Over Barrel vs End of Barrel Suppressor

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When I was hunting in NZ this year I noticed that every suppressor that I saw and shot down there was “over the end” of the barrrel rather than added to the end of the barrel like we have in the US. Why is that the norm down there and not a thing here in the US? I didn’t notice a performance difference (though there might be) because I also had plugs in. Is there an engineering advantage of one over the other? The thing I really liked about their design was it only slightly increased overall “barrel length” and you could have a true longer barrel. Anyway, would love to hear from people that are way smarter about this than I am.

And does anybody in the US do over the barrel suppressors?
 
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passinggas33
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aka Reflex Supressor

Definitely

A way to add volume with a shorter overall firearm length.
Didn’t know they actually had a name. Thanks for sharing that.

I did a little googling after posting this but only found one company that seems to produce them here. Amtac? Are there others, cause their specs are pretty bad.

is it because the specs are so bad that nobody uses them?
 

cmahoney

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Formidilosus

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When I was hunting in NZ this year I noticed that every suppressor that I saw and shot down there was “over the end” of the barrrel rather than added to the end of the barrel like we have in the US. Why is that the norm down there and not a thing here in the US? I didn’t notice a performance difference (though there might be) because I also had plugs in. Is there an engineering advantage of one over the other? The thing I really liked about their design was it only slightly increased overall “barrel length” and you could have a true longer barrel. Anyway, would love to hear from people that are way smarter about this than I am.

And does anybody in the US do over the barrel suppressors?

OTB suppressors are what should have been from the beginning for suppressed use. The advantages are OAL, balance, and tone.

AB suppressors have reflexed versions; OPs Inc 12th model and AEM 5, OCM5, some older Surfires, KAC’s, etc. There are no modern OTB hunting cans in the US. Yet.
 

z987k

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OTB suppressors are what should have been from the beginning for suppressed use. The advantages are OAL, balance, and tone.

AB suppressors have reflexed versions; OPs Inc 12th model and AEM 5, OCM5, some older Surfires, KAC’s, etc. There are no modern OTB hunting cans in the US. Yet.
Can you describe the difference between AB, the AEM5 and a modern OTB can?
 

Loper

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When I was hunting in NZ this year I noticed that every suppressor that I saw and shot down there was “over the end” of the barrrel rather than added to the end of the barrel like we have in the US. Why is that the norm down there and not a thing here in the US? I didn’t notice a performance difference (though there might be) because I also had plugs in. Is there an engineering advantage of one over the other? The thing I really liked about their design was it only slightly increased overall “barrel length” and you could have a true longer barrel. Anyway, would love to hear from people that are way smarter about this than I am.

And does anybody in the US do over the barrel suppressors?
Great question as I’ve wondered about this too. It would be great to have a suppressor that doesn’t added 5-7+ inches to the overall length of the rifle. OTB suppressors seem like the way to go, would love to see more options for this in the US.
 
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passinggas33
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This was one I had never heard of or seen. Do you have any personal experience with it?
 
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passinggas33
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One more question in all of this…why are the suppressors in the US so much money???!!! We went to the hunting store down there and a suppressor ready to roll out the door was around $250-$300 USD. If this was the price of a suppressor in the US and the paperwork continues to be quick, it would get most people shooting suppressed, which is safer for all, in my opinion.
 
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Formidilosus

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One more question in all of this…why are the suppressors in the US so much money???!!! We went to the hunting store down there and a suppressor ready to roll out the door was around $250-$300 USD. If this was the price of a suppressor in the US and the paperwork continues to be quick, it would get most people shooting suppressed, which is safer for all, in my opinion.

Because they were a novelty for the vast majority of people until recently. Because you had to wait a year plus for the stamp, people wanted a can that lasts for 50,000 rounds or more- which makes them heavy and expensive.
 

pods8 (Rugged Stitching)

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This was one I had never heard of or seen. Do you have any personal experience with it?
Numerous folks on here have them, including me and I’m pleased with it. The Raptor 8 with a 3” reflex is the common configuration folks tend to get to balance weight/reduction/length. If you want the most reduction the raptor 10 with 5” reflex. The can be used without the reflex too if you want to minimize weight.

The ATF is being a pain in the ass though and won’t let AB sell reflex’s separately unfortunately.
 

pods8 (Rugged Stitching)

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One more question in all of this…why are the suppressors in the US so much money???!!! We went to the hunting store down there and a suppressor ready to roll out the door was around $250-$300 USD. If this was the price of a suppressor in the US and the paperwork continues to be quick, it would get most people shooting suppressed, which is safer for all, in my opinion.
What materials? The lighter and more expensive ones here are often titanium for weight reduction and longevity due to the extra costs of the tax stamp and historical long wait. If you don’t have the extra ATF costs/wait then you can start making them from lower cost material combinations which might not have the same longevity but cost less so replacing them periodically is a wash.
 

Hydra6

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Noticed same thing when hunting in South Africa - I rented my rifle from PH and it had OTB suppressor. Suppressors were no big deal to buy in SA, buying the rifle for the PH was a pain.
 

eric1115

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AB raptor owner here as well (both a 6 and 8 stack with 3" reflexes). To my ear, the reflex helps a little with dB reduction and a lot with tone (which is easy to perceive as dB reduction, more pleasant sound seems quieter).

I shoot both cans with flush mounts on some guns and reflex on others. Overall I really like the option to do both, but if I had to lose either reflex or flush mount I'd keep the reflex for both, no question.
 

thinhorn_AK

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One more question in all of this…why are the suppressors in the US so much money???!!! We went to the hunting store down there and a suppressor ready to roll out the door was around $250-$300 USD. If this was the price of a suppressor in the US and the paperwork continues to be quick, it would get most people shooting suppressed, which is safer for all, in my opinion.
This is the reason that the silencer manufacturers in the USA don’t want them to be regulated.
 

fwafwow

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This “OTB” option of which you speak is not a good development for me. Please tell me there is not an option that would work with my TBAC CB brakes…
 
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