It is time. SilencerCo Harvester 300 + Sparrow 22

[FrankenMauser]

I'm done playing around.
I'm done waiting.
It is time for some suppression.

I thought I wanted a Maxim 9.

Further consideration revealed that, for the money, I really wanted a good .30 cal (and smaller) rifle suppressor, as well as a rimfire suppressor. The .35(+) cal stuff can come later. (I need a suppressor capable of .475" projectiles, rated for supers, WITHOUT being .50 BMG capable. Yea, it's gonna cost me...)


I think the SilencerCo Harvester 300 and Sparrow 22 will cover quite a bit of what I want for the time being.

The Harvester would, potentially, be used on: 20" .223 Rem ARs, an 20" 6x45mm AR, multiple ".243 Win" bolt actions, 7x57mm Mauser bolt guns (highly unlikely, but plausible), .270 Win. bolt guns, .30 WCF (16"-22") lever guns and single-shots, and up to .30-06 bolt guns. With a wild hair up my ass, I might even try it on the .17-223 AR that's unfinished but in progress. (No high hopes there - just curiosity.)

The Sparrow 22 would see action on Browning Buckmarks, a Ruger 77/22, a Marlin 882SS (.22 WMR), potentially, an ancient bolt action .22 rimfire rifle SBR'd to 12" in the future, and whatever other run-of-the-mill locked-breech .22 rifles that I own.

Thoughts?
Considerations?
Concerns?
Valid experience to be shared?

 

[jpx2rk]

I've got a Ruger 22lr suppressor in "time out" right now. I shot a Ruger Mk4 22/45 Lite with the Ruger suppressor and liked it so I just bought the whole combo, gun and can at the same time, now just waiting. LOL. I felt like you do, it was time, so I did it.

A range buddy is recommending several different ones for my 223/204 rifles, he did state to get a 30 cal can and it would work for just about any gun I would own, especially if I went up in caliber size, just one can sounds reasonable.

GL in your search.

 

[OzeanJaeger]

I have a gen 1 Sparrow, and it is without doubt the most used can.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I think you are on the right track. A rimfire suppressor is definitely the best value/fun ratio. I have the Sparrow myself and the clamshell design makes it easy to clean (which is an important feature since .22 suppressors crud up badly).

My only comment would be if you are going to SBR the .22 rifle, I’d consider going even shorter. All the 12” barrel will do is make marginally subsonic rounds into supersonic rounds without increasing velocity any practical amount. At about 4”, almost all .22 is subsonic.

 

[Indi]

My sparrow is my most used suppressor. Have you looked at the Silencerco hybrid?! You can do all your pistol and rifle up to 45 with it.

 

[Theohazard]

If you care about first-round-pop and you’re using it on a pistol, don’t get the Sparrow. Otherwise it’s a great can.

And if you’re moving the rifle can around to a lot of different hosts, you might want a quick-attach silencer (I believe only the Harvester Big Bore allows a quick attach mount).

And if you’re planning on shooting it rapid fire and/or with shorter barrels, you want something heavier duty than the Harvester. That can was designed primarily for bolt guns.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Thanks for the replies.

I did take a look at the Hybrid, and it is a very tempting option, since it would allow me to run a can on the .35 Whelen and one or more of my .444 Marlins. However, I'm not sure that I want the extra weight and diameter, due to the specific configurations of the rifles I intend to run the can on. For example: the diameter is just big enough to obscure the sights on my favorite 444 Marlin, and that rifle was built around those sights. I do not want to scope it or go to even taller sights. It's a bit of a Catch-22...

---

For first round pop with a pistol, what's better than the Sparrow?

 

[Theohazard]

For first round pop with a pistol, what's better than the Sparrow?

Pretty much every .22 can on the market. A monocore design tends to produce a louder first-round pop, and the Sparrow’s is very loud and noticeable. I’ve sold scores (if not hundreds) of Sparrows and shot a bunch of them with other cans like the Spectre II, the Mask, the Ryder .22, or the Element 2 and they all have much, much less FRP than the Sparrow.

Lots of people don’t mind FRP since it only affects the first round. But me, I don’t like it. And if I have to use my .22 pistol to dispatch a critter I don’t want to have to use something like nasal spray to make my can quiet.

So that’s why the Sparrow was off my list when I was shopping for a .22 can. Working at a high-volume NFA dealer, I had the ability to easily order almost every .22 can on the market at dealer cost (or sometimes cheaper if the company had an employee program), and I picked the Dead Air Mask. It’s noticeably quieter on a pistol than a Sparrow and has almost zero FRP. And because of its baffle design it’s still pretty easy to take apart. The only nod to the Sparrow I’d give over the Mask is that the Sparrow doesn’t require a tool to disassemble.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Thanks.
I'll take that into consideration.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I don’t even notice first round pop with my Sparrow. I suppose the first round is louder but it isn’t loud to a degree that I’ve ever paid attention to it. To be fair though, many of the sound differences in suppressors are so mild you need a table full of different suppressors you could shoot side by side to even know there were differences.

