The suppressor market continually evolves, a fact that was clearly demonstrated while testing newer suppressors from YHM, Rugged and PWS. 

If customers own suppressors from even five years ago, it’s worth talking to them about updating to new smaller, lighter, quieter and more adaptable suppressors. The speed of ATF approval is also driving suppressor sales to historic heights with approximately 1.4 million new suppressors sold in the past year. There are also active discussions about potentially removing suppressors from the NFA.

Suppressor Tech Changes Even just a few years ago, single-use, direct-thread and proprietary-mount suppressors were still the norm. Suppressor technology has been evolving fast and most legacy suppressor owners are not aware that new universal mounts, materials, and adaptability innovations have significantly changed performance.

HUB Mounting System 

For those customers accustomed to being married to proprietary mounts, that all changed roughly five years ago with the industry widely accepting HUB compatible mounts as a standard mounting platform. The HUB (Hybrid Universal Base) was originally released in 2015 with the SilencerCo Omega 300 and later the Hybrid 46 with a 1.375x24 threaded base later named the Bravo mount. The mount was slowly adopted as the industry standard by almost all manufacturers over the last five years and is now generally known as HUB, Omega, or Bravo mount, which are all the same HUB mounting system. 

Every suppressor owner should rejoice as the HUB system allows simplicity and compatibility with nearly any mount or thread pattern with the right adapter. Aftermarket manufacturers such as ECCO even make direct thread adapters to some of the more unusual barrel threads such as the rather goofy 16x1LH threading used on my Kriss Vector .45 SDP pistols. Owners are no longer held hostage to limited options of whatever muzzle mount or direct thread adapter the suppressor came with. With few exceptions to the use case, the consumer market should avoid suppressors that lack HUB compatibility. Military and precision rifles, however, may dictate direct thread or proprietary mounts.

The HUB system delivers future-proof compatibility allowing a huge world of adapters to be attached to the suppressor from any manufacturer while assuring compatibility in the future. My new HUB compatible PWS BDE 5.56 suppressor can now accept a YHM QD mount adapter for compatibility with my existing YHM QD mount flash hiders. If I owned a boatload of Plan B or other mounts, a simple HUB compatible adapter is all that would be needed to use all these existing quick-attach muzzle devices. Of course direct thread, tri-lug, pistol booster mounts can be used with the HUB system as well. And if a better mount comes along, the HUB compatible suppressor will retain compatibility. 

Internals & Design Changes

Baffles, adaptability, weight, suppressor size, efficiency, and serviceability are all exponentially improved over suppressor designs from even five years ago. Baffle technology has improved through computer flow and generative design advancements delivering lighter, shorter, better sounding suppressors with less back pressure. Low-back-pressure suppressor designs greatly reduce the uncomfortable gas blowback effect on the shooter on semi-automatic firearms, deliver a cleaner running gun and improve cycling efficiency.

Almost every major suppressor manufacturer now offers some type of short or length-adaptable “adaptive” suppressor options and a few companies offer only adaptable models. Adaptive suppressors allow users to legally change the length of the suppressor from a long to a shorter or even very short configuration by removing specified sections of the suppressor. Adaptive suppressors provide the buyer with both short and long configurations in one purchase. 

For centerfire handgun and rimfire suppressors, the need for disassembly and maintenance is essential, and legacy suppressors were horrifically painful to disassemble and clean. One older rimfire suppressor I own includes no less than four specialized tools for disassembly. Today’s handgun caliber and rimfire suppressors are usually designed with some type of internal baffle seal system that prevents the baffle from carbon locking to the inside of the tube. Well designed suppressors even include indexing baffles with the tube to assure perfect realignment and repeatable zeroing after cleaning. The net is a better sounding, lighter, shorter, more adaptable and easier-to-maintain suppressor that can drive sales.

There are countless new suppressors, but the following examples from Rugged, YHM and PWS showcase what the newest designs can offer your customers.

Rimfire Suppressor Updates

The Rugged Oculus22 and Mustang22 (aluminum version) are highly recommended rimfire suppressors equipped with standard 1/2x28 rimfire-friendly threading. The designs feature a two-part adaptive long and short suppressor design. The baffles snap together to prevent baffles from carbon-locking to the inner tubes, and are index keyed to the main tube allowing a repeatable zero.

