using suppressors on all my modern guns. One of the things I did when looking at models to buy was to make sure that I was getting the correct end-use down for each one.

There are undeniable differences when it comes to various suppressor models, materials, means of attachment and assembly. While the basic concept is reducing the noise signature of a given firearm, there’s rarely a one-size-fits-all option for consumers … unless they want to shoot just one caliber.

Let’s look at what might be best for you.

buying-a-suppressor-rifles — Timeless style in both new and old. The upper AR has a high-end Armasight clip-on NVD. With a JK 155 suppressor attached, the carbine is light and lethal in darkness for varmints. The custom Brownells M16A1 has original 1960s-era furniture but all-new internals. It certainly draws attention at the range. Axes by Winkler Knives.

All For One

It goes without saying that there are more types of guns being made adaptable to suppressors these days than any time in the past. Lots of guns from the factory are now coming threaded at the muzzle as a standard feature—it’s not only AR-type rifles, but it’s also bolt actions, pistols and all manner of rimfire designs.

Sadly, there’s no real way to have your cake and eat it, too—if you’re trying to suppress a whole host of firearms with a single suppressor. Many designs come close, but there are still issues involved, and they can be complex to understand.

One of the main problems is the use of rimfire cartridges in suppressors. Many people are disappointed to find that, aside from a few outliers, it’s not recommended to use a centerfire suppressor on rimfire rifles. This has to do with cleanliness and ease of disassembly. Rimfire ammunition is extremely dirty, and the bullets are lubricated.

You may not realize it, but common .22 LR ammunition isn’t built from a 20th-century design, but rather the 19th century. The bullet design and the way the cartridge is assembled is quite ancient by our modern standards.

When shooting rimfire ammo, the bullet lube vaporizes, leaving a waxy layer on everything. This waxiness is incredibly good at trapping unburned propellant, carbon and lead residue. In short, if you want to gunk up a centerfire suppressor, you don’t have to try very hard. This can lead to dangerous pressure situations inside the suppressor when firing full-power centerfire ammunition.

You’ll also find that not every pistol suppressor is capable of being used on a rifle. There are, of course, many models that are adaptable to both, but, in general, it’s easier to try to adapt a rifle suppressor for a pistol than it is to do the opposite. There are many excellent models dedicated to use on pistols; you’ll typically find that these are lightweight, often constructed of aluminum, and are also meant to work wet or dry.

buying-a-suppressor-pistols — Pistol suppressors might need to run wet. Be aware: This is dirty and not fun to clean. Note how long these pistols are with cans mounted, and not something easily concealed. Knife by Winkler Knives.

The most effective pistol suppressors are going to be versions that allow you to put gel or a little water inside. Shooting handguns wet significantly reduces the noise signature, and with subsonic ammunition it can get down to paintball gun levels of quiet.

However, you should never fire a rifle suppressor wet. Meaning, if you adapt a rifle suppressor to work with a handgun, you should never put gel in them. This can lead to a dangerous situation when switching to centerfire rifle ammunition. The closed-design Bowers ASP 45 in this article is meant to be used wet only on full-size .45 ACP pistols. The SilencerCo Osprey 2.0 is able to be used wet or dry.

You’ll find that specialization runs deep in the suppressor market. If you want to suppress a range of firearms, you’re likely going to need several types of suppressors to check that box. The unfortunate truth of this means that you’ll be paying a hefty sum in taxes to Uncle Sam for the privilege of shooting in comfort. This cost adds up quickly, and if you were already paying a good amount for the suppressor, it always feels like salt in the wound having to pay $200 and wait for months.

To cover all your bases with the fewest number of suppressors possible, you’ll likely need a dedicated rimfire model, a wet/dry pistol suppressor and a modular rifle-rated suppressor.

Mounting can be a pain as well—and costly, too. Virtually all rimfire and pistol suppressors are direct thread, meaning they’ll attach directly to the end of the barrel. On rifles, you can usually get away with a type of universal mount, such as various models of the Q-style Cherry Bomb mount or the SilencerCo ASR System.

Q-Cherry-bomb-mount — The Q Cherry Bomb brake/mount on a Faxon FX7 custom 18-inch build.

There are pros and cons to each one, but luckily, there are companies like Rearden Manufacturing that make a whole host of adapter pieces to allow you to thoroughly uniform your mounting systems. Most of my suppressors use Rearden adapters or Q factory Cherry Bombs. A good example of a do-all setup is the SilencerCo Hybrid 46M, a modular suppressor that can be adapted to virtually any centerfire rifle up to .458 Winchester Magnum. If you have five rifles, you’d need five mounts, and at around $100 a pop, you’ll be looking at the cost of a used pistol just to have interchangeability on your rifles with the suppressor—it’s something to be aware of if you want to add the quick mounting capability to your rifles.

SilencerCo-Hybrid-46M — SilencerCo Hybrid 46M mounted on a 20-inch .450 Bushmaster.

One-Trick Pony

In contrast, some people have a very specific end-use, and a very specific caliber requirement for what they want to suppress. It’s this type of shooter who benefits most from a sealed, fixed-caliber suppressor, and where a great deal of weight savings over modular designs can be found.

If you’re a hunter using .30-caliber and 6.5mm centerfire rifles, you can easily use a single suppressor that can directly thread to your barrel, seeing as how both bore diameters commonly use a 5/8-24 thread pattern. If weight savings and efficient length is paramount, this is arguably your best option. You don’t have to worry about QD mounts—just a thread protector for your unused rifles in the safe.

SilencerCo-ASR-Mount — The SilencerCo ASR mount.

You can add significant weight with mounts and hardware to where things get cumbersome, so keep that in mind as you shop. Hunting rifles should ideally be light, and every added ounce can change the balance and handling of your rifle, especially on thin-barreled walking or pack rifles with longer barrels.

You’ll see that these sealed designs, like the Q Jumbo Shrimp featured in photos of this article, are very small and add only a little length to the rifle. I routinely shoot this suppressor on my 6.5mm bolt guns and 5.56mm AR carbines. It’s not the quietest suppressor out there, but it is light.

Q-Jumbo-Shrimp-AR-suppressor — Q Jumbo Shrimp on a custom-built Brownells M16A1 with fast-twist 1:7 barrel.

The shorter you go the louder a suppressor will be. It’s a trade-off. If you’re wanting maximum noise reduction, however, that comes with weight and length. If you’re wanting to simply take the edge off the blast and control recoil, this type of suppressor will be your best friend. Not everyone wants a huge can—just having something that allows you to focus on the shot is enough. My Jumbo Shrimp still hurts my ears on a 16-inch AR in 5.56 NATO, but it’s a pleasure on my Brownells M16A1 retro 20-inch. On a 24-inch 6.5 Creedmoor, my ears barely ring at the crack of the shot. Wearing hearing protection is still the best way to go, but you get the idea.

Rearden-suppressor-mount-AR — Rearden makes a great birdcage-style mount; while not period correct, the wheat color adds a bit of a cool factor.

A Can for All Conditions

The downside of using a sealed can, long or short, is the limited options you have. If you’ve got a shorty carbine—say a 16-inch .308 Win.—and you want to suppress it with your .30-caliber suppressor, well, you’re stuck at whatever length and weight you have. The market for modular suppressors has grown and the two featured here, the SilencerCo Hybrid 46M and Omega 36M, are the pinnacle of adaptability. But they also come with a weight penalty. These are my heaviest suppressors, but they can be made to work with any rifles and pistols I currently have … though not rimfire.

The adapter parts on these suppressors allow me to change from direct thread to QD mounts. Rearden makes a Q-style adapter so I can use them with the Cherry Bomb. I can change length and endcap bore size, and I can change the rifle mount to a pistol adapter piston. These are utterly impressive in how many different cartridges can be used with them. If you’re maxing out at a 9mm bore, get the 36M. You can run .350 Legend for deer hunting, then swap it onto a .338 Lapua or 8.6 Blackout. Take the rear mount off and install a pistol piston, then use it on your Sig or Glock. Don’t like all the length and weight shooting pistols? Shorten it by unscrewing the forward baffle stack and re-install the endcap. It’s that simple.

