Silencerco omega or what?

One nice thing about the process now is that Form 3s are so fast, you can shop around without having to worry about waiting weeks for the Form 3 to go through.

The qualities I look for in .30 Cal suppressors by level of importance is:

Light
Short
Good Suppression
Toughness

Toughness being at the end doesn't mean that I don't want a high quality can, just that I don't need full auto ratings and the like.

Given that list, I narrowed my buy in May down to:

Thunder Beast Ultra 7
Silencerco Omega
SAS Reaper
Liberty Sovereign

I actually wound up going with the new and relatively unproven Sovereign (although the company has been making good cans for a while) because I got it on sale ~40% off at Capitol armory. If I hadn't wound up finding that deal, and had paid full price for one it would be the Thunder Beast as they are very light weight, local, and sound great. The Omegas I've heard sounded quite good too, but they are a bit heavier, probably due to the the materials necessary for it's full-auto rating.

What qualities are most important to you in this can?

Also, just FYI according to NFA tracker, individual submissions are going a lot faster than trust submissions right now, just something to keep in mind if you're on the fence about which to use. I have one can under a trust, but went individual this time, and it looks like it might wind up saving me several months.

I have one Surefire Genesis and three Silencerco Omegas. I like the Genesis, a lot. I could hammer nails with it. It is much more sturdy that the Omega with comparable suppression (very good), but it is heavier.

I like the Omega for being lighter, more versatile (multiple mount options, front end flat cap or flash hider), and generally easier to deal with.

While I would be glad to buy either again today, I would go with the Omega for versatility and weight.

Check out the Gemtech Dagger. Rated for full auto, 300 WM. 15.3 oz. I run one on my 308 Savage Hog Hunter, you won't be disappointed.
https://www.silencershop.com/gemtech-dagger.html

z7 said:

Thanks for the comments,

what is most important in this suppressor?

weight. . . .I don't want a 3lb weight on the end of the gun

reliable and easy swapping between multiple firearms.

accuracy must be maintained, if I can't shoot my 308 suppressed it is a waste of money.

ability to go on a 10" 5.56 barrel when/if I build that AR pistol I have thought about

ability to handle a 300 magnum of some sort for when I decide I NEED that elk rifle

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Aside from the swapping around a lot, what you want is a TBAC Ultra. Not that they can't be, but their brake mounting system isn't as conducive to myriad hosts as other more robust but less precise brakes or direct thread mounting.

Otherwise, the TBAC Ultra are definitely the superior choice for weight, precision and dB reduction. The Ultra 9 makes full power .300 win mag totally hearing safe, not at all bothersome.

MachIVshooter said:

The Ultra 9 makes full power .300 win mag totally hearing safe, not at all bothersome.

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That combo isn't hearing safe from a medical perspective. The silencer industry uses the term "hearing safe" to describe any silencer under 140dB. This is a deliberately misleading term, and it's a misrepresentation of the rules for noise exposure. The 140 dB threshold is what OSHA uses for the upper limit of the safe dB threshold for a one-time impact noise. But that doesn't mean any sound below that is safe and won't cause permanent hearing loss.

Here are the decibel guidelines for daily exposure as described by the American Hearing Research Foundation (emphasis added):

"Habitual exposure to noise above 85 dB will cause a gradual hearing loss in a significant number of individuals, and louder noises will accelerate this damage. For unprotected ears, the allowed exposure time decreases by one half for each 5 dB increase in the average noise level. For instance, exposure is limited to 8 hours per day at 90 dB, 4 hours per day at 95 dB, and 2 hours per day at 100 dB. The highest permissible noise exposure for the unprotected ear is 115 dB for 15 minutes per day. Any noise above 140 dB is not permitted.
[...]
Combined use [of ear plugs and muffs] should be considered when noise exceeds 105 dB. Note that for such situations, it may be that there is no type of hearing protection that will stop a very loud noise from affecting you."

http://american-hearing.org/disorders/noise-induced-hearing-loss/


In comparison, a centerfire rifle with a silencer is usually in the 135 - 140 dB range. A pistol with a silencer and subsonic ammo is usually in the 125 - 130 dB range. And a .22 with a silencer and subsonic ammo is usually in the 115 - 120 dB range.

