Review of the Silencerco Spectre II .22LR Suppressor

Silencerco, LCC in West Valley City, UT has quickly become a household name among suppressor enthusiasts. The company has proven its mettle by manufacturing quality products that work as advertised and by following up with great customer service for both their dealers and end users. I have spoken with many of the guys at Silencerco and they're all top-notch to deal with.

Today's lesson is on the Silencerco Spectre II (or Spectre 22 as the company now calls it per their website). This is a .22LR can which is very easy for me to recommend to customers. Silencerco bills the Spectre II as "super tough and durable and one of the quietest .22 suppressors known to man". I cannot argue with that statement, but I feel that in fairness I should point out that just about ANY .22LR suppressor with a halfway intelligent baffle design is going to be quiet. It doesn't take much to suppress .22LR, especially when shooting subsonic ammo.

However, it's the overall design of the suppressor that may make one particular .22LR can "better" than others. The Spectre II is one of the models on the market that really does have an intelligent design considering all the drawbacks you have to deal with when shooting dirty rim-fire ammo. As you'll see in the photos below, the baffles are designed in such a way where all the lead and other crud is compartmentalized within the baffle chambers and don't ever touch the outside suppressor tube (where the serial number is engraved). This is a very good thing. Also, being made from 100% stainless steel, it is truly a strong and durable suppressor, albeit slightly heavier than it were made from aluminum. After years of shooting... and cleaning... various models of .22LR suppressors made from various materials, I can say that I unequivocally prefer stainless steel construction for my .22LR cans.

The following photos depict the Spectre II in various states of disassembly and I've shared a few comments appropriate to the photo immediately following each photo. This approach should give you a good idea of the construction, fit, finish, size and weight of the suppressor. I'll also give you my personal opinions and feedback of its real-life performance as a conclusion. Enjoy!

Silencerco packages the Spectre II very nicely. The suppressor is shipped in a durable canvas carrying case which is sandwiched between layers of foam. A disassembly tool is also included. Underneath all of this is the user's manual and other random marketing paraphernalia. And all of this is in a box with a full apron lid with another another sleeve that the whole box slides into.
 

The suppressor in the canvas carrying case in the box. Notice the disassembly tool.

 

The tool has a couple different functions which will be explained later.

The manufacturer says 5.98" length and that's accurate according to my ruler. It might appear slightly longer than 5.98" in this photo, but that's because of the fish-eye look the camera lens created. At almost 6", the Spectre II is slightly longer than average for .22LR suppressors. The suppressor is 1.0" in diameter.

Manufacturer claims 6.8 ounces. According to my scale, it's 7.3 ounces. Don't ask me why the discrepancy... I'm just the messenger. And honestly, it's hard to tell the difference in real life anyway... like, when it's hanging off the end of a 10/22 rifle. 6.8oz or 7.3oz... either way, this is little heavier than average for .22 suppressors. But, the reason for that is justifiable in my book. It's because there's a lot of stainless steel in there.

This is a close up of the front cap. This part screws directly to the barrel of your gun. Thread pitch is 1/2"x 28TPI. This means the suppressor is made to screw on barrels threaded 1/2" outside diameter by 28 threads per inch, right-hand twist. This is the standard thread pitch for .22LR suppressors (important note: 5.56/.223 AR-15 rifle barrels have the same thread pitch, therefore it is possible to attach a .22LR suppressor to an AR-15. Please do not do this. Your .22LR suppressor was not designed to withstand the tremendous pressures generated by the 5.56 round. Your little suppressor will likely explode if you try this. Also 9mm pistol and carbine barrels are also commonly threaded 1/2-28. So again, you can attach a .22LR suppressor to your 9mm gun. Think about what will happen if you try to send a .38 caliber lead projectile through a .23 - .25 caliber hole at 1,200 fps. Yes, it won't be pretty. Moral of the story: be sure to use the appropriate suppressor with your guns). The O-ring may be hard to see, but it's on the inside of the threaded part of the cap.

To remove either front or rear end caps, you use the included disassembly tool to unscrew the cap. The front cap has an O-ring that helps snug it down tight and maintains a tight seal. The rear cap - the one that has the female threads that attaches to your barrel - has an O-ring also. But this seal is on the inside of the threaded portion, thereby helping keep your barrel and gun clean by minimizing blow by of the gasses. The tool can be used two ways. The way shown above and also using the U-shaped cut outs on the other side of the tool. This cut-out spans the diameter of the rear cap and hooks onto the scalloped perimeter (see photo of the front cap). Once engaged, you simply unscrew the cap.

The front cap removed. Notice the O-ring.

When the baffles are "clicked" together, they form a sturdy tube, This tube slides into the outer tube of the suppressor as shown here. The tube-within-a-tube is a great design consideration for any .22LR suppressors. I wish more manufacturers did this.This tube-within-a-tube thing is slicker than snot. What will they think of next?

The baffles of the Spectre II are 17-4 stainless steel. They stack on top of each other in the tube by nesting on the ridge that you can see at the base of each cone. The straight sides of the baffles help keep crud from building up on the inside of the suppressor tube. This is a tube-within-a-tube design and that's a good thing. For one thing, it makes disassembly easy, even after 100s or 1,000s of shots. Also, no crud ever touches the outside tube, i.e. where the serial number is engraved. It's always a good idea to treat the serial numbered part of your suppressor with extra care. With the Spectre II's design, you're golden.

The ridge at the base of the cone part of the baffle is more obvious on this close up photo. The baffles click together by resting one on top of the other, and "snapping" them together. They click together with a very satisfying sound.

One last parting shot of those pretty, shiny new baffles.




So, now you've seen the Silencerco Spectre II .22LR suppressor up close and personal. Now for the questions you're probably still wondering about; How does it shoot? Is it quiet? Does NC SILENCER recommend it? Will the Ebola virus ever find its way to Washington DC where it can actually be of some beneficial use? Depending on the order you asked them, the answers are Great, Yes, Yes, and I really hope that does not happen, actually. Here's some more detail:

How does it shoot? Great. It's slightly heavier than average for .22LR suppressors, and it's a tad on the long side, but it's entirely manageable. It feels substantial in the hand. You know it's durable the moment you pick it up.

Is it quiet? Yes. It is above average in terms of sound reduction. It's great on both pistols and rifles. With anything supersonic (.22LR, high-velocity), .22Mag, .17HMR, 5.7x28, you will hear the sonic crack, but that's because of physics. The suppressor reduces the muzzle blast sufficiently well to negate hearing protection even with the powerful stuff. With subsonic ammo, it's "Hollywood quiet".

Does NC SILENCER recommend it? You bet. The design is great, the fit and finish are great, and it's one of the quietest .22LR suppressors on the market. It makes the MSRP price of $399 seem entirely reasonable.

That's it for today's assignment. Hope you learned something. Don't forget your homework, and I'll see you next time.


Thanks,

Prof. Eric Morton, SG (silencer guru)

NC SILENCER

Be a Fan