SilencerCo-Omega-36M — The SilencerCo Omega 36M in “K” mode (top), which is common lingo for “kurz,” meaning “short,” in German. It’ll take the edge off a .308 Win. but is certainly not as quiet as with the full baffle stack (bottom).

Modular suppressors are incredible and offer a tremendous amount of utility. I’ve dropped over a dozen big-bodied whitetails in the past 2 years with the 46M on my .450 Bushmaster, and it has changed deer hunting for me. However, that rifle is already heavy, and putting this large suppressor on certainly makes it harder to handle. My total carry weight is just under 15 pounds, making it quite the pain in the you-know-where to lug around. I plan on dropping this weight down with some new carbon-fiber parts soon.

Weight on already heavy guns is my main complaint, but it’s more of a problem on lighter guns, where you can immediately feel the difference in balance.

Stackin’ Baffles

Some suppressors, like the JK Armament 155 series also pictured in this article, offer even more capability by nature of their design. This added utility largely has to do with maintainability, and you can, in fact, shoot rimfire and cast lead bullets through these safely, provided you clean them before switching to standard centerfire. The design is modular in the same spirit as other modular cans, but you can disassemble these down to the individual baffle.

This means you can shoot Earth’s dirtiest ammo and simply take them all the way apart to scrub the baffles. Not only that, but you can also “tune” them to the length that best suits you. If you want to save some weight or reduce length, you can reduce the stack; if you want maximum suppression, you can go longer.

These suppressors are ideal if you’re a fan of lever guns or running cast handloads for plinking or fun. The utility here is just so nice, and you can really get your money’s worth out of this product line. Now, you’ll need to decide what you want your initial internal baffle stack to be—for instance, .45-caliber, 9mm, .30-caliber, etc.—but you can change the endcap. I use a JK 9mm-bore can with a .22-caliber endcap on some of my 5.56mm AR rifles … but I’ve also used it on .350 Legend and .308 Win. I use a .22 bore JK suppressor in rifle size for my .22LR rimfire rifles, but I’ve also used it on 5.56mm carbines after cleaning. There’s just so much utility here that it’s hard to go wrong.

suppressor-endcaps — The JK 155 has interchangeable endcaps, much like the SilencerCo 36M. The Q Jumbo Shrimp is a sealed design that has no removable parts.

Suppressor Thoughts

As a dedicated suppressor shooter, I try to be objective about my end use. Guns today get heavy very fast as accessories mount, and it’s possible to overload a gun with weight and length. I like shorter barrels with suppressors, as I like to have maximum suppression on my hunting guns. However, there’s no getting around the fact that many suppressors will add almost a pound to the muzzle in centerfire calibers. It’s hard to have a truly light and maneuverable gun when you’re deliberately adding weight, and this goes double for pistols.

If you have a reasonable expectation and aren’t trying to get your suppressor to do something it wasn’t made for, well, you’ll have a great time. Suppressors are great tools when you understand what you’re getting into. My advice is not to buy one based on online reviews or the scrawling of a gunwriter like myself; instead, make the time to go find a dealer or NFA shop and ask to demo products.

That, or get yourself to an event like CANCON and try out a bunch. In the end, I know you’ll be fine because, like me, you’ll get the bug and end up having to explain to the wife that this new suppressor does something different than the last seven … or was it eight?

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Suppressor Special 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

More On Suppressors:

The Suppressor: How They're Made, How They Work, And How To Buy One
Best AR-15 Suppressor Options For A Quiet Advantage
Handgun Gear: Best 9mm Suppressor Choices
Best .22 Suppressor Choices To Mute Your Plinker

Ammo Brief: .300 AAC Blackout

Gun Digest Editors

March 18, 2024

A quick look at .300 AAC Blackout, the king of .30-caliber AR cartridges.

The intent behind the .300 AAC Blackout was to offer a .30-caliber cartridge that would function in AR-15 rifles without a reduction in magazine capacity, that was also compatible with the standard bolt, and that would offer both supersonic and subsonic performance. The .300 AAC Blackout was developed by Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC), a subsidiary of the Freedom Group, and is almost identical to the .300 Whisper that was originally developed by J.D. Jones.

Cartridges-of-the-World-16th-edition-550×725 (2) — This is an excerpt from Cartridge's Of The World, available now at GunDigestStore.com.

Another way of looking at the .300 AAC Blackout is as a standardization of the .300/.221 Wildcat cartridge. AAC standardized the case dimensions and submitted the cartridge to SAAMI, which has established the cartridge with a maximum average operating pressure of 55,000 psi.

General Comments

From a supersonic standpoint, the .300 AAC Blackout offers performance similar to the 7.62×39 Soviet cartridge. Hunters can expect performance on game to be similar to the 7.62×39 or the .30-30 Winchester. One thing hunters should recognize is that heavy match bullets at subsonic velocities will not expand in game animals. However, Lehigh Defense, working with J.D. Jones, has developed a subsonic bullet load that does offer expansion and good terminal performance at subsonic velocities.

Much of the appeal of the cartridge is its subsonic performance, but there is some contention that optimum performance from an AR-15 is unattainable with either supersonic or subsonic suppressed loads. It is also arguable that a single twist rate offers optimal stabilization with both a 125-grain bullet at 2,200 fps and a 220-grain bullet at 1,050 fps.

AAC suggests that a 1:8 twist be used, and most commercially offered rifles will come so equipped. DPMS, Windham Weaponry, Patriot Ordnance Factory, Advanced Armament, SIG Sauer, Noveske, Bushmaster, and others offer AR-15/AR-10 rifles in .300 AAC Blackout, and Remington offers four factory loads with 120-, 125-, 130- and 220-grain bullets. Both Remington 700 .300 AAC Blackout replacement barrels and loading dies are available.

Editor's Note: This article is an excerpt of Gun Digest's Cartridge's Of The World.

Raise Your Ammo IQ:

Beyond The 6.5 Creedmoor: The Other 6.5 Cartridges
The Lonesome Story Of The Long-Lost 8mm
Why The .300 H&H Magnum Still Endures
.350 Legend Vs .450 Bushmaster: Does One Win Out For Hunting?

The .41 Magnum: Is The Middle Magnum Still Relevant?

Robert Sadowski

March 15, 2024

The .41 Magnum… does the “Mama Bear” magnum still have a place today?

The .41 Magnum was the solution for a law enforcement caliber in between the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum. With better ballistic performance than the .357 Magnum, the .41 Magnum also has less recoil than the .44 Magnum. That all sounds good on paper, but in reality, the .41 Magnum never caught on the same way as .357 and .44.

It very well may have even been reduced to a mere footnote in Cartridges of the World, but it’s been kept alive by a loyal yet small following of enthusiasts, especially handgun hunters.

41-Magnum-ammo-comparison — From left to right: .44 Special, .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum and .45 ACP.

Gun Writers, S&W and Remington

The .41 Magnum started out as an idea from a long-time cowboy and hunter turned gun writer. Elmer Keith, the man behind the .44 Magnum cartridge, had been experimenting with .41 caliber rounds since back in the mid-1950s. Keith's vision for a .41 caliber “police load” was a 200-grain semi-wadcutter bullet moving at 900 fps. For hunting, he envisioned a heavy magnum load consisting of 210-grain JHP bullet moving 1,300 to 1,400 fps. Keith had influence with both Remington and Smith & Wesson, so those manufacturers listened when Keith had an idea. Two other wheelgunners and firearm scribes, Bill Jordan and Skeeter Skelton, also lobbied Remington about the caliber.

Elmer-Keith-Auction-091615 — The legendary Elmer Keith (right).

Jordan was a retired border patrol agent and thought the .41 caliber cartridge potentially the perfect law enforcement round in a low-velocity police load. In theory, it would be more effective than the .38 Special and .357 Magnum while also proving more controllable than the .44 Magnum, which at the time was the most powerful handgun cartridge on the planet.

One thing to remember is that back in the early 1960s, bullet technology was not what it is today. Since shooters were in awe of the .44 Magnum and anything labeled magnum, Remington decided to officially call the new caliber the .41 Remington Magnum and juice up the velocity against the advice of Jordan and Keith.