To me, a Sparrow on a 4” 22/45 Lite is about as loud as a nail gun. You won’t be stalking through buildings ninja-assassining people in the next room while live people sit behind two 5/8” sheets of drywall blissfully unaware like in the movies; but it does make the whole shooting experience more pleasant for everyone.

 

[Mobuck]

The Harvestor is OK on smaller calibers but not as effective on .223 as a dedicated .223 cal can. Son cracked off 2-3 rounds to check zero on a 16" AR w/Harvestor yesterday. I was working 50 yards behind the shooting bench and the sound was comparable to shutting a vehicle door 20' away. More of a muffled whump than a muzzle blast. The downside is length.
The Sparrow is a good 22 can with only moderate FRP and handles HV ammo quite well and sub-sonic extremely well. Not as effective with 17 HMR as a bigger can but not bad.

 

[Theohazard]

FrankenMauser: as you can see from the posts in this thread, many Sparrow owners don’t really care about the FRP. Don’t let me deter you from getting a can you want if FRP isn’t a concern. I’m kinda obsessive about FRP, especially with something as quiet as a .22 can, which is why I prefer my Mask, which has almost zero FRP. But that isn’t a concern for many of the Sparrow owners I’ve talked to. And pretty much all of them are still happy with theirs.

After I got my Mask I shot it at our range right next to a coworker who was using his Sparrow. Both cans were on the exact same model of host: A 22/45. It wasn’t a huge difference, but we both preferred the Mask, both in FRP and in overall volume (the difference in FRP was large, the difference in sound after the first round was very small). But at the same time, he was still very happy with his Sparrow since it’s so easy to clean a steel monocore. (Also, he bought his Sparrow way before the Mask came out). The Mask is pretty easy to take apart and clean, but the Sparrow is easier; pretty much the easiest one on the market.

 

[FrankenMauser]

I appreciate the input.

I no longer own a 16" .223/5.56. All of the small-bore, centerfire rifles are 20"+ (on-hand or planned builds). With .223, the estimated muzzle pressure difference with the 'extra' four inches of barrel is about 2k-5k psi, depending upon the load. For example: 8,400 psi w/ 20", vs 11,300 psi w/ 16", running my 55 gr Nosler BTV / H335 load through QuickLoad -- or 26% lower muzzle pressure.
I imagine that does make some difference.

After further reading, and spending a lot of time watching and listening to FRP on YouTube, I still think the Sparrow will be fine for me.


My biggest problem is that almost nothing is threaded right now. On the up side, it means that I get to choose the thread pattern that I want...

 

[FrankenMauser]

My local suppressor purveyor keeps trying to talk me into the Tactical Solutions Ascent22, rather than the Sparrow .
A: Because he has several in stock.
B: Because they're almost $200 cheaper.
C: Because I don't need the (small) centerfire cartridge or full-auto capability.
D: Because cleaning is supposed to be just as easy.

I've dug around the interwebs as much as I can, and really can't find any downsides for some one that will only run it on .22 LR and .22 WMR.

Thoughts?
Experience?
Concerns?

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I have zero experience with the Ascent; but as you noted it isn't rated for the same calibers as the Sparrow. I'd also bet money that endcap will be a challenge to get off if it gets carboned up during a shooting session; but that's just a guess. After that, looks like disassembly is not too bad.

Probably easier to clean K-baffles than a monocore once you get them out.

 

[FrankenMauser]

I stuck with the Harvester 300, and ended up ordering a Tactical Solutions Ascent22.

The big bore can will come some time down the road...

 

[TruthTellers]

If you were only looking at getting a .22 LR suppressor, the most impressive one that I know of is the Q Erector. It's a modular suppressor that you change the length of and in it's longest configuration using all the baffles it's about 7 and a half inches long and weighs less than 3 ounces.

To be able to choose from a couple inches of length up to 7.5... you could have a .22 SBR with the suppressor on it and it barely be longer than 16 inches or you could suppress a pistol and not have this crazy long and heavy can on the end of the barrel.

To me, it's THE .22 suppressor to have given how light it is.

Looks like you already made a decision. Hope all goes well.

 

[Mobuck]

"you could suppress a pistol and not have this crazy long and heavy can on the end of the barrel."

Theoretically, yes. BUT Just how effective is "a couple inches" of suppressor going to be?

 

[FrankenMauser]

The Sparrow, TacSol Ascent, and many similar "non-configurable" cans are so small and light, while still being effective, that I don't see the need for a configurable .22 can.

I also don't plan for this to be the only .22 can. I want more, so that some can end up on dedicated hosts, and eliminate constantly adjusting for POI shift after swapping back and forth between half a dozen rimfires. Anything dedicated doesn't need to be configurable.

 

[TruthTellers]

"you could suppress a pistol and not have this crazy long and heavy can on the end of the barrel."

Theoretically, yes. BUT Just how effective is "a couple inches" of suppressor going to be?

Depends on what you shoot through it. Subsonic will still be very quiet, CCI Quiets will be even quieter, and .22 Shorts will be quiet too.