Silencer Saturday #342: What Is The Best First Silencer

In my time working a gun counter, I have sold a lot of silencers. But I have also had the “what silencer should I buy?” conversation at least five times for every silencer sold. So what is the right first silencer to buy? I can’t answer that for you, but I can help you ask the right questions.

Silencer Saturday @ TFB:

Silencer Saturday #340: The SHUSH Act Reintroduced In Congress SILENCER SATURDAY #337: The HUXWRX FLOW 556 Ti Preview SILENCER SATURDAY #327: YHM Mounts & Muzzle Devices – Locking In The Bad Larry SILENCER SATURDAY #306: The KAC QDC MCQ-PRT Ultra Compact 5.56mm Suppressor Silencer Saturday #339: SilencerCo’s Little-known A2 ASR Flash Hider

Disclaimer: NFA items like silencers are highly regulated. You can end up in prison if you break the law in this space. Please speak to a competent attorney if you need advice on your specific situation. I am not your attorney, and I do not and will not represent you. I also have a fairly close relationship with SilencerCo and own many of their suppressors.

What Questions Should You Be Asking?

What is your budget? This is a question you have to ask, but it should not be the most important answer. Due to the nature of the NFA, reselling a silencer is much harder than an accessory like an optic or flashlight, or even than the gun itself. $200 tax stamps add another layer of cost, and a collection of silencers means a collection of $200 stamps as well. Save up to get the right silencer for your needs.

What gun(s) do you most need to suppress? If you only own rimfires, a silencer designed to handle up to .45-70 is not must of a selling point. Most silencers can handle more than one caliber, and it is generally safe to shoot smaller calibers through larger caliber silencers. If you shoot a lot of handguns in varying calibers it probably makes sense to start with a .45 silencer. It is a lot more fun to shoot 9mm through a .45 can than to shoot .45 through a 9mm can (that would be very exciting in a bad way for one shot, but it strongly discouraged). But if you don’t own a rifle larger than a .30 caliber, and are not likely to ever buy one, going up to a .33 or .36 does not gain all that much.

Do you have a special requirement? Are you planning to hunt the deep backcountry or steepest mountains with this silencer on a magnum rifle? Do you own a machine gun and need to worry about extreme durability with heavy firing schedules? Does your gun, with a suppressor attached, absolutely have to fit in a certain space, like a rifle rack in a patrol car? The answer to any one of these questions could really narrow down your selection.

How do I compare performance? This may be the most difficult question of all. Sound is a difficult thing to quantify. Decibels are the main unit of measure, but measuring them is not easy, and many decibel meters are not up to the task of measuring the extremely short and loud pressure impulse of a gunshot. Many manufacturers still do list decibel readings in their advertising materials, and they are not totally worthless. But they also do not tell the full story so don’t take a purported dB rating as the final word on performance.

One interesting approach is from Pew Science, which takes a more holistic approach to measuring silencer performance. The ratings in their testing are definitely worth a look. I will admit that much of the math and engineering involved go over my head (that’s why I’m a lawyer, not an engineer). But as I compare my subjective impressions of silencer performance with how they rank on Pew Science, it tracks very closely.

Another worthwhile approach is shooting the silencer(s) you are most interested in buying before you buy them. Some shooting ranges have suppressors available on rental guns. Manufacturers and dealers host events where interested buyers can shoot them. Or, you may find that one of your friends on Reddit, Instagram, or a forum has the silencer you are considering and can meet up for a range day to let you try it. This can be a lot of effort, but for how expensive and regulated silencers are it only makes sense to test drive it before buying!

Do you have strong feelings about mounting systems? This used to be much more of a deciding factor but is less of one now. There are a fair number of good options out there, and with increasing modularity and cross-brand standards like HUB mounting (1.375×24 threads on the rear of the silencer) you are not necessarily stuck if you want to change someday. If you know you need direct thread or quick detach options, make sure the system you need is available on the silencer you want before you fill out the Form 4.

So What Can Should You Buy?

I know I said I couldn’t recommend the right first silencer for you, and I can’t. What you most need is a question only you can answer for sure. But the thing I generally recommend is a rimfire silencer like the SilencerCo Sparrow as a first foray into NFA items. Rimfire silencers are a superb gateway drug. The Sparrow can be had for around $350, and can handle everything from .22 LR to 5.7×28. It is not the smallest or lightest suppressor in this category but it has earned a reputation for durability.

The Sparrow’s great innovation when it hit the market was disassembly for easy cleaning. Most .22 ammo is dirty and leaves substantial lead inside the silencer. Over time that builds up and reduces performance and eventually even functionality. The Sparrow’s baffle stack separates from the serialized outer tube to allow cleaning of the lead buildup.

This may not be the newest technology (it’s more than 15 years old at this point) and similar features can be found in other silencers, but it still holds up well against the newcomers. I started shooting them back when they were a new product, and the early models continue to hold up along with the one I picked up a year or two ago. This is not to say that other popular rimfire silencers are not equally capable. It’s fairly hard to find a bad option these days. But the Sparrow is like the Toyota Camry or Chick-fil-a of rimfire cans. You know you’re always going to have a good experience, even if it’s not cutting edge.

Owning a rimfire suppressor is also inevitable once you head down the path of being a silencer owner. They tend to get used a lot, are small, affordable, and truly hearing safe. Actually, the inevitability is owning more than one rimfire can, so you might as well start with at least one. A suppressed .22 is the actual “movie quiet” silencer experience, and is a great teaching tool for younger shooters or people who are afraid of muzzle blast. The right starting point for you may be something else, but there are a lot of very good reasons to start with a rimfire.