Jordan was also in favor of chambering the .41 Magnum in a S&W K-frame revolver. In 1964 Remington offered the new round with a muzzle velocity jacked up to 1,500 fps and S&W decided to chamber the round in an N-frame revolver, the same as the .44 Magnum, and call it the Model 57.

SW-Model-57-41-Magnum-RIA — A S&W Model 57, blued with an 8.3-inch barrel. Photo: Rock Island Auction Company.

S&W Model 57 and Model 58 Introduced

The Model 57 had adjustable sights, oversized wood Goncalo Alves grips and was available in a variety of barrel lengths: 4, 6, and 8.3 inches. This was the target or hunting version of S&W’s .41 Magnum revolver. Law Enforcement was enticed with the Model 58, which was like a Model 10 only on steroids. The Model 58 was a spartan, no-frills version of the Model 57. In fact, S&W called the Model 58 the .41 M&P in advertisements touting 2.5 times more stopping power than the .38 Special with a “city” load consisting of a 210-grain flat-nose bullet that “moves just fast enough” and “puts more wallop, where you need it.” Marketing hyperbole aside, the Model 58 had fixed sights, a 4-inch barrel, and service-style Magna grips. Both revolvers weighed about 41 ounces and were available in either a nickel or a blued finish.

SW-Model-58-41-Magnum-RIA — A S&W Model 58 with a nickel finish and a 4-inch barrel. Photo: Rock Island Auction Company.

S&W also introduced a stainless steel version of the Model 57 and called it the Model 657. It was produced from 1986 to 2008.

.41 Magnum In The Streets And In The Field

The .41 Magnum was squarely aimed at the law enforcement market, but long story short, LEOs were just not interested in a revolver that was bigger, heavier and chambered for an even more recoil-producing round than the .357 Magnum. Police departments in Texas and Nevada, however, did issue Model 58s to officers as well as the San Francisco Police Department and a few smaller agencies across the U.S. The fact was the caliber had too much recoil for the average officer, so agency reception was generally lukewarm at best.

Keith took the first few Model 57s on a polar bear hunt and used the new .41 Magnum cartridge on caribou with excellent results. Keith touted the slight advantage in ballistics, accuracy and lesser recoil compared to .44 Magnum. The .41 Magnum started to earn respect from hunters because it could do just about everything the .44 Magnum could do while generating less kick. Metallic silhouette shooters also liked the accuracy of the .41 Magnum and the pure hurt it put on steel chickens, pigs, turkeys, and rams out to 200 meters.

Other gun manufacturers like Marlin produced lever-action rifles for .41 Magnum, Ruger produced double- and single-action revolvers, Thompson Center created a single-shot pistol and Magnum Research even made a Desert Eagle chambered for the cartridge. So, while there are some .41 Mag. guns out there, the cartridge never gained enough popularity for there to be an abundance of options.

.41 Magnum Ballistics

If the .41 Magnum has a sweet spot for bullets, it’s a 210-grain jacketed hollow point. This bullet is the most common and is usually loaded to a muzzle velocity of 1,200 to 1,550 fps out of a handgun depending on barrel length. The same 210-grain bullet out of a 20-inch rifle barrel has a muzzle velocity closer to 1,700 fps.

For handgun hunters, the .41 Magnum shoots relatively flat out to 100 yards. At 100 yards, with a 50-yard zero, a 210-grain bullet drops about 3 inches. If the kill zone of a whitetail deer is 8 inches in diameter—the size of a paper plate—then you can hold dead on out to 100 yards. All Shooter's Calculator tables were calculated presuming a 1.5-inch sight height, a 10 mph 90-degree crosswind, zero corrections for atmosphere and a 50-yard zero.

41-Mag-revolver-table-shooters-calculator

For rifle hunters using a 20-inch barrel, the same 210-grain load will produce noticeably more muzzle velocity. So, if we continue with my paper plate kill zone analysis, a dead hold out to 130 yards is possible with the same 50-yard zero.

While the .41 Magnum may not be a wrist cracker like the .44 Magnum, it does have noticeably more recoil than a .357 Magnum revolver. My second magnum revolver was a Model 57 with a 4-inch barrel, and I was happy it was a heavy N-frame. Shooting the .41 Magnum out of a rifle is a totally different experience, of course, as recoil is mild.

Magnum Revolver Calibers Match Up

When comparing three common loads of .41 Magnum, .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum, you can see that the .41 Mag. shoots much flatter and has 722 foot-pounds of energy at 100 yards. The .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum have 387 foot-pounds and 663 foot-pounds of energy, respectively. From a hunter’s perspective, at least between these three loads, the .41 Mag. is a better choice than either of the other two.

41-Mag-comparison-chart-shooters-calculator

What’s .41 Magnum good for?

The size and weight of any .41 Magnum revolver will make it impractical as a daily concealed carry gun. Though, if for some reason you did decide to carry a .41 Mag., I’d suggest using rounds loaded to lower velocities like Keith and Jordan originally advocated for. Powerful heavy magnum loads for EDC could be a liability, for instance, if the bullet passes through a bad guy in a coffee shop and causes collateral damage. That said, the .41 Magnum is a good option for personal protection when you are in big bear country.

In my opinion, the .41 Mag. is still a great caliber for hunting. At close to moderate distances, a revolver chambered for .41 Magnum can take whitetail deer, wild pigs and black bears. I’ve used it on medium game with both iron sights and scopes and I like its performance and how it’s easier on recoil. Don’t get me wrong, when shooting high-velocity loads, the .41 Mag. has a stout kick. More manageable is perhaps the best way to describe the recoil. You can squeeze out more of that .41 Mag. goodness out of a rifle. In a rifle, it is quite capable at distances up to 100 yards and even farther depending on your marksmanship.

SW-657-RIA — A S&W 657 outfitted with a scope. Photo: Rock Island Auction Company.

Guns Chambered In .41 Magnum

As you would expect, there are not a lot of .41 Magnum handguns and rifles being produced today, but the ones that are still being built really bring out the best that the .41 Magnum cartridge has to offer. S&W’s Classic series offers a 6-inch barrel model that is an excellent choice for hunting. I’d like S&W to re-release the Model 57 with a 4-inch tube and the Model 58, and they just might do that if we ask often enough. Ruger chambers their New Model Blackhawk in .41 Mag., and this is another great option for hunting or bear protection. The only current-production rifle chambered in .41 Mag is the Henry lever-action Big Boy, and I can’t think of a more enjoyable rifle to shoot .41 Mag. through than that. Any one of these newly manufactured guns will be more than fine for hunting, but you will have a few more options to choose from if you consider the used market too.

Henry-Big-Boy — A Henry Big Boy in .41 Magnum.

.41 Magnum Ammo

Because both the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum are more popular calibers, there are obviously many more ammo choices. The ammo selection for the .41 Magnum is much leaner in comparison, and these days you’ll probably have better luck finding it online rather than stocked at your local gun store. As far as prices go, .357 Magnum remains the most affordable of this trio while .41 Magnum is the most expensive, though not by much more than .44 Magnum on average.

My go-to round is the 210-grain JHP Federal Power-Shok. It has a muzzle velocity of 1,230 fps and 705 foot-pounds of energy out of a 4-inch barrel. This has been my stand-by hunting load for deer and I have used this ammo for years with good results. MSRP is $51.99 per box of 20.

When I want to crank up the velocity and energy, I turn to the 170-grain JHP from Buffalo Bore. Out of a 4-inch barrel that lighter bullet blasts out with a velocity of 1,640 fps and 1,028 foot-pounds. With a 25-yard zero, this load only drops 2.5 inches at 100 yards, making it an excellent choice for hunting. That said, the recoil and cost are both painful so you won’t be shooting it that often. It sells for about $2.70 per round.

We have black bears where I take my hikes, and to me, a bear is a bear no matter what size or color. I also hunt wild pigs and don’t like to track them, so I load up with Grizzly 265-grain Wide Long Nose Gas Check ammo. These bullets are designed to penetrate and crush bone with a 1,400 fps muzzle velocity and 1,153 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. Another excellent hunting round with plenty of wallop. The cost per round is about $2.30.

