SILENCER SATURDAY #144: Top 9mm Pistol Suppressor Hosts

Good afternoon fellow suppressor lovers and welcome to the pumpkin spice edition of TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the new YHM R9 pistol, carbine and rifle suppressor. Last week we discussed the pros and cons of running a can underneath a handguard. The bottom line (for me) is that if it serves a purpose and you can protect your hands, carry on. This week I wanted to run down some of my (current) favorite pistol suppressor hosts. Prepare your pitchforks since I am sure to include something you hate and leave off something you love.

• SILENCER SATURDAY #71: Suppressor Height Sights Are OVERRATED
• SILENCER SATURDAY #119: Gemtech Lunar 9 And M&P 9 Suppressor Ready
• TFBTV: BUL Armory SAS II Ultra-Light Review
• SILENCER SATURDAY #90: How Quiet Are Pistol Suppressors?
• SILENCER SATURDAY #87: YHM Sidewinder Pistol Suppressors
• Optics And Suppressor Ready! New FN 509 Compact Tactical Pistol

• Bul Armory SAS II Tactical (upcoming release)
• Beretta M9A3 – MSRP $1,100
• GLOCK – Various models – MSRP $450 (Varies per model)
• FN509 Compact Tactical – MSRP $1,049
• S&W M&P 9 2.0 Compact Threaded Barrel – MSRP: $569

• YHM R9 (still awaiting a piston assembly)
• Dead Air Odessa
• Thompson Machine Poseidon
• SilencerCo Omega 9K
• SilencerCo Octane 45HD
• Form 1 Build

Picking the best 9mm pistol suppressor host is somewhat of a fools errand. Technically non-browning actions are better than their tilting barrel counterparts at keeping the round chambered and locked longer sending all that noise forward and through the silencer. For example, the Beretta M9A3 listed here is one of the quietest setups available when paired with the right suppressor. Unfortunately it is also one of the longest and heaviest options.

Smaller and lighter options make for fun silencer hosts because they take what should be an unwieldy combination of barrel and suppressor length and make an almost concealable setup. The Thompson Machine Poseidon and the Dead Air Odessa are neat options, depending on your needs and wants.

Like everything in the gun world, pistol suppressors and their hosts are all about managing expectations. The quietest combination may not be the best option for your use case.

The absolute quietest 9mm pistol suppressor hosts will be single shot or manual action guns with no chance of gasses escaping from a chamber. Paired with a wiped suppressor, a user can get giggle-worthy shots at the expense of being able to fire one round every few seconds. In this category the B&T VP9 and some slide-locked semiautomatic handguns (that are basically single-shots) come to mind.

But the reality is, most of us want have a commercially available pistol that either comes ready to be suppressed or is easily adaptable to a suppressor ready gun. Luckily for us, the American market is fairly well stocked with 9mm handgun options that are easily silenced. Although I wish more manufacturers would build suppressor ready models direct from the factory.

Anyway, here are my current favorites.

When James Reeves raved about a non GLOCK/SIG carry gun about six months ago, I had to know more. So I reached out to the team at Bul Armory to see about a suppressor ready option in their SAS II lineup. Fast forward to today where I’m lucky enough to be putting a prototype model through it’s paces.

Being a striker-fired polymer nut, I have to say I’m very impressed with this Bul Armory handgun. It’s very accurate, the trigger is a blessing and it is very quiet with a full-length suppressor. I hope to have the complete review done later this week.

Bul Armory has been manufacturing and developing firearms since 1990.Our mission statement is to deliver the most reliable, accurate and innovative guns that you can run straight out of the box. Our line of firearms includes self defense EDC pistols for civilians, duty ready platforms for law enforcement and military personal and competition ready firearms for sport shooting. Built by our master gunsmiths with superlative parts and hand fitted to the highest degree, there is a Bul gun for every task in sight.