Suppressor Upgrade?

[alamo5000]

I've had my suppressor back for a couple of weeks. Honestly I haven't had a ton of time to shoot recently but I did put a few mags through it on two different hosts so this is my first impressions only. I shot it on my 10.5" and my 16" rifles.

Normally I shoot suppressed about 100% of the time and with 5.56 I am always wearing ear pro. That fact alone (that I wear ear pro) is the only factor that even puts a little bit of hesitation in this equation for me. If I am wearing ear pro all the time is (or rather was) it worth it?
On balance I would say I am glad I did it for a number of reasons.

I am not a high volume shooter and I have multiple cans so my baffles were nowhere near being worn out. I just like the idea of an upgrade and so far it hasn't disappointed. I shot the guns just before sending off the can, and two weeks later when I got it back I got some ammo from the same bucket and tested the revisions trying to keep everything constant.

So far the biggest thing that jumps out is on my 10.5" it was very noticeably quieter at the ear, like a lot quieter. I took a single shot without ear pro on and it was much quieter from that aspect. I went from a Gen 3 Recce 5 to the latest baffles and they are not kidding when they said it was 'improved'. That said I am always wearing ear pro (except for really rare instances) so that's the only thing that made me hesitate to do it. On balance I am glad I did it. If there ever is some kind of absolute emergency where I don't have time to go get some ear pro on it is definitely going to be better.

The workmanship was extremely good. The welds are absolutely flawless. I think they use some kind of automated robotic laser welder now and it shows. That part is quite impressive actually on how it turned out. They do also refinish the can so it is literally like getting a brand new suppressor. The only thing (cosmetically) that changed isn't really worth mentioning but in the interest of full disclosure here we go. Where the front cap transitions to the tube body there is now an ever so slight ledge now whereas before it was kind of rounded at that transition point. It doesn't look bad at all. I spent 6+ years staring at that can and that is literally the only thing that is cosmetically different than what it was before. And as I already said the welds are flawless by anyone's standards.

Hopefully I can get more time using it, particularly in different conditions. The day that I shot it it was slightly windy outside and in my experience that helps prevent getting gassed out. When a really calm day comes around I will try to induce gas to the face but I have a feeling that too will be in general reduced a bit vs before.

In the three graphics attached, one is from Silencer Shop's tests using a lot older equipment and a 16" gun. That lists the ear number at 144DB. The other two is going from Mod 4 to the latest baffles. The regular Mod 4 shows an at the ear sound of 135.98 DB at the ear on a 16" gun. The latest baffles and using the same ammo and same testing equipment shows a 131.98 DB reading.

At least in theory those videos show a 12 DB reduction at the ear from the generation just prior to mine (in the Silencer Shop video it was a Gen 2 and mine was a Gen 3). 12 DB at the ear is A LOT. Going from Mod 4 to now it shows a drop of 4 DB.

With all that in mind I can confidently say that the ear noise from what I had to now is down by around to 6-8 DB, and probably a bit more (but that's all academic). All I know is it's CLEARLY quieter at the ear.