Good afternoon readers and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the brand new YHM NITRO N20 universal suppressor. Which just happeneds to be the topic of today’s discussion. Last week we dropped some holiday gift ideas for you, your family and your friends. Today we get back out the the range to test the new YHM NITRO N20 on a variety of different hosts. Is this new silencer on the naughty or nice list? Let’s find out.

As a reminder, YHM sponsors TFB’s Silencer Saturday, however none of that advertising money comes directly to me. The NITRO N20 is here on loan and I can either offer to buy it or return it after the review is complete. YHM makes great products, but I won’t hold back from telling you the truth if I don’t like a certain feature or attribute.

SILENCER SATURDAY #155: Is The YHM NITRO N20 The Best Universal Suppressor?

Many company’s have tried and many have failed, trying to make a do-it-all suppressor that performs well on a variety of different hosts. Problems arise when asking a .308 rifle suppressor to also handle subsonic 300BLK, 9mm pistols and 5.56mm SBRs with a twist of the wrist. It’s like using your Lamborghini as a daily driver for dropping kids at school, delivering packages, traversing dirt roads and going fast all on the same day. Usually, only one of those works out well for everyone involved.

But from time to time the Swiss Army knife of suppressors makes an appearance. Capable of clipping the tip of your Cuban cigar, opening a can of Alpo or trimming your fingernails, universal silencers are viable. But there is usually a cost, literally a cost, to produce a silencer with all the needed features, And for a company like YHM, who is known for unbeatable values, to break the $1,000 mark on a silencer, you know it couldn’t have been done cheaper. Believe me, if YHM could sell the NITRO N20 cheaper, they would.

Let’s take a look at the numbers.

YHM NITRO N20 – ONE CAN, DO IT ALL

https://yhm.net/nitror-n20.html

$1,249 MSRP

9mm, .308, 5.56, Rifle, Handgun, Subgun, Direct Thread, Q.D., 3-Lug, Nielsen Booster

Titanium… A highly coveted metal in the world of suppressors for it’s extreme lightweight and durability properties. When we set out to create our next modular suppressor, it had to be the material of choice. Enter the NITRO® N20, YHM’s newest iteration of our modular suppressor range designed around the tactical shooter.

The NITRO® N20 achieves mission specific modularity by providing the operator with a plethora of mounting options and the ability to choose between a short and long configuration. The front cap can accommodate a user-provided rubber wipe that can drop suppression levels even further.

The NITRO® N20 is full-auto rated with subsonic ammunition and will
accommodate .17HMR to 9mm and .308 Win.

YHM NITRO N20 Sound Levels:

• .308 Win.: 141 dB (Short Configuration) / 135 dB (Long Configuration)
• .300 BLK: 135 dB (Short Configuration) / 127 dB (Long Configuration)
• 9mm: 127 dB (Short Configuration) / 126 dB (Long Configuration)

YHM NITRO N20 Specifications:

• SUPPRESSION LEVEL: 135 dB
• DIAMETER / LENGTH: 1.562” / 5.4” to 7.5”
• WEIGHT: 6.5 oz (Short) / 10 oz. (Long)
• RATING: .17HMR – 9mm / .308 Win.
• MATERIAL: Titanium
• FINISH: Matte Black Cerakote

YHM NITRO N20 Features:

• The NITRO® N20 specializes in subgun, light-duty rifle, and pistol use.
• The NITRO® N20 has 1- 3/8”-24 rear mounting threads and ships in the 1/2”-28 Direct Thread format. Additional mounting options include: the Phantom® Q.D. Adapter, 3-Lug adapter, Nielsen adapter, and a multitude of Direct Thread sizes.
• The NITRO® N20 consist of a main suppressor body and a forward extension body. This way it can be run in a long or short configuration based on your shooting needs.
• Limited Full Auto

YHM NITRO N20 Minimum Barrel Lengths:

• 7.62×51 / .308 Winchester: 16″ minimum barrel length
• 350 Legend: 16″ minimum barrel length
• 5.56 NATO: 16″ minimum barrel length
• 300 Blackout: 8″ minimum barrel length

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Let’s get the relative downsides out of the way first:

Price:

A $1,250 suppressor is at the upper limits of the pricing scale for any platform. However, as I said above, if the guys at Yankee Hill could have have priced the N20 better, I believe they would have. YHM is known for more than reasonable prices on well performing suppressors and I don’t see them going full crazy on the N20. Besides, I just checked the prices at Silencer Shop and in my area, the out the door price is just above $900. That price point seems reasonable to me.

YHM NITRO N20 @ Silencer Shop – check prices.

Barrel Length Restrictions:

There is no free lunch, a term that goes double for the engineering world. An ultra lightweight suppressor that is also modular is going to have some pressure and/or erosion limitations. I’d love to see the 5.56mm barrel length drop a bit, but the other barrel length limitations seem reasonable.

Bore Size:

I am greedy when it comes to new product releases; my first question usually starts with on ‘how long until V2 is released.’ A true universal suppressor would have a bore size of .475 to accommodate everything from .45ACP to .45-70. Granted, the overwhelming majority of shooters will stick with 9mm, 300blk and 5.56mm, but a larger bore N20 would be an Omega killer. I wouldn’t wait for the next version, however, there’s no indication that YHM will make a larger bore version.

I’m like the kid who gets everything he’s wants of Christmas morning and asks why he didn’t get two of everything. YHM probably hates me now.

Now for the good parts:

Weight:

The YHM Nitro N20 is almost unbelievably light in either configuration. It disappears at the end of a rifle and is very easy to add on to a pistol host. To me this is what real innovation looks like – a very lightweight multi-caliber, modular suppressor that just works.

Modularity:

The Nitro N20 has a ton of host options:

• Fixed barrel mounts
• Piston/booster assemblies (including the SilencerCo Bravo system,
• Three lug mounts
• Short configuration
• Long configuration
• Removable end cap for possible future accessories and easy repairs
• True multi-caliber support

Sound reduction:

One of the most important parts of a silencer review is also one of the toughest to relay using the written word. I feel like I can judge subsonic sound reduction fairly accurately and in its long form the N20 ranks up with the rest of the market leaders. The tone is definitely higher than I’m accustomed to, but the overall reduction is superb. The N20 really does have a satisfying report.

Since I’ve only had the NITRO N20 for about five hours, I haven’t had the chance to to run through any supersonic ammunition. I’ll get back to you in a couple weeks.

Initial Observations:

The YHM NITRO N20 is an ultralight, modular, multi-host suppressor with a great sound. If you are used to seeing YHM suppressors, there may be some sticker shock. However, I believe it is worth the sub-$1,000 street price.

Normally I detest universal suppressors as never excelling at at task and providing a bland shooting experience no matter the host. But the YHM NITRO N20 is breaking that perception, offering performance and adaptability in one package.

Thanks for reading TFB’s Silencer Saturday. Be safe, have fun and we’ll see you back here next weekend.

Silencer Saturday is Sponsored by Yankee Hill Machine

Buy YHM silencers and accessories at:

Silencer Shop – Hansohn BrOthers – dead eye gun supply –

Mac tactical

All YHM Products At Brownells

DEALERS: If you want your link to buy YHM suppressors included in future Silencer Saturday posts, email: silencers@thefirearmblog.com

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special Thanks: Mac Tactical