For a lighter bullet with a flatter trajectory, you could also consider the Hornady LeverEvolution load with a 190-grain FTX bullet. This is a great round to use through a lever-action gun. Muzzle velocity is more than 1,620 fps and energy will be over 1,107 foot-pounds. Those numbers were calculated using a 10-inch barrel, so while they’d be a little lower out of most revolvers, the performance would also be more impressive when using a rifle. This comes in 20-round boxes for about $1.40 per round.

Remington still makes .41 Mag. ammo too, but it only produces one do-all load with a 210-grain jacketed soft point that is designed for hunting and defense. It has an advertised velocity of 1,300 fps and 788 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. This ammo comes 20 to a box and costs about $2.50 a round.

Is .41 Magnum Still Relevant?

If I were asked by someone looking to get into handgun hunting and they were on the fence between a .44 Mag and .41 Mag., I would suggest the .44 Mag. There are more firearm choices available and a wider selection of ammo. It is not as flat shooting and it has more recoil, but all of that can be managed with the right load and the distance to the target. Plus, you can shoot .44 Special ammo in a gun chambered in .44 Mag. If you want something unique, then the .41 Mag remains a solid choice. I like it for the fact it’s an unusual caliber and it provides slightly better performance in some areas than the .44 Magnum without its wrist-cracking recoil. For a caliber that never really took off, the .41 Mag. sure does have staying power.

More Than Child’s Play: The Legal Implications Of BB Guns

Alex Ooley

March 15, 2024

The author analyzes the legal implications of BB guns and how the law treats them in comparison to real firearms.

As a defense attorney, I frequently see cases involving firearms and other “deadly weapons.” When hearing that someone has been involved in a conflict with a deadly weapon, it’s easy to envision bullets flying and blood on the ground. However, it’s important to note that most cases involving a deadly weapon never involve bloodshed or the actual discharge of a firearm.

One tool that’s often overlooked is the BB gun. In the realm of firearms and deadly weapons, BB guns often escape serious consideration. However, these seemingly innocuous tools have the potential to be seen as “deadly weapons” in the eyes of the law, subject to the same legal scrutiny as conventional firearms. As enthusiasts and defenders of responsible gun ownership, it’s crucial to understand the implications of wielding a BB gun, especially in self-defense scenarios.

In addition to my law practice, my family and I also teach handgun training courses, and we often hear people say that they don’t want to have a gun. They just want to know how to use one, and if they need to scare off an intruder, they’ll resort to something like a BB gun. This is a bad idea for lots of reasons, and most readers of this publication probably know this.

However, many of you have likely heard someone say something similar, and this article will help you explain to them why using a BB gun to defend yourself may have tragic consequences. Ultimately, the use of a BB gun to defend yourself will likely require the same elements to be present as would be required to use a firearm. If any of those elements are lacking, you could be facing serious legal jeopardy.

Classifying the BB Gun

At first glance, a BB gun may seem innocuous, lacking the firepower and lethality associated with firearms. Yet, it’s crucial to recognize that, while BB guns typically propel small metal pellets at lower velocities than firearms, they can possess the capacity to cause significant injury under the right conditions.

Modern iterations of BB guns often boast considerable power, with some models capable of achieving velocities comparable to low-caliber firearms. Consider the following language from the user manual for the Springfield Armory M1 Carbine BB Rifle (PY-4662-9125):

NOT A TOY. ADULT SUPERVISION IS REQUIRED. MISUSE MAY CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY, OR DEATH. MAY BE DANGEROUS UP TO 328 YARDS (300 METERS).

The law in Indiana, where I practice, acknowledges that an object need not possess inherent lethality to be considered a deadly weapon. The way it’s used or wielded is also a factor in determining its classification.

In fact, under Indiana statute, as in many other states, something like a BB gun could be considered a deadly weapon where the manner it’s used is “readily capable of causing serious bodily injury.” Moore v. State, 137 N.E.3d 1034, 1037 (Ind. Ct. App. 2019).

Thus, in certain circumstances, a BB gun assumes the legal status of a deadly weapon, regardless of its conventional classification.

Consider a scenario where a defendant brandishes a BB gun during a confrontation, directing it toward the victim with intent to intimidate or deter some action. In such a situation, if the elements of a self-defense claim are not present, the person wielding the BB gun is likely to be charged with the crime of intimidation while drawing or using a deadly weapon, which is a felony carrying up to six years in prison in Indiana.

My hope is that, through education, you might be able to convey to others the danger of using a BB gun as a deterrent or a tool for intimidation. Just because it’s not a firearm does not mean it won’t be treated like one in the court of law. Thus, if you draw or use a BB gun, all the elements required to draw or use a firearm likely need to be present.

Furthermore, the potential for unintended consequences cannot be overlooked in cases involving BB guns. In the heat of a confrontation, the distinction between a BB gun and a conventional firearm may blur, escalating the conflict and leading to tragic outcomes stemming from misjudgment or miscalculation.

The Court’s Perspective

While traditional statutes may not explicitly enumerate BB guns as deadly weapons, courts have increasingly recognized their potential for harm and the significance of the threat they pose. Prosecutors have successfully argued that the use of a BB gun to instill fear or coercion constitutes a credible threat of violence, warranting charges commensurate with those involving conventional firearms.

If you are interested in reading a case where this has happened, you should read Moore v. State, which you can find by searching with the following case information Moore v. State, 137 N.E.3d 1034.

In that case, a mother was visiting her son (Moore), when Moore told his mother to get out of his house. When she refused to leave, he held a BB gun toward her and threatened to kill her. After a trial, Moore was found guilty of intimidation while using a deadly weapon and sentenced to three years on the intimidation charge. The conviction and sentence were upheld on appeal. While you may have no sympathy for Moore in the case above, it highlights the way in which a BB gun could be treated as a “deadly weapon” in certain contexts.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Suppressor Special 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

More Knowledge For The Armed Citizen:

Carry Law: What Is A Righteous Shooting?
Concealed Carry and the Right to Remain Silent
Tips For Communicating With Police After Shootings
Concealed Carry: After the Shooting
Q&A: Massad Ayoob On Self-Defense In Modern America

Defensive Handgun Fads & Facts

Richard A. Mann

March 14, 2024

The author discusses fads and facts regarding defensive handguns, accessories and concealed carry methods.

Over the years, we’ve seen many products designed to make a defensive handgun a “better” tool for saving your life. But most offer advantages but come with risks. How many gadgets should you attach to your defensive handgun? Are they truly helpful, passing fads or crutches to circumvent training and practice? Should you turn your defensive pistol into a multi-tool, or should you just learn how to effectively use it in its basic form?

I can’t decide for you, but I can offer some insight that might help make up your mind.

Laser Sights

I used to be a strong supporter of laser sights—particularly laser grips—on defensive pistols. This was mostly because they’re great in low light and when shooting from unconventional positions, but also because they allow target focus shooting. I still believe laser sights can be useful tools. They’re great for helping you develop a good trigger press and for fine tuning your draw stroke. But my position on them as a must have carry tool has somewhat changed. I might’ve been so caught up in how they allowed me to do some things better that I overlooked one of the basic premises of practical self-defense, which is to keep things stupid-simple.

Crimson-Trace-laser-sight — Like with reflex sights, lasers come with advantages, and maybe fewer disadvantages. However, for optimum proficiency, there’s a lot of training to be done.

Pistol-Mounted Lights

At first blush, a light mounted to your carry gun seems like a great idea, but I’m not so sure it’s better than a handheld light. The primary problem with a pistol-mounted light is that to use it, you must point your handgun at what you want to look at. This isn’t a good idea and violates the second rule of firearms safety. A handheld light still gives you that search tool, and you can also use it to momentarily blind or disorient an attacker while you draw your pistol. And then there’s the more critical question of why you’re somewhere with a potential for danger that’s so dark you’ll need a light to identify or engage a threat? Never underestimate the logic of avoidance.