Now, I'd be interested to know how the recommended exposure levels translate to an intermittent sound like gunfire. I'm not claiming that the exposure times allowed for each dB level directly translate to gunfire. But those numbers still show that suppressed gunfire can cause hearing loss, it just probably takes longer than a constant noise would take.

I like my Griffin Recce 7, but it does produce A LOT of back pressure on semi auto rifles and it is a tad heavier than the newest titanium cans. It does suppress 5.56 as well or better than most dedicated 5.56 cans though.

z7 said:

accuracy must be maintained, if I can't shoot my 308 suppressed it is a waste of money.

ability to go on a 10" 5.56 barrel when/if I build that AR pistol I have thought about

ability to handle a 300 magnum of some sort for when I decide I NEED that elk rifle

Click to expand...

The accuracy issue is problematic. When you add a suppressor to the end of your rifle, you are going to change several aspects of barrel performance including harmonics and droop. Despite some companies that claim accuracy or that your suppressor will make your gun more accurate, it really isn't true. Barrel and suppressor are only part of the equation, bullets and load being the other parts and critical. You can scour videos on Youtube where you find people testing accuracy. What you will find is that with a given suppressor, a given gun with a given bullet and load may or may not be more accurate (based on group size). You may need to change ammo in order to get the accuracy you want when adding a particular suppressor. If you reload, you may need to run a ladder test to determine which loading will work best for you.

Barrel droop is a real issue. Chances are that when adding a suppressor, your POI will be 1-4 MOA lower than without the suppressor and may be 1-2 MOA off in windage as well. That is normal, but can be much worse. Longer and thinner barrels tend to droop more as a result of putting all that extra weight on the very end of the barrel.

As far as going from a short barrel to 300 mag, you need to check with the manufacturer for specs on that. Do you also want or need full auto capability?

Double Naught Spy said:

Barrel droop is a real issue. Chances are that when adding a suppressor, your POI will be 1-4 MOA lower than without the suppressor and may be 1-2 MOA off in windage as well. That is normal, but can be much worse. Longer and thinner barrels tend to droop more as a result of putting all that extra weight on the very end of the barrel.

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My experience has been considerably less than that, 1-2 MOA elevation and 1/2 MOA windage or less. The Rem 770 .308 has been the most affected, shoots 1/2 MOA left and 2.5 MOA lower with the can. My KM77V shifts 1-1/4 MOA down and no windage change. That's easy, just make 10 clicks (1/8 MOA increments on the Monarch 6.5-20x 44mm) on the elevation turret when going between suppressed or unsuppressed. Or simply leave it alone and aim accordingly.

What matters more than how much it shifts, is how consistently it shifts. It's easy to account for, as long as it doens't change one time to the next. And that's where precision rifle designs like the TBAC ultra shine. Those things really don't change POI when you remove & reinstall them from one trip to the next, as long as you keep the mating surface clean. Other direct thread and (especially) brake mounted designs tend to not square up as perfectly every time, so the POI shift varies.

z7 said:

I do not NEED full auto capability, but the ability to suppress a 10" 5.56 is desired. I won't be doing mag dumps or long periods of high volume fire so the full auto rating is not critical, i assume the full auto rating is a measure of strength and the ability to handle intense heat of full auto or sustained semi auto fire.

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Remember that full auto rated doesn't just mean rapid fire or sustained high volume in terms of full or semi-autos; it's easy to cook a can that isn't FA rated even on a bolt gun. They heat up way faster than the barrel. Something like the SiCo Harvester is good for about 5 shots out of a 24" magnum, then should be allowed to cool for a few minutes. A full auto rated can will be able to handle 20, 30+ rounds of magnum inside of 10 minutes. Full power rifle rounds heat cans up very quickly.

MachIVshooter said:

Full power rifle rounds heat cans up very quickly.

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Yeah they do. Here's an old SWR Wolverine on an M249, and look how fast it heats up. It only takes about 8 seconds for the can to start glowing red. The Wolverine was a fairly heavy-duty can and 5.56 isn't exactly a full-power rifle round. Of course, the fire rate of the M249 is a little faster than most people shoot...