SOCOM buys Surefire Suppressors
SOCOM has purchased $23.3 million worth of suppressors and accessories from Surefire. I am sure they are partying hard at Surefire HQ!
From the press release ...
Fountain Valley, CA—SureFire, LLC, manufacturer of high-end illumination tools and tactical products, has been awarded its largest suppressor contract to date. The $23.3 million contract, for an indefinite quantity of sound suppressors, suppressor adapters, blank firing adapters and training adapters, was awarded by officials of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division—the pri- mary solicitation center for U.S. Special Operations Command—as part of the Family of Muzzle Brake Suppressors (FMBS) contract.
The FMBS solicitation was the most comprehensive modern suppressor evaluation conducted by the U.S. military to date. It focused on criteria that subjected suppressor systems to prolonged testing on a variety of firearms platforms. SureFire suppressors were chosen based on test criteria such as: Reliability, Sound Reduction, Accuracy, Point of Impact Shift, Endurance/Durability, and Op- erational Suitability. While these requirements reflect the suppression needs for firearms including the MK13 sniper rifle, the United States Marine Corps is already employing SureFire’s FA762SS suppressor system on every M40A5 sniper rifle.
[ Many thanks to Lance for emailing me the link. ]
Surefire’s prices aren’t that bad. Especially for their suppressors. I challenge you to find another suppressor on the market that performs as good. You won’t find it. Less than 1 moa poi shift is ridiculous when you see it in real life.
Almost all of the Muzzle brakes and suppressors are for M-4 style carbines looks like the M-4s popularity is again on the rise. I wish I could see what the Muzzle Brakes look like now though.
I worked with the T&E of these suppresors at Crane, and I gotta say, our warfighter is finally getting a standard issue suppresor that really performs at the highest level. One of the overlooked advantages to this contract is that operators will now be using much more effective flash hiders and muzzle brakes even when they aren’t using their suppresors. Finally a standard issue suppresor!
The US Special Operations Command. If you don’t hear anything, that’s us.
At SureFire’s prices, that’s like 10 units! Seriously, I have recently found that especially with flashlights, I can get much better quality at much lower prices from other brands, like Fenix.
Hopefully this doesnt drive the price of their equipment up even higher… Or they do the Knight’s Armament, “Well we will get the civilian market guys when we decide too.”