I went to the range today to further stress test my Sierra 5, to make sure the blast baffle wasn't going to disintegrate. I put another 200+ rounds through it, mag dump style, just shooting at the berm, and it is all good. I have referenced this in the Sierra 5 thread as well (I think page 14?). I'm up to about 400 rounds through the can now, and I'm pretty comfortable that it is built appropriately.


But anyway, I have a Huxwrx Flow 556k and a Griffin Dual Lok 5 in jail at the range where I took the Sierra 5 today, so I thought I'd test them head-to-head, completely subjectively, to see which sounds the best.



First, it is notable that the hosts are similar, but not exactly the same.



From left to right:

• The Aero-built host (for the Griffin) is built with a Criterion 10.5" Hybrid SBR barrel, carbine length gas system, and a POF Dictator Adjustable Gas Block
  
  
  
  • The multicam Radian-built host (for the Flow) is built with a Criterion 11.5" Hybrid SBR barrel, carbine length gas system, and a standard gas block, and BRT gas tube.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • The LMT-built host (for the Sierra) is built with a Criterion Core 12.5" barrel, mid-length gas system, and a superlative arms gas block.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • The Griffin host and the Huxwrx host both use Gibbz Arms side-charging lowers. whereas the Sierra host uses a standard milspec-type upper (I think it's an Aero, but don't quote me)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • All three hosts are running LMT Enhanced BCGs and appropriately-weighted VLTOR A5 buffer systems.
  
  
  
  

Weights:

1 Griffin 11.8 oz
2. Huxwrx 11.8 oz
3. Dead Air 13.3 oz (with xeno mount)

All cans are pretty lightweight. The Sierra and Flow are noticeably shorter, although none are exceptionally long. All feel pretty well-built.

Methods: I took off my ear pro and fired 3 rounds of the same kind of ammo through each weapon, in succession.

As for sound... I think I've got to give the slight edge to the Griffin over the Sierra 5. Flow 556k comes in third. They all sound pretty good, but the Flow seems to have a higher pitch, and is a touch louder to my ear. The Griffin seems to have the best sound attenuation, albeit on non-equivalent hosts. The Griffin host is tuned better, however. I brought the wrong allen key to the range to tune my Sierra host gas block. I did swap the buffer out for an H4. With only a 10.5" barrel, I'd expect the Griffin to have the most challenging host to suppress, but it was at least the equal of the Sierra 5, on the end of a barrel that is 2" longer, but admittedly not as well-tuned.

As for gas to the face... they all were pretty good. Obviously the flow is the best, with essentially the same amount of gas to the face as you'd get from an unsuppressed weapon. I expected the Sierra to be a lot more harsh about this, but it really was not bad at all. Even considering that I could do a better job tuning it.

As for mounting systems... The Xeno and the Huxwrx are functionally the same thing. They aren't the same mount, but they work the same way. The Dual Lok seems unnecessarily complex. I admit I haven't played with it much, as the can is still in jail, and there may just be a little bit of a learning curve. On the other hand, it locks up extremely tight. The Flow and the Xeno are good too, but the Dual Lok is not coming loose no matter what. I don't think it is possible.

If you want to know which one is my favorite? I honestly don't know. I'm glad I bought them all.

Now if only there was someone out there who compared silencers professionally, who could test them all on equivalent hosts and give us qualitative as well as quantitative information about their performance...

Thanks for the write up. I know you've got a massive collection and had been hoping you'd some day do something along these lines. Sounds like they are all strong performers. Great times to be in this hobby.

If you're considering requests, I'd love if you did a similar comparison for 9mm pistols.

I have a DL5 and Explorr 224 in jail so I definitely appreciate the write-up, especially since there aren't many hands-on account of the new GA cans.  Glad to hear your results about the DL5, I was looking at the 556K/Sierra 5 when I bought the DL5 (free tax stamp promo at launch was hard to pass up).

That’s when I got mine too, and I’m glad I did. It seems like they did a really good job with it.

I'm putting a Dual Lok HRT in jail this week so it's nice to see some testing (maybe bias validation on my part).

