Just got back from the range. Not pictured is the Gen 5 17 with the SRO, and I shot both of them suppressed. The Ecco Phoenix is a really good can, especially for the money. People are seriously sleeping on that brand, it's wild to me. Traditional and high backpressure, yes. That said, if you don't mind that, his work is quality, and you can't beat the prices. $100 cheaper than a YHM R9 or Omega 9K, last I looked.

Anyways, the Glock is not an idea suppressor host. I know this. All kinds of shit blows out the back of the slide into your face, and after about a magazine through each, I was basically shooting an occluded red dot. Cheap ammo shoots filthy, I know. I need to start reloading and work up a clean burning subsonic load. I got ahold of a Silencerco threaded barrel for my 92, and I have a factory threaded Sig barrel coming for my P226. I just need to order a locking block kit for the 92 barrel, and then hopefully by next weekend, I'll get to try out both of those suppressed as well. Supposedly, those are among the very best 9mm suppressor hosts.

Oh, and yes, that's a Griffin Ez Lok my buddy loaned me to try out. Yes, it works really well. Too well, almost. I let it cool after several mags through the G17 and tried to remove it to get it onto the G45, and at first the can unthreaded free of the booster, and then I shredded my thumb on the TLR when the Ez Lok broke free of the barrel threads. I wound up just unthreading the whole thing and hand-torqueing down on the G45 with an adjustable wrench. The Ez Lok wouldn't come free from the barrel mount until the can was absolutely cool to the touch. So... yay for taper mounts.

I have a friend with an FNX45. Seems like that's the de facto .45 host these days. I really don't want to get back into .45, though.

I know it's really low on the practicality scale, but it's so much fun. May keep the G45 suppressed and loaded with 147gr Lawman on the night stand. What are you guys shooting for suppressed pistols?

I’m glad you had a good range outing! A decent to good can on a handgun is a treat. I like shooting suppressed 45’s…easy to see holes in the target, not having to worry about subsonic loads, and typically not having to worry about picking up another shooter’s brass!

My suppressed 45’s are HKs, and they all feel like using an air-compressed nail gun or stapler. The trusty Ti-Rants still do their jobs well.

I suppress a Beretta M9A3 as well…coupled with the grips, it is my favorite suppressed 9mm setup. When you get your 92 all set, hopefully you like it better than the Glocks. Nothing wrong with suppressed Glock 9mms, but I enjoy the Beretta more.

I've tried many of the pistols I own. Excepting the .22cans I think they all pretty much suck. But of the ones I've tried the big HK's are probably the best in overall terms (like CD) 45T and M23 being the best of those the USP is not terrible, but a bit worse. And since the guns are so gal darn heavy the suppressor hanging out there seems less annoying! Glock is pretty bad as you note. I never enjoyed the Beretta. The FN is fine but I don't like the gun very much itself. The 226 does pretty well and one thing that helps is just run a .45 can on it and the blowback problem goes down without too much impact on noise. I suppose some of this really matters on what can you are using and what ammo so I'm not sure how translatable it is...
Now give me a suppressed PCC/sbr and I will smile all day long.

Yeah, this is a dangerous road to go down. Earlier this year, I shot a G17 that had a Griffin Revolution on it. I can't remember if it was a 9 or a 45, but there was zero blowback from it. I really don't want to buy another 9mm can right now, and if I buy a .45 can, I can see it being a great excuse to buy a .45. Dangerous road to go down.

I'll have the threaded P226 barrel by Tuesday, so I'll throw it together and go shoot it hopefully Wednesday morning and see what I think. I can't get the damned roll pin out of the barrel on my 92 and don't want to try to force it, or I'd have already swapped over the locking block.

The weight and balance thing is something I didn't touch on, but have definitely been thinking about. On a Glock, it's ridiculous. The can seems to weigh more than the gun does. My buddy who loaned me the booster, piston, and EZ Lok has an Ecco TLX. It's the exact same can in every way, except it's made from titanium instead of 17-4 stainless. He has his on a CZ 75 SP01, and I've shot his setup. The balance is sweet, the gun cycles great, it's comfortable to shoot without ear pro running his subsonic handloads. I forget which Vihtavuori powder he uses, but it is remarkably clean burning compared to the factory stuff I shot yesterday. Anyways, his gun balances very nicely with a reasonably heavy gun and a lightweight can. Of course, his can at the same length is 3.6oz vs the 8oz and change mine is and he can run it without a booster. Maybe I do need a TLX in .45....

Tell you this, though: I don't think I'll be using the EZ Lok system. It's nice that it can turn everything into a universal thread pitch and you can use one booster system, but what an absolute pain in the balls getting the can off once it's got a few rounds through it. I had it sitting on the bench with a portable fan blowing directly on it, and it was still a half hour or more before I could get the piston to unthread from the EZ Lok mount. If you want a can to stay put no matter what, sure, but otherwise.... Also, you're paying almost $60 per gun to use it after you buy the piston, and the muzzle devices look like total ass.

I think it's fair to say that I don't want to shoot unsuppressed anymore. There are times where it isn't practical or feasible, such as daily carry or for a lot of matches since RO's have to be on top of the gun with the shot timer to get an accurate time, but outside of situations that don't really permit it, I am going to migrate to shooting suppressed as a normal state of affairs. It's just so much better, even with the ear pro on.