The 100% 17-4 stainless $542 MSRP Oculus22 is rated from all rimfire rounds through 5.7x28 and allows both an adaptive long 5.25-inch or short 3.25-inch configuration with a weight of 4.3 to 6.9 ounces. The 100% aluminum $490 Mustang22 is .22LR rated 2.4 to 3.4 ounces, which is the same design as the Oculus suppressor, but half the weight. The baffle design is so good that in short configuration either of these suppressors on rifles sound better than my older longer rimfire suppressors. 

5.56 Suppressors 

The .223/5.56 round is hard to suppress well. After a recent shooting event, I purchased YHM Fat Cat and PWS BDE 5.56 suppressors. Both of these are extremely unique suppressors. 

As you would guess, the HUB compatible YHM Fat Cat is a fat 2-inch tapered, low-back-pressure, sealed, maintenance-free suppressor with YHM’s all new baffle system. The performance is insanely impressive in this short 4.25-inch length, publishing a hearing safe 139 db rating. Construction is all stainless with a Cobalt 6 blast baffle for extreme rugged durability, and it’s full-auto rated down to 10-inch barrels. The unique, fat design allows for larger internal volume in a shorter length.

The Fat Cat is significantly quieter than many other 5.56 suppressors with an amazingly deep low tone in a light 11.2 ounce weight. With HUB adaptability, I was able to use a YHM QD HUB adapter to make the Fat Cat compatible with all my legacy mounts. Considering the short length and low weight, the Fat Cat is extraordinarily impressive at an MSRP of $700.

The PWS BDE is a unique suppressor fully 3D printed in aerospace titanium. This additive manufacturing method allows the production of a more complex high-flow baffle design that would be impossible with typical machining. The result is a highly effective HUB compatible low-back-pressure suppressor with adaptive modularity. Thanks to the capabilities of 3D print manufacturing technology, the exterior heat dissipation design looks like nothing else on the market. 

The $999 MSRP design consists of the HUB compatible blast baffle, the fixed main baffle system, two removable baffles, and a removable end cap. Included is a HUB adapter with 1/2x28 direct threads. To prevent inadvertent incompatible configurations, the end cap will only thread to the main baffle system and the removable baffles. The result is an adaptive suppressor that can be configured in short, medium or long configurations ranging from 5.4 to 6.5 inches and 10.9 to 12 ounces. Performance on this suppressor delivered good tone within a full sized configuration and provided an extremely comfortable tone that cut the concussive blast of 5.56 rounds even in the short configuration. 

Universal Suppressors

YHM has updated their suppressors with new baffles, construction, and models that are surprising shooters with durability, performance and affordability. Their universal suppressor line now includes the Bad Larry .338, the R9 and the R45. The $699 R45 is one of their hottest selling new suppressors and was designed for incredible versatility rating that ranges from from rimfire to most rifle calibers with adaptability on both rifles and pistols. The R45 is also HUB compatible, which means it can also leverage any HUB compatible direct thread, tri-lug, QD, or pistol booster mounts. At only 6.4 inches and 12 ounces, the design delivers a shockingly great soft low tone on nearly all firearm hosts. 

The true versatility of this suppressor should appeal to all shooters who want a do-it-all suppressor. The R45 is rated from .17 rimfire to .308 Winchester (16-inch barrel minimum), 5.56 NATO (10-inch barrel minimum) and any lower-pressure rounds up to .45-70, which includes all .45 caliber or smaller pistol calibers. That is a lot of adaptability for the price of a single tax stamp. Testing this on a very wide range of rimfire and centerfire pistol and rifle rounds delivered excellent performance. 

Less Wait, More Sales

Individual filing ATF wait times are the shortest in history with most individual purchases occurring in hours with even some gun trust purchase approvals occurring within a week. Along with a new set of Gen Z shooters entering the market, short approval times are driving the biggest suppressor purchase increase in history. 

Based on data from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the number of U.S. suppressors has surpassed 5 million and reflects a significant increase of over 2.19 million since May 2021. By January 2024, the total reached 3.5 million, meaning 1.4 million suppressors were added in just six months leading up to July 2024. On average, nearly 60,000 tax stamps are being issued monthly. 

The 2021-24 suppressor purchase increase is the largest in history with nearly half of all suppressors in circulation being purchased in the last year — and that sales number does not include sales from August until now. If we put this into perspective, if all suppressors sold were from a single manufacturer they would be the second largest firearms manufacturer globally according to Orchid Advisors 2022 firearms data report. 

Whether you’re an existing SOT or one that offers an in-store kiosk from one of the major suppressor retailers, suppressors have become one of the hottest selling products in the firearms industry.