Agree the mount system seems a bit over-engineered. But if it locks up tight and is robust, I'm OK with that.

Nice comparison.

Thanks for taking the time to write it up!

Thanks. I really only have two 9mm cans that I run on pistols right now (Odessa and Obsidian 9). My Omega 9k has a 3-lug, but I’ve got another one of those coming that I may set up with a booster. I’ve also got a Fly 9 in jail (probably a couple months out), and I’m going to buy the Mojave 9 as soon as I see it hit the SilencerShop website (or my local dealer gets one). I’ve got an OCL Lithium also on the way, but I’m likely 6-7 months minimum from having that in my hand. And that is most likely going to be a carbine can.

Semi related: done any accuracy tests with the Criterions? Just getting a 13.9” broken in and really enjoying it.  Was tearing up some 66% IPSCs at 200 and 300yds with my Aimpoint….got a Steiner 1-6 lined up but having to replace a vehicle a few weeks ago delayed that.  

Thanks for the write up

I've got the same barrel, 13.9 mid length. Shoots a tad better than my BA hanson it replaced. It will turn out sub moa 5 shot groups at 100yds with good ammo. I've had good luck with 77g IMI razercore, 55g/69g ADI, and the 77g AAC ammo. I shoot mostly steel case from it though. ETA: also this was prone, off a front rest/rear squeeze bag, and a TA33 3x acog.

Regarding the DL5 and locking mech, it is unnecessary (IMO). The Explorr 224 is basically the same but lighter and easier to mount. I don't understand why people avoid/skip the taper mounts. I've never had mine come loose and mine sees a decent amount of full auto now.

I haven’t done any particularly rigorous testing, but they seem to be good for ~1 MOA or so, which is about the best I can hope for with my eyesight, which isn’t bad enough that I feel compelled to get contacts or something, but not what it used to be either.

Thanks! I waited forever for those to become available for purchase, and when they finally did, I snatched up a few. Got my hands on a Surefire OBC as well, but haven’t played with it yet. The BCGs and buffers seem to make a huge difference. I’m probably going to swap out the buffers/tubes in all my ARs for the A5. My only real holdup is that I would then have a massive surplus of super nice JP silent captured spring systems sitting around doing nothing.

Thanks for making a great suppressor for me! I never bought any of y’all’s stuff before, I think mostly because y’all have so many options that it was a little overwhelming, but I’m a fan now, and I’m sure this won’t be my last.

I’m considering a Dual-Lok 7 for a Galil Ace SBR. 7.62x39. Thoughts?

Explorr 30 my friend. I'm not sure why everyone is scared of the taper mount and wanting secondary retention. Its not needed.

The A5 is a great buffer. The OBC (and the A5) really shine when you shoot full auto.

I'm not swapping out my any of my current Geissele S42 springs and buffers but any new builds would get A5.

I don't actually own any "normal" AR buffer systems, all A5 and one SureFire that will be used for the first time this summer. After I had some experience with my first AR (Sionics barrel, which are ported intelligently), I have experimented with several BRT gas block inserts and all sizes of A5 buffers. From that experience and reports from others online, the H4 seems to most often be used as a band-aid fix for very over-gassed, fixed gas systems. I hated the way it felt personally, and even the H3 felt like too much. Companies like Triarc have said they really only use H3s in some cases of suppressed 10.5" guns and the like. I can't quantify it, but things have seemed smoothest when the gas is optimized to run a green spring and A5H2 in my 12.5" gun and A5H1 in the 16" (which was fed steel cased and weak brass sometimes, otherwise I'd just use H2 as well).

Just some food for thought. Interesting to read about the subjective comparison of 3 hot suppressors.

Buffers are best for tuning bolt bounce, largely a concern in full auto rates of fire. Gas control is best to control extraction intensity and bolt velocity. The OBC does both decently without gas adjustment but that’s a special case.

Griffin has a Suppressor Optimized Buffer (SOB) I really like.

Great choices, OP.  Solid line up.