Suppressed Handguns

Adding a suppressor to a defensive pistol makes it more pleasurable to shoot. The muzzle blast and flash go away, and recoil is diminished. But you cannot effectively conceal a suppressed handgun. You’re also not a member of a tactical team conducting hostage rescue or terrorist elimination raids. A suppressor could be a valid accessory on a home-defense handgun, but it drastically changes the handling qualities of a pistol. Suppressors can add great enjoyment to shooting, but unless your job description has a multi-letter acronym, it might be best to use a pistol suppressor for recreational shooting.

Reflex Sights

The hottest thing right now are reflex sights. New, lighter and more rugged and compact versions are introduced monthly, and everyone wants a handgun with an optics cut in the slide. But are they better than standard sights? Well, when the battery isn’t dead or there’s not some electrical malfunction, they’re faster and easier to shoot more accurately at distances beyond about 10 yards. And, like lasers, they allow target focus shooting. However, sunlight can reflect onto the backside of the glass and render them useless. Dust and debris can block the emitter, and there’ll be no dot to aim with. A reflex sight is undoubtedly a great training aid for a new shooter … but will it always—every time and all the time—work when you most need it to?

defensive-handgun-reflex-sight — The predominant trend right now with defensive handguns is reflex sights. They come with some advantages, but there are also critical disadvantages.

Appendix Carry

Right now, the debate rages on whether you should carry on your strong-side hip or in the appendix position. All the cool kids like how fast you can draw from the appendix position. They like it so much that they overlook the second rule of firearms safety. In case you’ve forgotten, it’s the most important rule: Never let the muzzle cover anything you’re not willing to destroy. Ken Hackathorn has been one of the most respected firearms trainers for more than 30 years. He was recently chastised on the internet for his comments on appendix carry. Hackathorn said that any pistol you carry in that position is a potential “decocker.” It was a play on words—a damned good one—and he was right, mostly because humans tend to do stupid things. Several folks are now walking around with a diminished manhood because of appendix carry.

The .40 S&W

The .40 S&W cartridge came about because the FBI determined a downloaded 10mm cartridge offered the best terminal performance for law enforcement. When the FBI adopted the .40 S&W, most every law enforcement agency followed suit. But after a little more than 2 decades, the FBI changed their mind: They now feel the minimal terminal performance advantage the .40 S&W offered didn’t outweigh the better shootability and capacity of the 9mm. The fad of the .40 is over.

40-Smith-Wesson-hollowpoints — For nearly 2 decades, the .40 Smith & Wesson was the darling cartridge of law enforcement. Now, almost fad-like, it’s disappearing.

Facts

It takes a great deal of training and practice to become extremely proficient with a self-defense handgun. It’s a perishable skill that needs constant reinforcement. Every gadget or technique you add to your toolbox comes with the need for thousands of rounds and repetitions to make it viable. If you only train and practice a couple times each year, or even just monthly, you’re working right on the edge of just maintaining basic skills with a standard pistol. Without the necessary initial and sustainment training, every gadget you add to your pistol will reduce your proficiency. Don’t screw crap to your gun, or transition to a new technique, without the necessary training and practice to learn to use it effectively and safely. Otherwise, avoid the gadgets.

Would you be better off with a suppressed .40 S&W carry gun outfitted with a laser sight, a reflex sight and a weapon light that’s stuck down your pants keeping your jewels company? Or might a 9mm pistol you can shoot well combined with a compact handheld flashlight be a better option? It’s your life and you must decide.

Just remember that tools you’re untrained with are dangerous to you, and there’s only one letter difference in fool and cool. And, sometimes, those words can be interchangeable.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Suppressor Special 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

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Top Tips For Making Your Suppressor Last A Long Time

Patrick Sweeney

March 13, 2024

The author shares his top secrets for making your suppressor last a very long time.

You’re giddy as a schoolkid with a new …. well, let’s move on, shall we? You’ve just gotten your new suppressor, and you want to do this right, and you want to get the most out of it. Doing that involves five things: mounting, feeding, cleaning, performance and longevity.

Mounting is easy, right? Just screw it on, go to the range and have a blast.

Uh, no.

To do it properly, you need at the very least a proper wrench to fit the suppressor, and a fixture to hold the barrel. On an AR-15, that’s a “reaction rod,” a steel rod that holds the barrel by the locking lugs. On a bolt-action rifle, you want a set of barrel clamps and a vise. Clean the threads and then spin the suppressor on by hand. Use your alignment rod to check.

Oh, an alignment rod? That’s a straight steel rod that just slides down the bore. You slide it in and press the end flush to the endcap of the suppressor. If the suppressor is centered, you’re good, you can proceed. If it’s not, then you might be OK, and you might not be able to use that suppressor on that barrel.

There’s no “it looks bad, but it will be OK” here. A baffle strike can destroy your suppressor, so when in doubt, don’t. You follow a similar process with a QD mount: hand-tight the mount, mount the suppressor and check alignment.

suppressor-maintenance-baffle-strike — This is a “minor” baffle strike. It’s ugly and will need to be repaired.

If everything checks out by hand, take all the parts off. Degrease the threads. Use Rocksett to lock your muzzle device on and let it set. If your suppressor is a direct-thread and you have only the one rifle, then use blue or red Loctite to hold it in place and torque it on to the manufacture’s specs.

Oh, the top gun guy at your club sneers at Loctite, does he? He only uses Rocksett for everything? On a direct-thread installation, if you were never going to take it off (like for a police department), I’d agree. But you aren’t them. You might—someday—want to swap your suppressor to another rifle. Or you want to put a new suppressor on your AR, and this one comes with a QD setup. Yes, Loctite burns, but the ashes of it still bind the threads, and your suppressor won’t fall off.

You now have a properly installed suppressor. What to feed it?

original-maxim-suppressor — This is an original Maxim suppressor, used in the Chaco Rebellion back in the 1930s. If we got it out of the display case, it would work just as well today as back in 1935. Properly treated, they just don’t wear out.

A Balanced Diet

In centerfire rifles, the answer is easy: jacketed bullets. In pistols, also jacketed. No lead, no coated, and I’m personally leery of plated, but some have found them to be no problem. Pistol suppressors gunk up with powder residue and lead (even jacketed bullets with an open base, lead some) and must be cleaned, and using lead or coated bullets just accelerates that to an enormous degree. When it comes to rimfires, there’s no getting around using lead bullets, so you’ll be cleaning often—don’t shirk this or you might not get your suppressor apart.

suppressor-baffles — The baffles and their tube may not be the same material. Make sure you read the manufacturer’s instructions before cleaning.

As far as ammo goes, you’ll find that some will spit more than others. Rifles tend to be uniform, if a suppressor spits crap back, it will with almost any load. But pistols are a different breed. Basically, the more powder the round uses, the more it spits.

I was doing a TV show once when we ran out of the vanilla-plain .45 ammo we’d been using with a suppressor. All that was left was the +P ammo. And, boy, did it spit. Every shot was like blipping the trigger on a sandblaster with the cabinet door open. If you want to have the best experience, pay attention to what loads or brands spit the most and avoid them, and the least and use more of them.

Rifle suppressors tend to improve accuracy, as they strip off muzzle gases that might otherwise cause turbulence for the bullet. It’s not a lot—and you need a good shooter and an accurate rifle to see it—but it does happen.

suppressor-maintenance-baffle-strike-2 — Oops, this one is bad. Don’t be this guy—use the correct ammo and make sure your suppressor is aligned when mounted.

Scrub With Purpose

After a day of shooting, you’ll want to clean your suppressor. Well, some of them. Suppressors used in centerfire rifles with jacketed bullets don’t need cleaning. No, I’m not pulling your leg. If you’re using it properly, you get it hot enough to burn out anything that might try to remain and file for residency. Your pistol and rimfire ones will require cleaning, as in after each range session. Disassemble and use solvents (wear gloves) or throw the parts into your ultrasonic cleaner with the correct solvent.

suppressor-neglect — Here’s a pistol silencer that hadn’t gotten cleaned. They get heavier and noisier when neglect like this happens.

I know shooters who spent their whole lives cleaning firearms by hand and after a couple of suppressor-cleaning sessions went out and bought an ultrasonic cleaner. It’s that bad an ordeal. And the gunk is that nasty, being a large percentage of lead.

