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Posted: 8/13/2026 3:41:13 PM EDT
[Last Edit: kel][Edited]
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Most .22lr silencers are around 5". The most popular cans on the market (Sparrow, Mask) are right at 5.1". Then you've got behemoths like the AB Little Bird and Q Erector* (6.9" and 7.6", respectively). There's little cans like the Bowers Bitty (2.8", TacSol Aeris (3.0"), Pluto Micro (2.5"), etc. Do you feel like there's a length — either too long or too short – where they just get too silly-long or ineffective-short?  *Yes, dear, I know that you can shorten the modular Erector. (Edit to nod to CanContrast.com) |
| 5-6” seems the sweet spot for pistols and bulk, HV ammo going subsonic out of 4-5” barrels. 3” cans seem to do all right with subs out of longer (10-16”) barrels. This is subjective & not decibel chasing. A rimfire can in the mid 120s is still tolerable and effective for most range & field uses. A little water can tame first round pop. |
I was kind of curious how much I could cut down or add to a Mask, and where it got better or worse. Dead Air Mask-HD: How does it sound with fewer baffles? (Dead Air MASKs of different sizes.) Sweet spot, to me, is one baffle shorter. Longer mods showed very little improvement over stock length. Conclusion is that you don't have to get longer than 5", ever, and one is able to further optimize a 4-4.5" ish length can to equal what the 5's are doing. I haven't seen anything shorter than 4" that does as good. I don't have a CAT BEN, probably should pick one up to see what that does. 
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Having just gone through this exercise, about 5" was max length AND max weight was about 5 ounces. The mask at 6.6 oz was not a consideration nor were any of the heavier rimfire suppressors. 22 pistols are supposed to be fun. A heavy supprssor interferes with that for me even more than length. I had no interest in tiny ones only good for 22 rifles. Those are pretty quiet to start with using sub ammo. The ones seriously considered were the TBAC 22 TD gen 2, DDC road hunter, and I should have given more consideration to the OCL Ti. I chose the TBAC 22 TD and have no regrets for it as a long term, general purpose rimfire suppressor. 4.8" and slightly under an inch in diameter makes it seem smaller than expected. A recently purchased Fly 9 probably helped with the TBAC choice. Thanks for the number of baffles experiment. |
| 5" seems to be effective so I wouldn't get anything longer. The shorties have their place. I have an Oculus and we break it in half quite a bit. It's plenty quiet enough on a full legnth 10/22 for hunting purposes and it's nice on something tiny like a bobcat. If someone like cat would do a break in half high performance 3d can I'd be in the market. The shiv seems pretty slick but the applications are limited enough i don't really want to spring for one. |
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| Does a bigger diameter not do anything for 22's? You see very few bigger cans. It seems like they don't stick around long. I figure a lot of it is that the size of most 22 guns might be awkward but for some applications there's a plenty of room for normal sized can. |
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Originally Posted By ALASKANFIRE: Does a bigger diameter not do anything for 22's? You see very few bigger cans. I find that the cans I've made with 1.25" or 1.375" diameter have a lower tone than same-length 1" diameter. Not necessarily quieter to the meter, but smoother / bassier to the ear. Some folks might find that a pleasant, less tinny/snappy sound. Theoretical Apples to Apples: There's a 64% or so increase in internal volume between a 5" long, 1.0" diameter tube (standard .22lr-sized diameter), vs. a 5" long, 1.28" diameter tube (CAT Ben-sized diameter). Disclaimer: I don't know the wall thickness of the CAT vs, say, a Mask, so this just assumes they're equal in that percentage. I'm not sure the increased gas volume of 1" vs., say, 1.10" inch is going to make a huge dB difference. I guess to find out, you'd have to have identical baffle designs and spacing, then scale everything up (or down) to fit the different diameter tube to find out if the sound reduction scales with it. Scaling might mess up the spacing voodoo/dynamics, things like distance from muzzle to blast baffle aperture, etc... hard to compare apples to apples. Practicality: If your can has too big an OD you can't see over the sights of little .22lr pistols. |
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Originally Posted By kel: Conclusion is that you don't have to get longer than 5", ever, and one is able to further optimize a 4-4.5" ish length can to equal what the 5's are doing. I would tend to agree for .22 LR only cans. Making them perform decent with .17 HMR and .22 WMR does favor a bit more length, though, not to mention even hotter rounds like .22 Hornet, .22 TCM, 5.7x28. I'd say that's the reason 5-6" is standard for "full size" cans that are marketed as rimfire, not just .22 LR. It's the reason our Ocelot full size is 5.5", anyway. |
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~5” seems to be where the companies wanted the cans to be. Due to how skinny they are, 5” seems not short. I guess I would not personally mind 6” but it would probably be seen as “too long” by many customers. The mask video was neat- odd they didn’t publish numbers for mask plus 1 baffle. 1DB on the mask vs mask minus 1 is interesting. The ear noise is likely to drop for increasing muzzle noise 1DB on a pistol in .22lr. The ear noise typically peaks around 122db with rimfire cans on semi-auto pistols. |
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Originally Posted By ECCO_Machine: .22 LR only cans... Making them perform decent with .17 HMR and .22 WMR does favor a bit more length, though, not to mention even hotter rounds like .22 Hornet, .22 TCM, 5.7x28. I'd say that's the reason 5-6" is standard for "full size" cans that are marketed as rimfire, not just .22 LR. Mmm. Good point. I'm somewhat captured by my bias of only shooting .22lr through "22 cans". I don't shoot .17HMR or .22 mag, and any 5.7x28, I'm using a dedicated can or a 5.56mm can. |
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Originally Posted By Green0: I guess I would not personally mind 6” but it would probably be seen as “too long” by many customers. Originally Posted By Green0: I guess I would not personally mind 6” but it would probably be seen as “too long” by many customers. I'd gotten an opportunity to meter the DeadRuger RXD22 before it was released. Compared it head to head with a Mask. Didn't see the added length of the RXD appealing when the shorter Mask basically did everything well. You've seen that video of the Checkmate HD vs RXD: I don't think the added length of the RXD is buying any performance there. To me, CM wins on envelope/sound ratio. Originally Posted By Green0: The mask video was neat- odd they didn’t publish numbers for mask plus 1 baffle. From the video description: "Spoiler: The longer mod versions basically didn't do a darn thing. It's already very well optimized." |
| For me it depends on the application. I have a Mask and a Little Bird. The Little Bird is dedicated to a .22 SBR with the can tucked way under the handguard. The extra length is nice in that application, as is the permanently attached mount. That said, I wouldn't have the Little Bird if it weren't for that specific host. The Mask is a great all-around can and I don't really notice its weight since it's the only can I use on my other .22's. Eventually I'll probably pony up for a lighter weight option too. I don't see any real reason to go shorter than the typical 5"-ish for my uses though, nor do I see a reason to go longer since the modern 5" cans perform so well. |
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