There's no real benefit to using AR308/A5 receiver extensions. You can get all the same buffer weights and buffer spring rates in carbine length. Originally the A5 system offered the rifle length buffer spring and rate. However, there are whole host of spring manufacturers offering a variety of rates in every length. The 7.75" RE really just gets you .75" more OAL when the stock is collapsed.

100% not true.

Not having any luck finding the actual test reports, but it is objectively better.

https://www.military.com/kitup/2010/06/turning-the-m-16a4-into-the-m-16a5.html

I'd like to see the tests. I am skeptical. "Objectively better" is like to only be "better" than the current TDP, not better than what I stated in my post.

Thanks. I think Surefire is still making the OBC, just not very quickly, and they are basically just filling backorders is my understanding.

I think a DL-7 is probably in my near future.

what is wild about the s5 is people either say gas is manageable/good or is very gassy on their host.

i have one in jail and its going on a urx 4 upper. i hope im in the former and not the latter.

That’s got to be related to the host, and how well it’s tuned, right? I mean, I don’t think there would be a huge difference from one Sierra to the next.

that is my exact train of thought. if two sierra 5s are both in spec, they should behave the exact same.

That is my experience.

Does anyone know if the cobalt kinetics OSS MD will work with the FLOW?

A little update here…

I took the Sierra 5 and the Griffin DL-5 out yesterday with a friend. I had her stand about 10-15 feet to my right and remove ear pro. Fired two shots from each host, and she told me that the host with the Sierra 5 was noticeably quieter at that position, but that they both sound pretty good.

And that’s about what I’d expect, given that the host has a 2” longer barrel, but when I was there by myself, they sounded very close, but I thought the DL-5 was a tiny bit quieter. Of course, there is a difference between standing 10-15 feet to the right of the gun, and firing the gun from a normal shooting position.

Obviously, to really do this comparison in a fair and accurate way, you’d have to put them on comparable hosts, if not the same gun.

They both seem like great cans, TBH, and for the DL-5 on a 10.5” barrel to be in the same universe as a Sierra 5 on a 12.5” is pretty impressive.

I’m also kind of getting used to the Dual Lok mount. I’m tempted to add a DL7 to my collection.

That's interesting. It makes sense intuitively. I never saw it explained like that.  

Today I brought all three out again and tested them against the Surefire RC2 556 and my new CGS Sci-Six.

The sci-six performs well. It is also relatively heavy, compared to the others. It isn’t terrible, but it is not in the mold of the Sierra, Flow 556k, and Dual Lok 5 either.

It is notable that the host I am running it on is a 12” barrel SBR with an Adams Arms short stroke piston operating system.

The RC2 is on basically the same host as the Sierra 5. Not the same gun exactly, but might as well be.

Under these non-equivalent conditions, the Sci-Six is the quietest. Maybe not unexpected, as it is probably the largest internal volume of all the cans.

The Sierra 5 and Griffin are very close at second and third quietest. The griffin sounds a hair quieter to me, but was louder to an onlooker. But the griffin is also mounted on what is probably the worst suppressor host of the bunch, ie the shortest barrel.

Just a comparison of internal volume (roughly), in cm2:

Surefire RC2: 183.73
DA Sierra 5: 176.87
Griffin DL5: 188.23
Huxwrx Flow 556k: 181.21 (this is likely an overestimate, because of the tapered top of the can. I’m just doing a simple volume of a cylinder calculation
CGS Sci-Six: 225 (again, likely an overestimate, due to the bottom part of the can being a smaller diameter)

You're not taking into account the internals? You might get a more accurate estimate by filling each with water (excluding the parts directly involved with mounting and the muzzle device volume) and measuring with a beaker.

Sure. It’s an imperfect measurement.

I'm seriously not trying to be an ass, but it isn't that it's imperfect, it's that it really isnt telling us anything we can't see from spec sheets. You've got some hot new cans and are in a unique position to produce new, interesting information we probably can't get anywhere else.

Have you thought of trying Tubb springs? They are also ideal for A5s, and perhaps worth trying on a host you feel could use a bit more of a tune over a Sprinco Green. If you've tried a Red and found it to be too much, a Tubb may be worth a shot.