Jumbled Decibels

There will never be an end to the argument of whose suppressor is quieter, and what your suppressor actually does. Let me let you in on a little secret: Everyone has it wrong, apart from a few OCD math nerds.

suppressor-internal-design — There are many internal designs. They do different things, but the differences, for the most part, are minor.

What do I mean? OK, let’s take an example. Someone will tell you, “The AR-15 muzzle blast is 165 dB.” Actually, no. The more detail-oriented will say, “Under standard conditions, an AR-15 with a 16-inch barrel, using M193 ammunition, will be 165 dB.” Close, but no cigar. The truly science based will add in the brand of rifle, the lot number of the ammunition and conclude with: “It will average 162 dB, plus-or-minus 4 dB, with a plus 2 dB first-round pop, and a confidence level of 90 percent.”

Yep, there’s no such thing as a single number for performance. So, your “noisy” suppressor is producing reports from 158 to 166 dBs, while your friend with the “quieter” suppressor is producing reports from 156 to 164 dB. Add in the human factor that even the best of us has a hard time telling noise levels apart that aren’t more than 3 dBs, and we come to the conclusion that they’re all pretty much the same. (Oh, I’m going to get hate letters for that.)

suppressor-decibal-meter — There’s no such thing as a singular muzzle blast decibel level. It varies, and there’s no getting around it.

Is yours quieter than someone else’s? It might be the ammo. Change ammo and you can shift the average decibel level by 3 to 4 to 5 dB. Your “noisy” suppressor with the ammo it likes to be quiet with may well be quieter than your buddy’s “quiet” suppressor with noisy ammo. So, what can we conclude from this? Unless you bought an absolutely crap suppressor, you’ll be knocking a big chunk of noise off the muzzle report, getting better groups and having fun. Be happy.

decibal-meters — There are a host of meters to measure with, and the pro ones are expensive. Your smartphone isn’t one of these, so don’t bother.

Oh, and your smartphone decibel app is absolute crap when it comes to measuring firearms. None of them work; they all fail, because the microphone built into your phone just isn’t built for the task. So, give it up.

For the Long Haul

Lastly, we have longevity … and that depends, in part, on you. If you clean your suppressor (when needed), don’t shoot frangibles through it, and don’t shoot unstable bullets (the classic being M855 through a 12-inch twist barrel), you’ll have a forever tool. Avoid baffle strikes and gunk, and you’ll have long-term fun time.

suppressor-buildup — Any more buildup and a bullet might not pass through. Bad suppressor owner, bad owner!

When I went through the LE class with Dr. Phil Dater (imagine this: a gun writer and photographer in a class filled with local and Federal LE, evidence examiners and prosecuting attorneys—no one wanted a group photo), he showed us a rifle suppressor that had been sectioned. He asked how many rounds it had seen. I had the highest round count guess and wasn’t even close. It had a documented 108,000 rounds through it, and it hardly showed wear.

suppressor-maintenance-100000-rounds — The famous suppressor that took 108,000 shots. Looks pretty good. I wonder how much mileage it had left when it got shopped.

At current barrel-wear rates and ammo costs, 108K in an AR-15 amounts to eleven barrels ($279 each, Bravo Company) and ammo at $510 per thousand, for a total of $58,149. With that kind of longevity (with care), who cares if you spent a couple of hundred dollars more for your suppressor? Buy the best one for your needs.

What Do You Need?

And the sixth thing, needs? What do you need? If you’re hunting, you don’t need a full-auto-rated suppressor. C’mon, really? Less weight to pack, an less weight out on the muzzle will mean a more enjoyable hunting experience, and for that you want titanium. Yes, it costs more, but again, costs are relative.

You’ve plopped down, what, $5k for a hunt out West? A couple hundred more for the titanium version, and that’s a price that will be amortized over your hunting career. That extra cost is covered by not buying your special latte on the way to work each morning for a few months. No, really, a $7 drink five mornings a week for two months is $280. That just paid the upcharge for your all-titanium suppressor.

suppressor-maintenance-busted — Abuse is abuse, and it leads to a busted suppressor. This one was busted deliberately in order to see what it could withstand. Can your budget survive such testing? I think not.

Oh, and those of you who must have the full-auto suppressor? Don’t complain about the weight—spend a little more time at the gym and you’ll be fine.

I learned a long time ago, street-racing cars, that speed costs. If you wanted to go fast you had to spend money (luckily, I didn’t have to actually foot the bill—long story, but basically Ford paid for it). If you want to go quiet, you have to spend money. How much is up to you.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Suppressor Special 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

More On Suppressors:

The Suppressor: How They're Made, How They Work, And How To Buy One
Best AR-15 Suppressor Options For A Quiet Advantage
Handgun Gear: Best 9mm Suppressor Choices
Best .22 Suppressor Choices To Mute Your Plinker

Suppressors And Rifle Barrel Length

Josh Wayner

March 12, 2024

A look at the relationship between suppressors, rifle barrel length, performance and handling.

In 2012, there was anticipated political turmoil, hollow threats of bans, and the popularization of cans for the “average” shooter. It seems we won … soundly.

However, as time has gone on and we’re now solidly in the early golden age of these products, an increasing number of people have started to get a bit discouraged and revisit the necessity of a can on their rifles. Many factors go into determining if a suppressor is right for you and your rifle, and I won’t be the guy to say you simply must have one, as there are some seldom discussed downsides when you try to quiet things down a bit.

The Reality of Suppressors

I won’t shoot myself in the foot in an attempt to appeal to the middle ground folks: Bearing arms is our right, and suppressors are far, far too regulated in this country today. For all the ground we’ve gained, this is largely due to the diligent people creating processes to make it easier to navigate the NFA process rather than reinvent it.

Yes, it’s technically easier to get a can these days from a consumer’s point of view, but to the feds, it remains the same as it was. We aren’t any closer to having these items removed from the NFA as we were more than a decade ago … despite their booming popularity. They’re still a pain to get, and wait times are still upward of 9 months to a year—which is still, and always will be, utterly excessive.

Suppressors-And-Rifle-Barrel-Length-spread — Here’s a comparison of rifle sizes to show just how long suppressed rifles can be. The custom .308 Win. (top) dwarfs a 1914-dated Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55mm. This is a long rifle and considered ungainly compared to its contemporaries. The author’s custom .450 Bushmaster is nearly as long suppressed and far heavier. For comparison, a Fulton Armory M14 in 7.62mm, widely considered a “big” gun today, is the shortest, lightest and by far the handiest of the group … and it points the easiest. A suppressor would all but ruin this rifle.

That said, I don’t believe suppressors are as much of a problem solver, or a necessity, as they’ve been portrayed in our own media. I’m approaching suppressors here from a critical evaluation standpoint. Again, this isn’t me saying they’re all trash, or that everyone should own one—it’s hardly that black and white. Not everyone needs (as in a literal sense, not political one) a suppressor, and not every gun benefits from one.

I hate that, for many people, it has become dogmatic if you get critical from an evaluation standpoint: You can absolutely pick the wrong rifle to suppress if it hinders you. Hearing protection isn’t enough of a problem where ballistic performance, handling and portability are concerned. Good ear pro already exists. The advantages of a suppressor—primarily being recoil and noise reduction—shouldn’t immediately be prioritized over everything else that goes into the rifle.

Cans indeed are able to mess with the accuracy and reliability, not to mention cleanliness, of their host rifle. Suppressors can make common gas guns utterly filthy, thus requiring more cleaning more often. Some rifle designs become ungainly and hard to use. An excellent example is the M14/M1A: The rifle is light and points well, but add a pound to the muzzle and it ruins the handling.

Very few companies are designing guns around suppressors (although many are making them suppressor ready), and few suppressor companies are designing cans to go on a specific gun. This has a great deal to do with the fact that most people are buying one suppressor as opposed to dozens. The few among us who have a multitude of suppressors could arguably get away with just a couple good ones, but for NFA junkies like me, variety is the spice of life.

suppressed-Faxon-FX7 — Two Faxon Firearms FX7 .308 Win. bolt gun builds. While these seem the same size to the untrained eye, the green KRG-stocked rifle is substantially lighter—not by ounces, but pounds. The orange-stocked gun in the Magpul chassis is heavy and unwieldy, but with an Armasight thermal optic mounted, the lack of recoil is great.

