With the Hearing Protection Act being heard on Capitol Hill and the introduction of the Maxim50 this week, suppressors are front and center in the shooting community. SIG has actually been in the suppressor business for quite some time, but you would never see one on store shelves. They basically only worried about the overseas and military markets, ignoring the U.S. consumer. And one can’t really blame them. How ironic it is here in the “home of the free”, suppressors are much easier to purchase in Europe. Liberal’s like international law so much, I think we could agree on this one. Shooting unsuppressed isn’t just rude, it is bad for your ears.
SIG Sauer has been marketing themselves as the “ total systems provider”, and that is proving more accurate by the day. This week, we finished the hard part of getting a suppressor. The waiting game.
Going Quiet
About five years ago, SIG decided to bring their expertise to the industry for the rest of us, and the result has been spectacular. SIG doesn’t do anything half-assed, which is reflected in the new cans we picked up.
At the helm of SIG Sauer Suppressor division is my old friend, Tom Collins. Tommy knows a couple of things about suppressors as he used to be the CEO of Gemtech. Knowledge like his, combined with SIG’s world-renowned engineering staff and production facility, has pushed the suppressor world forward. SIG uses wire EDM machines for cutting the baffles, ensuring precise tolerances. The coatings are PVD ( Physical Vapor Deposit), creating a finish that is tougher than Cerakote under heat. The air volume of the suppressors as a family has been increased over competitors, resulting in a quieter can. A patented taper lock system ensures a tighter lock-up and less zero shift. A variety of materials are available, depending on your personal needs. Titanium, Inconel, Stainless Steel, and space-age coatings they won’t tell us the name of are all incorporated the construction across the Sig suppressor family.
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In the coming weeks, we will be offering a glimpse of the entire lineup, concluding with .338 Lapua. For this week, we started small. A rimfire is often the suppressor first bought and is arguably the most useful, so it made sense to start there. The Sig rimfire can is called the SRD22X, and retails for $445.
SPECS
- Caliber: .22 LR
- Weight: 5.1 oz.
- Diameter: 1.0 in.
- Overall Length: 5.8 in.
- Threads: 1/2 in. – 28 tpi
- Attachment Type: Direct Thread
- Material: Titanium
- MSRP: $445
- Manufacturer: SIG Sauer
The SRD22X features a titanium tube and stainless steel baffles. The titanium is obviously for weight reduction and the steel for durability. Most rimfire suppressors on the market feature one steel baffle in front, stacked with aluminum behind it. Steel is heavy, but aluminum wears faster by a margin. SIG solved this dilemma by opting for steel but machining it extremely thin. The result is a superior product for wear, at very close to the weight of competitors.
The takedown of the suppressor is awesome; it is fully serviceable by the end user. This is very important with rimfire especially. 22LR fouls things quickly, as anyone who shoots it a lot knows. Lead and carbon both stack up in a can, they get filthy. Both ends of the SRD22X screw off with a provided tool, meaning you can press the baffle stack out no matter how long you have neglected cleaning. Details matter in things like this and SIG covered all of them.
I first got a chance to shoot this can back at SHOT SHOW, but it is difficult to tell actual sound reduction in a scenario like that. Today, at my home range, I was blown away. Across the spectrum of .22 pistol, rifle, and .17 HMR rifle, this is the best .22 can I have shot to date. The sound reduction was amazing. My decibel meter proved a waste of $30, and sound doesn’t translate to video well. You just had to be there on this one. The SIG SRD22X cuts noise down better than the Gemtech Myst barrel, which is three times longer. A 6-inch direct-attach can that bests a dedicated integral barrel model is incredible and at a competitive price.
As usual, I was skeptical of the product. It’s my nature. But SIG Sauer has proven to deliver on promises once again. Shooting the rimfire can this week has definitely whet my appetite for its centerfire sisters starting next week.
For more information about SIG Sauer suppressors, click here.
For more information about the Hearing Protection Act, click here.
So I see some rimfire suppressors can handle 22mag. Can this one?
Thanks for the review, SIG look like the best. Fix the laws and I will set one, Don’t need it , just want it.
WWwwoooowwww, and this metal tube is only $400!?
I have done some work with Supressors and recording the decibels in the past. I was very disappointed that Clay did not
give his readings from the test. While I was not happy with my test results, I would like to know what he thought were “quiet readings”. I would then have some figures to compare with my own results..
it had nothing to do with disappointing readings. my decible meter was showing a 40 Db variation in rounds without the suppressor, which tells me something was not reading correctly. Or I can tell you that a 22 LR is 80 Db without a suppressor, which we both know is a lie.
Quieter than an integrally suppressed gun…. dang!
Sounds like SIG nailed this one!
Sig should offer the silencer/suppressor for a threaded p320.
Thanks again Clay for the info! I think you should write another article about the NFL, regarding their past “kneeling” during our national anthem! When I was a young boy, I looked up to football players, what are our young children being taught by example now? Disgusting! Anyways thanks for the reviews! I see your wife got her laundry basket back lol!
