When looking for the best .22 suppressor, we tend to get caught up in just numbers we read on the internet.
Dont get me wrong, those are important and even more so with a .22 suppressor, alternately there are several other factors you may or may not be considering. Let’s take a look at some of these factors toghether.
The first one is tone. Tone can make the best .22 suppressor sound terrible to the end user and everyone around them. This is because we perceive sound different from a sound meter does. The meter is a special instrument that can hear sounds WAY past the human ear, which is great for several reasons, but it doesnt information what the silencer sounds like to the ear. You see it will capture that peak sound or even plot it over time and show this amazing story of how great the silencer is going on paper, but if the pitch is really high, it will seem like it is whistling in the shooters ear and this isnt pleasant. So a nice deep tone is better even if it is a couple of dB higher than one that has a higher pitch tone. It will be perceived to actually be quieter even though the meter says otherwise.
The next thing the best .22 suppressor should have is a quality build, this means being made with high quality materials, a good engineering design, simple construction and so on. If the system can be dismantled and then it is not intuitive to be reassembled correctly, then it is not the best .22 suppressor choice in our opinion. Metals like titanium and stainless steel make for a durable and strong 22 silencer that will last many lifetimes. Finishes like Cerakote and Nitride coatings also greatly add to the life of the best .22 suppressor options out there. So dont forget things like this.
The next thing we would say to look at is size. It seems everyone wants to keep making their 22 silencer smaller and smaller. This is fine if they do, but we have found that there is a sweet spot between maximum suppression, back pressure and over all size when it comes to a great 22 silencer. When making a small design as quiet as a larger one, we end up with greatly increased back pressure most of the time causing firearm and ammunition fowling and sometimes overworking the action of the host weapon. So a slightly bigger design that allows the pressure to flow forward more will lower back pressure while maintaining a nice deep tone (remember that part?) as well. This seems to be overlooked for a great number on a spreadsheet these days and we dont understand why…
These are just some of the things we look at when we evaluate a choice for the best .22 suppressor in our eyes and we hope you have gotten something out of this that helps you with our choice. Until next time, keep your powder dry!