If I truly wanted to have one suppressor, the SilencerCo Hybrid 46M is adaptable to virtually all my rifles and pistols. I could get away using just that one. Knowing this, that suppressor is my last choice in many cases because it’s large and heavy. So, already, I’d be looking for something else for my smaller-caliber rifles and pistols. Universal solutions usually put undue stress on performance.

The Cartridge and Can Conundrum

Recently, we’ve seen a trend to shorter barrels on mainstream rifles, which is a double-edged sword for shooters and suppressors.

I wrote a research paper in college about cutting down a .308 Win. barrel from 26 inches to 13.5 inches—so nearly in half. A decade or more ago, many shooters had never considered a .308 Win. that short; the most common length for this cartridge in that day was 24 inches, which is considered long for caliber today. Twenty inches was considered a compact rifle in those days, whereas today it’s “long” for a .308 at least.

At the muzzle, you can easily see the difference in profile thickness. It’s easy to see how a thicker barrel can more effectively deal with the weight of a suppressor.

I was shooting MOA at 500 meters with a 168-grain .308 Win. at 2,400 fps from a 13.5-inch pin-and-weld barrel, and that was simply unheard of outside benchrest pistols and other novelties. Short-barreled rifles (SBRs) weren’t mainstream like they are today, and neither were suppressors.

The basis of my research at that time was to prove that barrel length wasn’t the deciding factor in accuracy, to which I was rebuffed by the statement: “Then why aren’t all the F-Class and 1,000-yard shooters using 13-inch barrels if they are so much more accurate?”

To answer that you need to understand there’s a paramount difference between the situation and what technology is suitable for it. Longer ranges do favor longer barrels, but shorter barrels favor suppressors and, at that time, suppressor use in general was virtually unheard of. The basis of my work showed that, at medium distance, there was lots of utility in shorter barrels, but even I abandoned this because it was just too loud in the pre-suppressor era.

Longer barrels, in most cases, deliver better velocity when given identical cartridges. This is generally considered fact, but there’s a point when that length isn’t an advantage. For instance, the .308 Win. is a nearly length-blind cartridge. With factory 175-grain OTM match ammo, the average loss is only around 15 to 20 fps per inch, so you can chop a barrel down to 16 inches and lose maybe 100 fps, generally speaking.

Faxon-FX7-builds — The two Faxon FX7 builds show the disparity between a thick M24 barrel and a lighter “gunner” profile. Inside 500 yards, there isn’t much of a difference in accuracy, but there is in consistency. Adding a suppressor to the lighter barrel results in stringing when firing groups; the thinner tube is more susceptible to heat buildup with the added weight of a can on the muzzle.

I’m currently getting 2,600 to 2,700 fps in an 18-inch barrel with most factory .308 Win. loads. I gain basically nothing going longer, considering that I’m also shooting with a suppressor in 99 percent of cases. I’d rather have the can on the end instead of the extra 100 fps, because inside 500 meters, there’s no functional difference. If I wanted to make it up, I could very, very easily handload up to higher velocity.

Suppressors, Barrel Length and Contour

Barrel length and contour come heavily into play when it comes to understanding the utility of a suppressor. You don’t need a full M24 profile tube to support a suppressor but, in general, adding a pound or so of weight to the end of a skinny barrel will induce less-than-ideal results. A barrel is a suspended beam structure, and it bears weight along its length; a shorter barrel will always be stiffer than a long one of the same contour, making it more ideal to bear weight repeatably over time and shots. Having a thick, heavy barrel isn’t ideal on a rifle you plan to walk with, and having a too-short barrel will ultimately limit the effectiveness of any cartridge except … those rare birds meant to work with them.

Thinner barrels might not fill out the barrel channel on your chosen chassis. The industry standard is typically for M24 barrel profiles. If you don’t like this, well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

While there isn’t an ideal barrel length that benefits from a suppressor, the general rule is this: The shorter the barrel the louder your gun will be. However, at a point, extra length doesn’t add up to it being quieter.

For instance, my longest .308 has a 27-inch barrel, and my shortest has a 13.5-inch. The noise levels are noticeably different with the same suppressor and ammunition. Yet, the second I put that same ammo and can on an 18-inch .308, it’s suddenly the best of both worlds—just as handy as the 13.5-inch and as quiet as the 27-inch. I think 18 inches is the most ideal length for a suppressed .308, either in a medium or sporter contour like on the Faxon FX7 in this article. I like less barrel weight for suppressor use; it makes the balance better and the rifle easier to point.

suppressors-long-barrel — Long barrels aren’t too much fun in closed areas. The top rifle is a custom 6.5 Creedmoor with a 24-inch barrel, and the bottom rifle is a 27-inch .308 Win. With suppressors mounted, these are longer than muskets.

Carbon-fiber barrels solve a huge amount of problems with suppressor use. You can get the length you want and a larger contour for stiffness … without gaining tons of weight. I’ve found that carbon-fiber barrels are the best all-around for standard rifles and really shine in short, fat profiles. Suppressed use with carbon-fiber barrels is a joy, and I’m slowly beginning to transition many of my field guns to this barrel type. Not only do they manage heat better than steel barrels, but their inherent stiffness can also support the weight of even the heaviest suppressors for long strings of fire if necessary.

Suppressors-And-Rifle-Barrel-Length-carbon-fiber — Carbon-fiber barrels are some of the best you can get for suppressed rifles. It’s interesting to note that different companies use different wraps, the CarbonSix barrel (long muzzle shank, top) is distinguished from the Proof Research barrel visually.

Either in a bolt gun or AR-10, my ideal suppressor barrel would be a 1:10 twist, M24 contour .308 Win. barrel at 17 inches length from shank to muzzle so that with suppressor mount attached would still be at 18 inches overall.

Now, where was my contact card for CarbonSix barrels?

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Suppressor Special 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

More On Suppressors:

The Suppressor: How They're Made, How They Work, And How To Buy One
Best AR-15 Suppressor Options For A Quiet Advantage
Handgun Gear: Best 9mm Suppressor Choices
Best .22 Suppressor Choices To Mute Your Plinker

Should You Suppress Your Hunting Rifle?

Richard A. Mann

March 11, 2024

Suppressed hunting rifles can be great, but they’re not ideal for every situation.

Not all that long ago, it was only gun geeks and the wealthiest among us who had suppressors. However, the .300 Blackout cartridge, which Remington introduced just over a decade ago, started something.

But it’s not just the Blackout that’s being silenced nowadays; everyone—including hunters—seems to want everything quieter. This is no doubt also partly due to how Silencer Central has made buying a suppressor so easy.

But I’m going to be straight up with you on suppressors for hunting: I don’t think every hunter should use a suppressor every time they hunt. What I will say is that, in most cases—for most hunters—a suppressor can be a wise choice.

When Hunters Shouldn’t Suppress

Suppressors offer advantages for hunters. They reduce noise and recoil, make rifles easier to shoot and spook game less. But a suppressor isn’t always ideal. Last year, my daughter used a Kimber .308 Win. with a 22-inch barrel while hunting in Africa (it was just the way things worked out at the last minute).

suppressed-hunting-rifle-recoil — A 5.5-pound .308 Winchester with full-power Buffalo Bore loads can kick a 100-pound girl. The Banish 30 suppressor on this rifle made the recoil more manageable.

Though an athlete, at 19, she’s only 100 pounds and 5 feet—60 inches—tall. The rifle with the suppressor was only 10 inches shorter than she was. Suppression was a good idea for her; it helped with recoil, but a bad idea for that rifle and her. It was practically unmanageable. I used that same rifle in Africa, and by safari end, I was even ready to cut the barrel off shorter. And that’s exactly what I did when I got home.

Africa is conducive to suppressor use because most of the shooting is outside in the wide open and from sticks. But some hunters hunt from compact blinds or shoot houses or spend a lot of time hunting from a vehicle, ATV or side by side. Here, weight is of no concern, but adding 8 or more inches to the rifle’s length can make them unwieldly in close quarters. This extra length and weight on the end of the barrel also destroys the handling qualities of a rifle. Again, from a shoot house, it’s a non-issue. But if you like to stalk hardwood ridges or grown-up thickets where snap shooting is the norm, a suppressor can be a disadvantage.

disassembled-suppressor-1 — You can easily disassemble some suppressors for cleaning—though with high-velocity rifle cartridges, it’s not that important.

