Thermal Defense Solutions Bantam II Suppressor

[Fatorangecat]

First and foremost, I want to reiterate that the human ear is incapable of judging whether something is hearing safe or not. Tone and peak can both hide a very damaging pressure wave so that you're completely unaware any damage is occurring. I would never intentionally habitually shoot any supersonic centerfire round without some form of hearing protection.

The other factor here is that port pop is a big source of noise with semiautomatic centerfire rifles. Far more than most people even realize. Moreover, it's the biggest source of noise to the shooter's ear when shooting with an effective suppressor. Silencers like the Bantam don't have much if any back pressure, so they don't increase port pop. It's no different in principle than using a 30 cal can on a 223 to reduce noise at the shooter's ear.

Again, I want to reiterate that the Bantam looks to be a very good suppressor for what it is, and I would absolutely buy one. I wish the company didn't do the whole smoke and mirrors routine because they have a pretty nice product at a reasonable price that can stand on its own merits. I think as an SBR can it's just about perfect.

PS, Paco is right, though. Wouldn't be hard to replicate as a traditionally manufactured silencer. You could even replicate the helical skirts if you really wanted to, though it wouldn't be advantageous. They don't really do anything as far as I can tell, but I know from experience why they're necessary, or at least advantageous, to the 3d printing process. Especially if they were using FDM to prototype, which is very common.

I went the opposite direction with this. I have it on a 16" gun with magnification and an adjustable gas block. In this application I absolutely love it. On a 12.5" barrel it has more flash and bark than I would like and think a larger volume can would be better suited. As much as I like the product I agree the customer service and marketing is absolutely terrible.

[okie]

I went the opposite direction with this. I have it on a 16" gun with magnification and an adjustable gas block. In this application I absolutely love it. On a 12.5" barrel it has more flash and bark than I would like and think a larger volume can would be better suited. As much as I like the product I agree the customer service and marketing is absolutely terrible.

My philosophy is if you're going to have a short barrel keep it short, whereas if you're going to have a long barrel then you might as well make it a musket to get down to that sub 140db range. If you start with a 16 inch barrel and add a k can, you're still at 20" plus, so you might as well just go with a full 7-8" can and get all the squeeze. Whereas on the SBR if you put a k can on it you're still going to be less than 16" overall, which is still reasonably handy indoors. The thing about SBRs is they're already ejecting at really high pressure, and a traditional can is going to make that even worse. So since you're already in that predicament where just the port pop alone is always going to be too loud even if you put a 12 inch can on it, makes sense to me to sacrifice some decibels and use a flow through can without much back pressure to speak of. In a lot of settings that's going to be quieter at the shooter's ear because you're reducing the port pop and sending the noise down range.

That's just my two cents, there's no right or wrong answer. Those are just the things I like about a silencer for an SBR is keeping it short and light and reducing that back pressure as much as possible. The goal for me with an SBR is just to take it down to a level where it's not going to cause catastrophic eardrum stuff if you have to fire a round indoors in a home defense situation. There are also other favorable benefits, too, like some flash suppression, good to excellent braking, a little bit of extra velocity, etc. And when we're talking about these light direct thread k cans they're pretty comparable to like a Warden setup in terms of weight and length, but obviously they do way more to protect the shooter. So if you can take back pressure out of the equation then you have all the benefits of both a silencer and a Warden type device with none of the downsides of either one. And like even just a four prong flash hider like a Vortex or BE Meyers, you're looking at several inches and maybe 5 ounces, and the same for any effective brake. So I think it makes a lot of sense to use a k can like the Bantam on an SBR because it's not much more weight or length than any halfway decent muzzle device, and of course silencers are the only hybrid device that actually works.

[feraldog]

well stated okie!

[Matt in TN]

Another update: I ran this on my 12.5" barrel at the Legion 9/11 Memorial Run N Gun, bouncing it on my back for 7.3 miles through heavy woods and crawling through swamps and 23" drainage pipes along the way. Hits from contact distance to 600 yds. Awkward positions and all.

I did notice a LITTLE gas to face when shooting multiple (20) shots from a VTAC board, but had no issues finishing the stage. I'm using a stock charging handle, so I'm not sure if the gas was coming from there or just the ejection port and bouncing back off the wall. Nowhere else did I feel any gas to face at all.

It never came loose, and it cooled down enough in between shooting stages that I could grab it with my bare hand with no issue to verify it was still tight. I brought a cut down silicone potholder for this just in case, but never needed it. Maybe direct thread suppressors really won't get you killed in the streets???

Still loving it.