Your Privacy Choices
Good afternoon fellow silencer enthusiasts and welcome back to another edition of TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by my friends at Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the YHM Turbo K 5.56 rifle suppressor. Last week we shot the H&K MARK 23 with the KAC MK23 suppressor; probably the most famous suppressed pairing in history. This week we get something new for the pistol platform: the Q Erector 9 modular 9mm suppressor. It’s light. It’s modular. But is it quiet? Let’s take a look.
SILENCER SATURDAY #179: The Q Erector 9 Modular Suppressor
Many thanks to my friends at Silencer Shop for allowing me to borrow the new Erector 9 seen in this review. They make the suppressor buying process simple and stress-free.
More @ TFB:
- SILENCER SATURDAY #133: The Case For/Against Modular Suppressors
- SILENCER SATURDAY #176: The Q Honey Badger And Thunder Chicken
- SILENCER SATURDAY #53: ‘Happy Q Year’ And A Look Ahead To 2019
- TFB EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Ethan Lessard of “Q” on the NEW 8.6 Creedmoor
- TFB Innovator Friday – Kevin Brittingham and Ethan Lessard of Q
SILENCER SATURDAY #179: The Q Erector 9 Modular Suppressor
SILENCER SATURDAY #179: The Q Erector 9 Modular Suppressor
We’ve discussed the utility of the typical pistol suppressor a few times in the past; does it make sense to double the length of your compact and portable firearm? The answer, of course, is ‘it depends’. For fun range use, around-the-farm utility, home defense, and other instances, threading on a pistol suppressor is a win. But for every day carry, and similarly practical uses, an additional eight inches of length is not a performance enhancer. (Sorry ladies.)
But with light weight modular suppressors, many of the arguments against using pistols as hosts fall by the wayside. I doubt thread on cans will ever have a regular place on concealed carry guns, but shorter, lighter silencers make holstering and carrying slightly more realistic.
Lets take a look at the specifications.
It’s not only the quietest 9mm silencer, it’s also the lightest at only 8 oz in its longest configuration. On top of that, it’s also the loudest, longest, and shortest silencer on the market… Wait. What?
Configure this silencer with one baffle, or all ten to fit the needs of your host firearm and ammunition. The choice is yours… choose wisely.
FEATURES & SPECIFICATIONS
- CALIBER: 9 MM
- SILENCER WEIGHT: 8 oz (fully assembled)
- DIAMETER: 1.375″
- OVERALL LENGTH: 8.7 “( fully assembled)
- ATTACHMENT: 1/2-28 Piston
- MATERIAL(S): Aluminum & Stainless Steel
- FINISH: Clear Hard-Coat Anodize & Heat Treat (shades of tan)
- MINIMUM BARREL LENGTH: None
- MSRP: $900
- Silencer Shop: $850 (can vary by local dealer pricing)
SILENCER SATURDAY #179: The Q Erector 9 Modular Suppressor
The Erector 9 is constructed with 10 baffles – one stainless steel blast baffle and nine aluminum baffles. A removable end cap is unscrewed and reinstalled onto the last baffle in the stack. The Nielsen Device is a fairly standard design – a 1/2 x 28 threaded extension held in place between the mount and the blast baffle by a stainless steel retaining section.
The baffles are unscrewed using two polymer C-clamp style hand wrenches. Unscrewing the sections and reassembling them into your desired length is simple, smooth and requires just average hand strength. If you can rack the slide of a GLOCK, you can loosen and tighten the Erector baffles.
SILENCER SATURDAY #179: The Q Erector 9 Modular Suppressor
Critics will complain about the aluminum baffle sections, citing the lack of endless types of cleaning techniques. Aluminum suppressors have never bothered me – just don’t use the dip or other harsh chemicals or an ultrasonic cleaner and you are home free. If you shoot enough 9mm that you cake up your modular suppressor, you can afford to hire someone to come over and clean it. Seriously though, I have a few aluminum rimfire cans with thousands of rounds through them and I’ve never run into a serious issue.
SILENCER SATURDAY #179: The Q Erector 9 Modular Suppressor
In its longest configuration, the Erector 9 is impressively quiet. The larger diameter, baffle design, and of course length give it the ability to drop subsonic 9mm rounds to top-of-the-class levels. Removing one or two baffles had the same effect – a barely noticeable noise increase which I would unscientifically estimate as a three dB bump. Each successive baffle removed increased the sound level between three and six decibels (the human ear can really only detect a three decibel change). Shooting the Erector 9 with Just two baffles and the end cap took the bite out of the blast, but was definitely not hearing safe.
The sweet spot between length and suppression for the Erector 9 is either six or seven installed baffles. It’s pleasant enough to be “hearing safe” but shaves two to three inches off the total length.
In my opinion, if you can get past your aluminum suppressor hang ups, the price fits your budget, and you want a can that can transform itself from ultra quiet to ultra compact, the Q Erector is an easy purchase decision.
Thanks for reading. Be safe, have fun and we’ll see you back here next weekend for another Silencer Saturday.
Silencer Saturday is Sponsored by Yankee Hill Machine
