Many companies are making multi caliber suppressors these days.  Those same companies are making rimfire and .556 specific suppressors, but only a few companies are making a suppressor specifically designed for the popular 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge. Silent Legion Suppressors is doing just that.

Silent Legion created the SL-65 to meet the demands of precision rifle competitors who want one suppressor they can attach to their match rifles and forget about it. The SL-65 is a direct thread model but comes from the factory with a quick disconnect adapter. 

What consumers need to understand is the difference between 30 caliber multi suppressors and caliber specific ones.  When you mount a suppressor that was designed to handle a 7.62 cartridge, on a firearm chambered in a 6.5 caliber, it allows a lot more gas to escape the suppressor when the bullet passes through the can. This creates more noise.  How much more?  According to manufacturers websites, anywhere from 2-5 decibels.  That doesn’t seem like a lot but the human ear can detect sound variances below 1 decibel, so in another sense, it does “sound” like a lot.

Each suppressor company advertises their decibel reduction rating differently.  Some companies claim a decibel reduction off the top while other companies claim a total decibel average.  The Silent Legion SL-65 boasts a -32DB reduction.  As a comparison, SilencerCo claims their Omega suppressor averages 133.9 decibels.  The Omega is a 30 caliber multi-version. I did a little research and found that the .308 caliber rifle produces an average of 155-160 decibels at the muzzle upon firing. The consumer can take that number and subtract whatever the suppressor manufacturer says their reduction rating is, but what needs to be stated is that the 6.5 caliber specific suppressor from Silent Legion, will reduce the decibel rating by an additional 3-4db average over the 30 caliber multi can.

Length is a factor in the effectiveness of suppressors as well.  Most 30 caliber suppressors are in the 7-9 inch range.  The suppressor needs volume inside of it to work properly.  The shorter you make them, the fatter they have to be in order to achieve the same decibel ratings.  Larger outside diameter is not a good thing in most cases because the suppressor starts getting in the way of valuable things like sights and accessories like flashlights. The Silent Legion SL-65 measures 8.75 inches long.  As a comparison, the Dead Air Sandman L measures 8.9 inches long, and the ThunderBeast Ultra 9 measures 9 inches.

So with all that information, how does the consumer decide what suppressor to buy?  My advice, since most of the options will do basically the same job, is to consider your intended purpose.  Do you operate common AR15 type rifles most often or are you a pistol shooter mainly? If either of those is the case then you might choose a suppressor specific to those calibers.  If you hunt with multiple rifles each chambered in a different caliber then you might choose a 30 caliber multi-version with a quick disconnect so you can switch your suppressor between each rifle.

If you happen to be a competitor that shoots the popular 6.5 Creedmoor round, or you want the added decibel reduction of a caliber specific can, then maybe you should consider the SL-65 from Silent Legion. The SL-65 has an MSRP of $998.00 and can be found on the Silent Legion website at http://www.silentlegion.com