Silentum moderators

In the last few years it seems everyone is making fullbore moderators. I have here two examples from a Finnish company called Silentum, which I reckon is a pretty catchy title for a can. A search on line showed that this is also the name of a Finnish rock band that plays gothic, and emotional metal music…

Both moderators are reflex-types and in this case for 223 Remington rifles and were supplied by Bob Clark at Southern Gun Co.

Made of what we are told is a ‘high class, special aluminium alloy’ the two models are the Silentum and the Noise Stopper 201. In terms of what they do I suppose you could compare them to the BR Tuote T8 and the smaller T4 and T8 AR reflex designs.

Baffled

Similar in idea to the Norwegian A-TEC is the fact the baffle stack is longer than the expansion chamber. This makes the muzzle overhang greater but also, in theory should give more moderation effect as the hot/hi-speed gases have more space to cool/decelerate in.

The Silentum 201, which is the smallest, measures 8” long with a 2” expansion chamber so extending the rifle length by 6”.  Diameter is 1.78” and weight is 14oz. In 223 the attenuation is quoted at 27dB. The Noise Stopper is bigger at 9.75 x 1.968” and weighs 19.2oz. Here muzzle overhang is 7”.

Regrettably I could not get into either can, though they are billed as strippable, but inspection appears to show a multi-baffle design with expansion chamber. Both cans were shot using my 223 Speedmaster AR15 and Ruger M77 VT (204 Ruger). There’s little doubt the larger Noise Stopper is more efficient than the 201.

I used my BR Tuote T8 AR as a control and the 201 sounded marginally louder, though the Noise Stopper was slightly quieter. Though as ever the Mk 1 ear’s ability is far from exact…

223 Rem to 50 BMG

Both cans are available in metric and imperial threads – the latter on request and in black or silver finish as indicated. They also seem to cover the majority of calibres from 223 Rem up to 458 Win Mag with special models for 338 Lap Mag and 50 BMG too.

My general feeling is that they appear to be well made and generally as effective as the competition, which as I said seems to be growing daily. Weight and size is not a problem but the long overhang generally adds two inches over most other reflex designs. I am unsure if Silentum make a rimfire unit but again that would seem likely.

I appologise for the brevity but that’s really all I know at the moment. But I would like to look inside to see if they offer anything really different and use them for a bit longer to see the effect of long term use. Silentum offers a 2-year guarantee that covers materials and manufacturing. As of yet no prices, but to be competitive they do need to be coming in at sub-£250.

For: Works as well as the competition

Against: A bit long

Verdict: Apparently an effective design, but longer term testing is required