Show your disapproval in the way the NFL is acting towards the National Anthem by not monetarily supporting ANYTHING they do. Don’t go to or watch their games, write their advertisers, boycott their products…..everything NFL Don’t use or buy their stuff. Money talks and when their revenue drops they’ll snap those pompous ass, over payed, primadonna, no neck, pigskin throwing neanderthals into line or get rid of them. Either of which would suit me just fine.
Thanks for your comments!!!! The news blasted how many billions of dollars us taxpayers have paid for stadiums?
If the teams paid for their own stadiums, maybe the players would have to work harder for less!!! We canceled all our subscriptions to NFL games and such. We are done with the NFL!!!! Vince Lombardi is probably rolling in his grave, along with Tom Landry! Almost every family in this country has lost a family member in a war, and us older generations have lost a member in the Vietnam War. Clay wrote a great article regarding Kapernick. He sent me the unedited version, and we have it framed. Someday, when we get to train with him, we hope he will sign it personally. I missed the Vietnam draft by a year, and am disappointed, today, I did not serve my country. Any and all that served, I and we are grateful, and cannot say thank you enough!!! We support our country, our flag, our national anthem, and remove our hats and gladly have our hand over our hearts, and damn proud of it! We support the constitution and the second amendment! Thanks again for your comments!!!
So which is: suppressor or silencer..? Seems too many proponents of the devices want to have it both ways.. They tell us that the decibel level is reduced but still exists in somewhat loud measure while at the same time trying to say the legislation is all about hearing protection.. Sorry, can’t have it both ways.. I will stick to my Walker Game Ear while hunting and wear both an in-ear plug as well as shooting muffs while on the range.. A whole less expensive and not nearly as ugly as nearly all of the cans that I see…
Looks like a natural for my Ruger bull barrel 22 with 1″ o d barrel
SIG WAS ABEL TO SHOVE THE SIG BRACE UP THE GOVERNMENTS BUTT SO WE CAN HAVE SBR’S WHEN NO ONE ELSE COULD LET US HOPE SIG CAN KILL THE SUPPRESSOR TAX
Interesting observation, George, LOL! There are always unintended consequences with guns.
But the one I’m mostly concerned with is the ‘devil in the details’ of the bill going before Congress.
If they just remove the Federal Tax and paperwork but require an illegal background check (registration) anyway to purchase just like a real firearm, which these simple cans are not, then it’s all a bullshit waste of time that everybody fell for like a teenager’s first puppy love. And a huge win for the anti-gun gangsters who now know where everyone lives who owns a silencer and knows they must have guns to put them on, which may have not had a previous paper trail because they were all purchased privately!
But, if they are considered a firearm you can make one just like you can a firearm. The kits are already out there , but they were not very sophisticated and the ATF has been taking down the manufacturers. Once the Hearing Protection Act passes how long do you think it will be until the 80% kits hit the market? Yes you should be able to buy them clean but one step at a time.
Enough with the “illegal background check” and scary “paper trail” BS.. I for one welcome these future “anti-gun gangsters” trying to break down my door to take my guns… Seriously though maybe this act is a win because you know it saves legal suppressor owners lots of time and money and also opens the market up for much more affordable mass produced suppressor made of materials not meant to withstand a million rounds like already seen in Europe.
Be careful of what you wish for, wishes sometimes come true in a very negative way. So you have a suppressed quiet gun. If everyone else at the range is shooting non-quiet guns, you still need ear protection. Once quiet guns reach an unknown depth of market penetration range rules will change forcing non-quiet guns to be left at home. And finally the anti’s will begin agitating to make suppressors mandatory for all public shooting including hunting. Don’t want to hurt the bunny’s hearing just before you shoot it. Yes, we should be free to own supressors. But this movement originated with manufacturers of suppressors, not from shooters needs or demands.
Well, considering many firearms, including most hunting caliber rifles, when suppressed, are not hearing safe, I doubt we have too much to worry about.
I get your paranoia, and I could always be proven wrong, but I will take my chances. I live just outside a city limits with a few acres, love to shoot suppressed .22, liberal neighbors never even know.
Well thought remarks.
Agree with Retrocon. Other than .22 and subsonic .300 AAC, I still wear some sort of minimal hearing protection when hunting and practicing with my suppressors because the “hearing safe” threshold of 140db can still produce hearing damage with repeated shots. Also, some of the lighter cans might not make the magical 140 cut
I expressed similar concerns when the Hearing Protection Act was first introduced. My concern was that if hearing protection was such a big concern why not make it so that every gun sold will now be required to have an individual silencer on it and since that worked so well, in a year or two, make it retroactive to every gun you own.
I’m confused… so you guys like that suppressors are an NFA item? Because I think that is all this is about.
That simply will not happen. Even if the taxes and paperwork are removed, only a minority will get threaded barrels and pay for suppressors. Please don’t worry about something like that.