Lots of people are in the market for a suppressor these days. Believe it or not, we have the ATF to thank for that. As of today, the average wait time for eForm 4 approval is down to…two days. Yes, you read that correctly. If you walk into your local gun store and process an electronic Form 4 to buy a suppressor today, in all likelihood you can expect to get your approval and pick up your new can before the weekend. And that’s the average. Some are getting theirs as soon as the same day.
I’ll get into what that’s meant for suppressor manufacturers in another post, but in the mean time, if you’re looking for a can for your .22 pistol or rifle, one of the most popular models on the market is the SilcencerCo Switchback.
Why? Well, SilencerCo claims the Switchback is “the best performing rimfire silencer on the market.” If you talk to the folks at SilencerCo as I did at NRAAM, they’re mighty proud of the Switchback. They’re happy to tell you it’s the quietest rimfire can you can buy.
Exactly how that’s measured is a subject for still more posts that we actually have in the works and will talk about another day. But for now, based on our experience, we can say the Switchback 22 one amazingly quiet can.
What makes the SwitchBack so appealing — besides its noise damping performance — is how it’s built and its modularity.
The SwitchBack 22 can be put together in three configurations, either 2.5 inches, 3.6 inches or 5.75 inches long. In full configuration, it weighs 6.5 ounces.
You can certainly get less expensive rimfire cans. SilencerCo’s own Sparrow, or JK’s VersaX 22, for instance will save you a couple of hundred dollars or more over the price of a SwitchBack. And the VersaX is, like the SwitchBack, is also a modular design.
A big difference, though, is in the materials. The Sparrow has a stainless steel housing while the VersaX’s housing is aluminum. The SwitchBack’s outer tubes are made of titanium and its baffles are stainless steel. That means it can stand up to a lot of hard use, including full auto.
The sound in video is always a poor representation of what it sounds like IRL, but as you can hear Jeremy and I comment above, the sound of the rounds hitting the berm were as loud as the report when the SIG P322 was fired with the SwitchBack configured at full length. And that was shooting supersonic ammo (CCI Mini-Mags) for that video. Subsonic ammo would obviously be even quieter.
Again, the SwitchBack won’t be the least expensive option in a rimfire suppressor. But its design, construction, configurability, and performance more than justify the price.
Specifications: SilencerCo SwitchBack 22 2.0 Suppressor
Caliber Rating: Up to 5.7×28
Thread Pitch: ½ x 28
Length: Short – 2.5″, Med – 3.6″, Long – 5.75″
Weight: Short – 3.2oz, Med – 4.3oz, Long – 6.5oz
Diameter: 1.07″
Materials: Baffles = Stainless Steel, Tube = Titanium
Full-Auto Rated: Yes
Price: $458
4 Responses
Calibers up to 5.7, but not 5.56 / .223?
.223 being a slightly higher pressure round and has more than twice the muzzle velocity.
“.223 being a slightly higher pressure round…”
Yeah, but it’s made of ultra-high-tech alloy Titanium, capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound without exploding like an Iranian-piloted helicopter into the side of a mountain… 😉
Ed Bolian of ‘VinWiki’ and ‘Cannonball Sea-to-Sea’ race fame has a cautionary tale of a man pocket carrying without a holster :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EVuw4qHQ1I
*Ouch* 🙁