I'm thinking about picking up a .45 suppressor for my centerfire pistols. I have a stack of Scheels gift cards so that's likely where I'm going to buy it. They have the Rugged Obsidian, the Silencerco Osprey 2.0, and the new Huxwrks Flow 45M.

I know the Rugged suppresses well but is supposed to have a lot of back pressure and some people report encap strikes at a disproportionate number. I know the Osprey is monocore and older technology. I'm wondering if the new flow 45 is worth looking at? I know it was just introduced at SHOT and there's not a lot out there on it. I thought the brain trust here might have some insider knowledge.

The Obsidian endcap strike thing is real to the point where it’s nearly a daily post on Reddit some weeks and has become a meme. Nobody knows why, but yeah, it’s real. Some people never have a problem, some people have it happen multiple times for seemingly no good reason.

The Osprey, you’re likely going to be having Silencerco send you replacement pawls for the mount at some point, perhaps multiple times. I was reading conversation about that just tonight.

The Flow is probably the least problematic of the three, just know those are not especially quiet cans. A friend of mine has a Flow 9K and it is not a can that really impresses me.

If it were me, and I had to choose between three, it would be the Obsidian, and I’d pay close attention to alignment and good mounts and just be prepared to have Rugged replace the endcap at some point. Honestly, an endcap strike generally isn’t the end of the world, and those are pretty quiet cans, all things considered. A friend of mine has an Obsidian .45 on his MP5K clone build, and with 165gr subs, it’s a hilariously quiet setup.

Thanks for sharing your insight.

I've seen a few posts on reddit where a person rated the Flow 45 as quieter than the Obsidian, but I'm guessing it was from the shooter perspective and not the bystander. Maybe due to the flow forward design? I don't know anything other than my brother and I got to shoot the Osprey and I think the Obsidian on his pistol during a class in AZ several years ago. The (i think) .45 cans were quiet on his 9mm.

I have the Obsidian and have not had issues, its a nice can. But at this point given the issues I would look at the Mojave 45 as a better option.

Regarding the Obsidian, I’m aware that there have been reports of endcap strikes, but from what I’ve seen, it’s much more with the 9mm version than the .45 version. Similarly, again from what I’ve seen, the Osprey problems seem to mostly be with the original locking lever version of the Osprey, where the locking lever can come loose over time because the fine teeth on the locking ring get worn. The push button Osprey 2.0 has a redesigned locking system with two locking pawls and a different notched ring that’s more robust than the original design. I’ve got an Obsidian 45, as well as a first gen Osprey 9 and an Osprey 45 2.0, and haven’t had any problems with any of them. I’ve mostly used the Obsidian on PCCs, so I can’t say much about using it on tilting barrel pistols as compared to the Osprey. Also, to be fair, most of the Obsidian use was on 9mm, so the possibility of endcap strike was nearly nonexistent, but I have used it on my SMG-45, and never had an endcap strike, even once when I found it had started to loosen itself. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend either, although I personally prefer the Osprey for conventional tilting barrel pistols because of the low height, although it doesn’t always clear conventional height sights. Plus, the offset shape makes it a lot easier to tell if it starts loosening than a round suppressor. A con is that the Osprey isn’t user serviceable, whereas the Obsidian is.

No actual experience with the Hux Flow 45M. I briefly considered one for PCC use, but was disappointed that it was a smaller diameter than the Flow 9K, as well as the Mojave 45 that I’m currently using.

I have an Obsidian .45 and I purchased a 9mm end cap to go with it, intending to use it with both calibers. I never got around to getting a .45 with a threaded barrel. I have shot it on a 9mm and had one end cap strike, or it may possibly have been more than one before I noticed it. It dented the inner radius outward a little and flaked off a bit of paint, but no serious damage. I figure I'll just shoot it on the 9mm pistol with the .45 end cap installed.