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Inside Job

Inside Job

Let’s keep things quiet, actually no I’m going to shout about it. Because I have just been testing a load of moderators from Calibre Innovations! I recently had a visit from Alistair Bamford, the founder, and with him he had a box of goodies to test out on the range! Goodies, I hear you say? Only the full range of moderators that he has developed for rimfire and centre fire rifles!

A.R.M.O.U.R

Allow me to introduce you to the A.R.M.O.U.R Mark 1 and EOB or ‘End Of Barrel’ sound moderators for all rimfire calibres, be it .22 long Rifle, .22 WMR or .17 HMR. So let’s have a closer look at these then. So what’s the name all about? A.R.M.O.U.R. actually stands for ‘Ancillary Rimfire Mono-core Universal Rifle’, which sounds pretty cool and if nothing else should gain people’s attention. Firstly, these mods look just as good as they perform and with over barrel (reflex) or muzzle-mounted (EOB) options to choose from, they will pretty much suit any rifle up to a maximum diameter of .920”.

Looking at the reflex first, I have been running one of these for a couple of years now on my .22s and it’s had a few thousand rounds through it and with sub-sonic ammo they are very quiet. Weighing in at just 216 grams, they are light weight too. They are constructed from Type 2 hard anodised aluminium 6082 and seem very tough! They are available in both ½ UNF (1/2 x 20) and ½ UNEF (1/2 x 28) threads but Calibre Innovations will knock you up a ‘special’ should you need one!

Open the box

Once you get the ‘can’ out of its packaging, which by the way is pretty damn cool on its own, you find that you have a small strip down tool supplied. With this you can take the moddy down by inserting the lugs on it in to the holes on the end of the mod. You then simply ‘crack’ it open with one turn and then you can just unscrew the core, which then slides out. All you then have is just two component parts, what with the core just being a one-piece mono-core design, with an expansion chamber incorporated into it. All very neat and easy to maintain and put back together and easily cleaned using an ultrasonic bath! Or you can just give the core a spruce up with an old tooth brush.

Moving on to the EOB version, which is pretty much the same design but is shorter as it does not have a rear expansion chamber. It strips down in the identical manner and even has the same mono-core design. There is a slight difference in noise levels with the EOB with it being smaller but it is negligible, certainly on rimfire calibres. The core design really is effective though, as it allows the gases to flow forward through the moderator. This means that both models offer a similar level of suppression. The reflex is slightly quieter (1-2 dB) than the EOB but it is primarily designed for those who prefer the aesthetics of this longer design. As a yardstick I tested them against the good old SAK and I’d say they sounded a bit quieter!

DUCIS who?

The DUCIS centre fire range is all very Gucci! Available in EOB and reflex options, Calibre has even built one specifically for the Ruger Precision Rifle. Starting with the EOB, it seems to be a versatile system as you can change the thread and calibre, meaning it is possible to screw on the over barrel section too, so it’s like having one moderator for all kinds of rifles. Ali explained: “the EOB is ideal for stalking when you don’t want extra weight to carry in the field; whereas if you are at the range and need a little bit more suppression, so not to annoy your fellow shooters with too much boom, you can simply screw on the over barrel section. However, the over-barrel model does offer slightly more noise reduction!

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When you look closer at the DUCIS mods, you will notice a small dot or dots at the front of the muzzle end. These denotes the calibre and also can be found on the baffles and the core sleeve, so 1 X Dot = .22 calibre, 2 X Dots = .25 calibre and 3 X Dots = .30 calibre; so easy enough to swap bits out for different calibres, just don’t mix them up! To strip them down, you simply unscrew the barrel mount (the end that screws on the end of the barrel), which by the way can be changed for different barrel threads. Inside the barrel mount there is a high temperature O-ring that keeps the core under compression when shooting.

Nice & tight

This keeps everything nice and tight and in place. All you do then is tip the mod up and the core components will slide out of the core sleeve. What you then see is nothing short of a work of engineering art! Made from solid titanium that is by the way, 45% lighter than steel and will not rot, the core bits consist of (going from the front) the compressor, four baffles and the core packer.

As the round is fired and the bullet passes through the core packer, the 64,000 psi chamber pressure (in 308 Win) generated suddenly wants to relax as it enters the expansion chamber. A portion of the gas is then able to travel down the baffle ‘veins’, which are angled so to cover more distance than just a straight run. These veins also act as a heat sink to help cool the moderator. The baffles are totally inter-changeable and Ali told me that over time as they ‘wear’, you can move the first one to the muzzle end, kind of like when you were a kid and you swapped your bike tyres from front to back! For the record they wear at 25% of the rate of more traditional designs.

That’s handy harry!

A handy tool is supplied with the DUCIS models, so that if you over-tighten your moderator or the threads were fouled, you should be able to get it off….but keep them clean and take them off when you have finished shooting and you won’t have any problems

The DUCIS RPR or Ruger Precision Rifle version is pretty much the same as the over barrel one but with a longer over barrel section. Ali said that it was a popular request to have a moderator made for the Ruger that would reach all of the way to the hand guard. It was then a ‘no brainer’ to produce a specific one for that reason. And looking at it fitted, it looks very nice indeed!

Comparing these cans to a Wildcat EVO 10 showed a very similar level of moderation though the DUCIS sound a bit flatter in tone.

So there you have it, the full range of moderators from Calibre Innovations, not only great performers, they are engineering works of art! Having used the rimfire ARMOUR for a good while now, I can personally tell you that they work very well. Safe shooting! - Rack.

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gun
features

  • Name: A.R.M.O.U.R. Rimfire Moderator, DUCIS Centre-Fire and RPR
  • Calibre: All Rimfire and Centre-Fire Calibres up to .357”
  • Weight: A.R.M.O.U.R. Rimfire – OB 216 grams EOB 130 grams DUCIS OB 673 grams EOB is 462 grams, RPR 754 grams
  • Lengths: A.R.M.O.U.R. OB 195 mm EOB 114 mm DUCIS OB 257mm, EOB 150 mm, RPR 310mm
  • Thread Sizes: 1/2 UNF, 1/2 UNEF, M14 x 1, M15 x 1, M18 x 1, 5/8 UNF and 5/8 UNEF
  • Materials: Type 2 Hard Anodised Aluminium 6082 and Titanium
  • Price: DUCIS - EOB £340, OB £400, RPR £400 A.R.M.O.U.R. OB £155, EOB £100.
  • Contact: Calibre Innovations, 01264 850880
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