SILENCER SATURDAY #113: A Glorious Rimfire Silencer Setup – Perfectly Quiet

Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to another edition of TFB’s Silencer Saturday sponsored by Yankee Hill Machine. Last week we reviewed the YHM Resonator K 7.62 suppressor which is great for keeping a small profile while providing impressive performance. This week I wanted to return to a topic we discussed a few months ago – finding the quietest rimfire silencer host system currently available. Today we’ll be talking about the Henry Frontier Threaded Model in .22LR.

Why did I pick the Henry Frontier Model to build a perfectly quiet Rimfire suppressor host? Follow along with my thought process:

While semiautomatic platforms like the Ruger 10/22 can make for a fun suppressor host, closed systems like bolt action, lever action and single shot firearms keep escaping gases away from the shooters ears.

Earlier this week I posed a question to our knowledgeable and experienced staff regarding the length of barrel required to fully burn the powder from a .22LR rimfire case. The consensus was that standard velocity ammunition should peak at about 16” while high velocity .22LR ammunition might extend out an inch or two. The Ballistics By The Inch website appears to confirm our hypothesis, however Luke C. has agreed to test velocity of certain cartridges in half inch increments. Keep an eye on his Rimfire Report series for additional information.

Still, there may be small amounts a unburned powder residue that exits the muzzle in a 20” or 22” barrel, so for today’s testing I wanted the longest option easily available. Other long barrel host suggestions:

Additionally, a long barrel (in this case 24”) plus the four to five inches in added length from the suppressor, pushes the muzzle 30” from the shooter’s ear. This places any sound exiting the silencer nearly twice as far away as a 16’ barreled host.

It may seem obvious, but any quality suppressor host should come outfitted with proper muzzle threads. Retrofitting is possible with the skills of a quality gunsmith, which will run about $100 with shipping.

A lever action makes for a great suppressor host, but may not have the best ergonomics for bench target shooting. Also, the tube fed design is a bit old school, even if it can still be utilized with a suppressor in place. A 24” barrel and seven pounds of weight also makes for a beefy rimfire rifle.

Since we are going for gloriously quiet, my recommendations center on sound reduction performance alone. The below suggestions have varying weights, cleaning designs and other functionalities.

There are other rimfire suppressors that get rave reviews ( Energetic Armament Nyx, Rex Silentium SEG for example) but I don’t have any firsthand knowledge of their performance. Yet.

Before this model’s introduction using a suppressor on a Henry rifle meant visits to a gunsmith for barrel threading and having to remove the suppressor every time the rifle needed to be reloaded. The Frontier Threaded Barrel 24″ model solves both of these issues with two distinct features, both of which make for a convenient way to use a silencer.

The muzzle end of the barrel uses industry standard 1/2×28 threads that are .400″ in length so you can add on your favorite rimfire silencer, and the shorter magazine tube allows enough clearance for reloading without removing the suppressor. No longer are aftermarket modifications needed to make your lever action .22 as quiet as the wind.

The caliber choices in .22 S/L/LR and .22 Magnum lets you take the trail that works best for you, whether it’s the humble shoot-all-day-long .22 Long Rifle or the energy-boosting .22 Magnum.

With over a hundred editions of Silencer Saturday in the books, I don’t get to say this very often: the only two sounds that you hear from this setup is the hammer hitting the firing pin and the bullet making impact. Yes, the barrel and suppressor combination is long, but if you are looking for pure quiet with ammunition that runs at about 1050 fps, this Henry Rifle is a beautiful and unique host option that performs. Seriously, if you want to make this host any quieter, you’ll be wrapping the hammer with rags a using bales of hay in front of your backstop.

I’ve only had the Frontier for a few days, give me a couple of weeks to put together some accuracy tests and my overall impressions.

Thanks for joining us. Be safe and we’ll see you back here next Saturday on TFB.