When the stars align you have to go for it. That was my thought when several review items and connections fell pleasantly into place. Along with that, there was encouragement at the idea of something not entirely difficult but somewhat time-consuming. I am referring to when a Springfield Armory M1A Tanker 308 Rifle, a Silencer Central Banish 30, and some friendly ties to Delta P Design were all that I needed to have an experience that not many people would. Today I am very excited to retell my exposure to suppressing the Springfield Armory M1A Tanker. Let us hop down the rabbit hole!

I had requested to review the Springfield Armory M1A Tanker 308 Rifle a while back and that review will almost definitely be out before this article. I also had a Silencer Central Banish 30 suppressor that I will be doing a review on over at our sister company AllOutdoor.com so keep an eye out for that. TFB’s Editor is an avid lover of anything suppressed or relating to silencers as you can probably see from our ongoing Silencer Saturday Series. With Pete’s help and enthusiasm, he had asked some friends over at Delta P Design to send us their SOCOM Muzzle Thread Adapter which was a huge helping hand in making this article possible.

Suppressing The M1A Tanker: The Specs

The two main components for the job were the Springfield Armory M1A Tanker and the Silencer Central Banish 30 as I had mentioned before. The M1A Tanker is a part of Springfield Armory’s SOCOM 16 series of rifles and is paying homage to the prototype T26 Tanker Garand developed for Paratrooper and Jungle troops towards the end of World War Two. The Banish 30 is a quality 30 Caliber suppressor that is made of titanium and has a tube extension for all your sound suppression needs.

Springfield Armory M1A Tanker 308 Rifle Specs:

• CALIBER – .308 WIN (7.62x51mm NATO)
• STOCK – Stained American Walnut
• BARREL – 16.25″ 6-Groove Carbon Steel
• TWIST – 1:11
• TRIGGER – Match Grade 2-Stage
• FRONT SIGHT– XS Post w/ Tritium Insert, .125 Blade
• REAR SIGHT–Ghost Ring .135 Aperture, MOA Adj. for Windage & Elevation
• METAL FINISH – Parkerized/Matte
• SYSTEM – Gas
• WEIGHT – 8lbs 9oz
• LENGTH – 37.25″
• MAGAZINES – One 10 Round
• TRIGGER PULL – Roughly 5.25lbs
• MSRP– $1,987

Silencer Central Banish 30 Specs:

• CALIBER: .308/7.62
• CALIBER RANGE: .17 to .300 Weatherby
• MATERIAL: Titanium
• COLOR: Black
• FINISH: Gun Kote and Tribodone 41 DLC
• SOUND REDUCTION: 34 dB
• MOUNT STYLE: Direct Thread
• THREAD PITCH: 5/8×24
• DIAMETER: 1-1/2”
• LENGTH: 7” or 9” (depending on whether the tube extension is on or not)
• WEIGHT: 10 oz (7”) or 13 oz (9”)
• BAFFLES: 8
• SELF-SERVICEABLE: Yes
• FULL AUTO RATED: Limited Full-Auto Rated
• LIFETIME WARRANTY: Yes
• MSRP: $979

Suppressing The M1A Tanker: The Right Materials

To do any job right you need the correct materials. The ones for this job was the M1A Tanker, Delta P Design’s SOCOM Muzzle Thread Adapter, Sadlak Industries Gas Cylinder Wrench, a 3/8 socket and wrench (or some other gas plug removal tool), a small flat head screwdriver, and an Allen key set. The process of adapting this M1A Tanker was relatively easy and painless but if you yourself plan on attempting this, I urge you to contact Springfield Armory’s customer service in order to inquire about warranty issues regarding going down this rabbit hole. I also will warn you that over time things like your gas plug and muzzle device may get lead and carbon fouling and be difficult to remove to go through with this process.

To get started I practice proper gun safety and triple-check that the M1A Tanker is unloaded. Starting out front the gas plug underneath the muzzle has to be removed. I used a 3/8 socket and wrench that was thin enough that I could properly loosen the gas plug without harming myself or any piece of the rifle. This plug came out very easily since I only had about 100 rounds through the gun at this point. The gas plug only needed to get started via the wrench and then I could remove by unscrewing by hand.

Despite what my photo process shows I would recommend the front sight be removed before or after the gas plug is removed. Take time and care as the hex key on the rear of the sight needs to be loosened and removed and the blade of a flathead gently placed in the space shown in the above photo in order to remove the tritium insert front sight. Do not force anything or you may damage your rifle or your sight.

After removing the front sight, to put on the Delta P Design SOCOM Muzzle Thread Adapter I used the Sadlak Industries Gas Cylinder Wrench to loosen the stock muzzle device on the M1A Tanker. This was the toughest part to remove for me so use caution if you try it yourself. At this point, the muzzle device can be threaded off and the SOCOM Muzzle Thread Adapter can be put on and the process starts essentially in reverse. Make sure when putting on the front sight that your hex screw is tight as mine ended up loosening at the range. I should mention the SOCOM Muzzle Thread Adapter was a perfect fit and I was very happy with how well it functioned as an adapter.

Suppressing The M1A Tanker: Range Time

I should say that this specific M1A variant probably was not engineered to ever have a suppressor on it but thinking like that just makes a person want to try it more. Range time with this gun is plenty of joy without a suppressor but with it? It is intensely cool, I am not going to lie to you. I was caught up in the excitement of going through with all of this when at the range I suddenly remembered that the only missing piece to this whole puzzle would be a different gas plug of sorts. I do not know if someone makes an adjustable one or if they have one specifically engineered for suppression but it would have been a welcome edition given the amount of gas I got to the forehead every time I fired a shot.

The gas back in my face was not too terribly unpleasant and I think the cool factor of it all overcame and made me forget about it. A noticeable side effect of all of this was both the ejected shell casings and the action of the gun specifically got very dirty and fouled up. I shot around 30-40 rounds of miscellaneous ammunition since I did not have any subsonic stuff on hand and the current state of the world made that a difficult thing to track down. The Banish 30 did an outstanding job of making mixed 308 Win and 7.62 NATO ammunition hearing safe although I did opt to have some muffs on after a few concussive blasts of gas hit me in the head which is no fault of the suppressor or rifle but my poor planning.

Lastly, I decided not to do any sort of accuracy testing with this setup not only because of an uncontrolled group of available ammunition but also at an extensive range with iron sights I believe my results would be immeasurable. I am no great marksman but mostly I did not have enough of a control group of ammo to do a good job for you all. This was all mostly for the fun of trying it out anyway. I am glad to have been able to share a true bucket list moment with you all!

In closing, I want to say thank you to Springfield Armory, Silencer Central,  Delta P Design, and Sadlak Industries for allowing TFB and myself the opportunity to make this setup happen. Also, we would like to know what all of you guys and gals think? Would you yourself attempt this setup? Is this ranch rifle material? Have you ever had a similar bucket list experience? Let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.