When Hunters Should Suppress

Suppressors are great for the young or inexperienced, especially those who are recoil sensitive. But as already mentioned, you can do to them what I did to my daughter and saddle them with a rifle they struggle to manage. I’d strongly recommend a suppressor for any new shooter—just pair it with the right rifle. And keep in mind that a suppressor can add from between a half to a full pound of weight to the end of the muzzle.

stag-arms-suppressed-hunting-rifle-weight — This Stag Arms Pursuit rifle weighs more than 8.5 pounds, without the scope. Adding a suppressor to an already heavy rifle, especially one as light at the Banish Backcountry isn’t a big deal.

I’ve also noticed that animals often respond differently when shot at with suppressed rifles. It’s not always true, but sometimes they’ll allow a second shot if you miss. Or, in the case of feral hog hunting, you might get more opportunities at more hogs that are all running together. And if you’re already hearing impaired, use a suppressor and maybe ear protection, too. For most who routinely apply ear protection before taking a shot at game, the suppressor can eliminate that step and still be hearing safe.

Right now, I’m packing for a 38-day safari in Africa. I’ll be using several rifles to hunt three different provinces. Two are Wilson Combat NULA model 20s. These rifles, which weigh right at 5 pounds and are available with barrels as short as 16 inches, are practically screaming for a suppressor. Especially a lightweight model like the Banish Backcountry.

That’s the beauty of lightweight rifles—the added weight of a suppressor doesn’t make them too heavy. Keep weight in mind when putting together a suppressed hunting rifle.

This And That

You’re going to need some accessories. In just a few shots, suppressors get hot enough to burn you, and the heat waves will distort your view through a riflescope. A suppressor cover should be a mandatory accessory. These fabric covers strap around your suppressor, protect your skin and help to eliminate heat waves during strings of fire.

suppressor-baffle-dissasembly-tool — This odd-looking device is to remove the baffles from a Silencer Central suppressor that you can disassemble. If you’re going to shoot a rimfire through your suppressors, it’s better if it’s serviceable … and you’ll likely need one of these.

Thread pitch matters. The standard is 5/8×24, but some rifles have a different thread pitch. I just tested the Colt CBX TAC Hunter rifle, and its muzzle is threaded at 9/16×24. Kimber also uses a weird thread pitch of 7/16×28 on their rifles. Depending on your rifle’s muzzle thread pitch, you might need to purchase an adapter. You can purchase some suppressors with different thread patterns, but keep in mind how many rifles you might want to use the suppressor on when deciding on thread pitch and/or adapters.

hunting-rifle-suppressor-adaptor — This Banish Backcountry suppressor has a 5/8×24 thread pitch. An adapter was required to attach it to the Colt CBX TAC Hunter, which has a muzzle threaded at 9/16×24.

What many shooters don’t realize about suppressors is that, if it’s in your name, only you can use it. For others to use it, you must be with them. This is a pain in the ass if you have family members who might want to hunt with the suppressor when you’re not with them. You get around this with a trust. Then, anyone on your trust can use your suppressor just like you. The best suppressor companies will establish a trust for you. You’ll just need to advise them of who you want to trust with your suppressors.

You may also want to use a muzzle brake with your suppressors. A suppressor will not only reduce sound, but it will also reduce recoil. But if you have a very light rifle chambered for a very powerful cartridge, you might still want that muzzle brake. It’s something else to consider—along with thread pitch—when buying a suppressor. And finally, your rifle will shoot to a different point of impact with a suppressor, but that point is predictable and repeatable.

suppressor-end-cap-thread-pitch — With some suppressors, the cap at the end can be interchanged so the suppressor can work with a specific muzzle thread pattern.

Practical Application

Most of the hunting I do in West Virginia is without a suppressor … because I do a lot of still hunting. I’ll slip through the timber looking for deer or bears. In those situations, a snapshot might be necessary, and the length and weight a suppressor adds isn’t conducive to fast and accurate snap shooting. But when I’m calling predators, I plant my backside in one spot … and a suppressor makes sense.

OutKast-Arms-suppressed-hunting-rifle — OutKast Arms restocked this rifle to make it lighter, and they shortened the barrel to make it more compatible—when suppressed—to the size of its owner.

Last fall, I hunted with my oldest daughter again, and we used a prototype suppressor I was testing. Remember that Kimber rifle she hunted with in Africa? I’d sent it to OutKast Arms and had them shorten the barrel to 18 inches and restock the rifle with much lighter and fully bedded carbon-fiber/Kevlar stock that fit her better. The weight dropped to less than 5 pounds, and the overall length was shortened by 6 inches. My daughter used it when we were stand hunting, and the combination was perfect for her small size. The rifle also worked well out of the compact blind we sometimes use.

As mentioned, the type of hunting you’d do in Africa is very compatible with a suppressor. So is much of the hunting that’s done out West, where the spot-and-stalk technique is most often used. That’s exactly the kind of hunting I did in West Texas for aoudad, where I used a suppressed .308 Winchester. That rifle also had a 20-inch barrel, so even with the suppressor it wasn’t overly long.

suppressed-hunting-rifle-africa — The type of hunting most often done in Africa is well suited to a suppressor, and your professional hunter will really appreciate it.

Suppressors can add enjoyment to the hunt because of the noise and recoil reduction they offer. But for optimum results, pair a suppressor with a rifle and a hunting style where the suppressor will increase, instead of decrease, your chances for success.

But I’m going to warn you: Once you start shooting suppressed, it’s hard not to want to do it all the time. You might end up with more suppressors than you bargained for.

Silencer Central Hunting Suppressor Options

There are a lot of suppressor companies, but I’ve pretty much settled on Silencer Central because I think they’re manufacturing some of the best suppressors, and because they’ve simplified the purchasing process. Silencer Central offers seven good suppressors for hunting that should cover most any need those hunting with a centerfire rifle might have.

1. Banish 223

This suppressor is for small-caliber rifles like the .223 Remington and .224 Valkyrie, and if used on an AR style rifle, there’s minimal blowback. It’s also 100 percent titanium, full-auto rated, and you can disassemble it for cleaning.

2. Banish 30

Without question, this is the most versatile of all Banish suppressors. It’s a multi-caliber design that’ll work with everything from a .17 Remington up to a .300 Weatherby. It’s 100 percent titanium, can be disassembled for cleaning and is modular. You can use it at a 7- or 9-inch length.

3. Banish 30 Gold

This is a suppressor kit that includes a titanium alloy suppressor suitable for everything up to a .300 Remington Ultra Mag. It ships with two 100 percent titanium muzzle brakes (1/2×28 and 5/8×24), a Devour suppressor cover, suppressor pouch and a baffle removal tool.

4. Banish 338

This is a very quiet and compact suppressor designed for rifles of 0.338-caliber or smaller. It’s made of titanium and Inconel—a nickel-chromium-based super-alloy—construction and is user-serviceable.

5. Banish 46

Sometimes you need to suppress big bores, like the .375 H&H and the .45-70. That’s what the Banish 46 is for. It’s available with a variety of mounting options, is user-serviceable and modular.

6. Banish Backcountry

For the hunter, this might be the best suppressor offered. It’s incredibly compact and light, and it’s capable of working with everything from a .17 Remington to the .300 Remington Ultra Mag. This is a fixed length suppressor, and it’s available with a muzzle brake.

7. Banish Buck 30

Created in conjunction with Buck Commander, the Buck 30 is the least expensive of all Banish suppressors. It’s made of stainless steel, and if you’re on a budget, a better suppressor for hunting will be hard to find.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Suppressor Special 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

More On Suppressors:

The Suppressor: How They're Made, How They Work, And How To Buy One
Best AR-15 Suppressor Options For A Quiet Advantage
Handgun Gear: Best 9mm Suppressor Choices
Best .22 Suppressor Choices To Mute Your Plinker

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