I wouldn't run EZlok as a general system, but they do solve one specific problem. How to have a taper mount on a system that needs a booster in my case the LWRC that unlike almost every other PCC needs a piston. So I use it there and in general it works ok. I'm posting this partially in the hope that someone has a better answer on this specific issue because where I am in not my favorite...

Ohhh, yeah, I could actually see that working really well for that.

Well, my P226 barrel showed up. It's going back. I don't know who's making these for SIG, but there's zero finish inside the chamber, the quality looks really rough, and I could forgive all that except that it's friggin' reverse thread and that wasn't mentioned on the packaging or in the description. I'm not buying shit to make this work. Gotta be someone who makes a standard 1/2x28 threaded barrel for these. Guess I'm hunting around for an old used one.

I shot the Glocks last night, both suppressed and not. Had a lot of fun shooting a full size steel torso at about 50. Even more fun suppressed with the TLR-VIR II. I had a real hard stoppage with the G17 at one point without the can on it. I thought it was a dead trigger and went to rack it and the slide wouldn't budge. I couldn't get the damn thing open. One of my friend who went with us is a machinist and has a pretty monster grip, and he managed to get it open and it had a live round about 90% chambered. The bullet was jammed deep into the case, which was bulged because of it, and there is a deep dent in the nose of the bullet. I don't know if it was the magazine, the Ballistic Advantage barrel, or the ammo that caused it. I got distracted and didn't quarantine the mag, but it was one with a +5 baseplate and there's only six of those. I'll be taking a dremel and felt disc with some compound to the feed ramp on that barrel before I do much more shooting with it. I suspect it was the magazine, but a mirror-smooth feed ramp never hurts.

Not like you P220Smudge to not know the details of what you are buying. Factory barrels have had that euro 13.5LH thread since time began. Several people make 1/2x28 for the 226 so no issues. But a piston might be cheaper than the barrel swap.

I have a P226 with the euro left hand thread metric barrel. I ended up getting a 13.5 x 1 LH piston for it rather than swapping barrels. That could end up being the more expensive route, if I end up with a second 9mm suppressor so that I'm not taking apart hot cans on range days. Now you guys have me looking at a Kuna or SP5 and I'm not sure how far down this suppressed rabbit hole I'm going

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ibanda:
I have a P226 with the euro left hand thread metric barrel. I ended up getting a 13.5 x 1 LH piston for it rather than swapping barrels. That could end up being the more expensive route, if I end up with a second 9mm suppressor so that I'm not taking apart hot cans on range days.

Here's my latest setup, P365 Tacops and SilencerCo Spectre 9. I'll be back with a range report later this week.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
Not like you P220Smudge to not know the details of what you are buying.

Haha, totally valid.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
Factory barrels have had that euro 13.5LH thread since time began. Several people make 1/2x28 for the 226 so no issues. But a piston might be cheaper than the barrel swap.

Well. Crap. I get free returns plus shipping refunded for thirty days, so I'll just send it back and find a Silencerco barrel. I'm pretty sure those were what I was looking at first, and they're 1/2x28 but backordered until March, and my brain just shut off after that and I grabbed the first available option.

Oh well, I need to actually order my own booster and piston anyways. I thought my buddy loaned me this one with the intent to get me to buy it, but it's his backup and he wants it back at some point anyways. I'll skip the EZ Lok and just order a 1/2x28 piston when Ecco restocks.

I am a little confused about through threading vs. muzzle register. The explanation on his site doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Seems that with what I'm doing, I don't need muzzle register, yeah?

quote:

Originally posted by ibanda:
I have a P226 with the euro left hand thread metric barrel. I ended up getting a 13.5 x 1 LH piston for it rather than swapping barrels. That could end up being the more expensive route, if I end up with a second 9mm suppressor so that I'm not taking apart hot cans on range days.

Yeah, I don't really want to add another dedicated pistol can right now... but if I do, it'll be that TLX in .45. I know I don't want to be swapping pistons at the range. I live in Phoenix, even with portable fans blowing on my cans at the range, most of the year, it takes too long for them to cool down enough to be monkeyed with like that.

quote:

Originally posted by ibanda:
Now you guys have me looking at a Kuna or SP5 and I'm not sure how far down this suppressed rabbit hole I'm going

I was excited about the Kuna at first, but later feedback has it not as great of a suppressor host as a Stribog SP9A3, and given the feeding and accuracy issues I'm having with mine, I'm slow to recommend one. An MP5 clone of some sort is about as good as it gets. When I was looking at this stuff last year, it was before all the FRT stuff hit, and now an MP5 clone with an FRT lower makes more sense to me than the Stribog does. Just my thoughts on it. All the guys in my shooting group have either MP5 clones or B&T stuff of some stripe outside of the ubiquitous AR9, but the MP5 clones are nearly always the quietest suppressed subgun types at our shoots.

That Spectre looks about perfect on that 365! My buddy who loaned me the booster and piston is thinking about grabbing an Ecco Machine Canine for some of his smaller pistols. Stealth Additive makes what they call the Shiv - a boosterless printed titanium can that's under 3oz if I remember right. I'll be trying out one of those at the EVT shoot later this month. God help me, the other night I had the thought that something like that on my G42 could be a lot of fun.