Earlier this month I made a trip up to SilencerCo’s HQ outside of Salt Lake City, Utah to tour their manufacturing facility and see their brand new silencer, the Scythe-Ti. This is the first all-titanium suppressor from SilencerCo, and my initial experience with it was extremely positive.
I walked their shop floor almost exactly five years ago, and man has it grown. There’s effectively no room for more machines and the whole space is arranged very efficiently and cleanly.
The absolutely massive manufacturing floor is full of extremely high-tech CNC milling centers, lathes, pallet switching machines, scrap recycling facilities, raw materials processing equipment, and much more.
As part of the Scythe-Ti launch SilencerCo has even installed a brand new anodizing line specifically for titanium, which was pretty darn nice and modern. They do all of their aluminum anodizing and some other metal finishing, lasering, Cerakoting, and more in-house as well.
Downstairs is the realm of “Beaver” who does all of SilencerCo’s function testing and dB metering and such. They keep a very impressive armory on hand in order to test their products on all sorts of different firearms in all sorts of different calibers. You’re seeing maybe one-third or less of all of it in the photo above.
Yes, I’ll take this 9mm rifle, please!
And one of these while we’re at it. Just add it to my tab.
On the downside, the urinals were absolutely horrible and blew a huge mess everywhere.
Then it was off to the range. I’ve been to a handful of launch events for new silencers, and this was, by far, the best for what I went there to actually get out of it: hands-on time with the product.
SilencerCo set up nine shooting stations at the base of a mountain. Each station had a different style of firearm in a different chambering, but all had a Scythe-Ti mounted on the business end.
By shooting at every station I was able to hear and feel the Scythe-Ti on 5.56, 300 BLK, .308 WIN, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, and more through both semi-auto and bolt-action firearms with different barrel lengths and operating systems. It was great.
Being outside with a high-quality suppressor meant I was comfortable without hearing protection on my head (it’s installed on the front of the gun) and I was able to get a good sense of the silencer.
This is only an initial impressions report rather than a full review (that will follow soon). But in my brief experience this is absolutely a top-performing silencer in terms of sound suppression performance and pleasing tone. Some titanium suppressors can tend to have a higher-pitched, tinny sound compared to steel suppressors, but that wasn’t the case here. The Scythe-Ti sounds very solid.
Though it’s a .30 caliber suppressor rated for use on everything up to and including 300 Remington Ultra Magnum, it sounded really good on .223/5.56 as well. That’s often the case — but not always — and the Scythe-Ti didn’t disappoint.
On subsonic 300 Blackout it was silly-quiet. Full-on Hollywood stuff. It sounded really good on .308 WIN and 6.5 CM as well.
This super-shorty SIG Rattler was the only gun on which I noticed any gas blowback, but that’s a gassy gun even when unsuppressed. That stubby little 5.5-inch barrel requires a big ol’ gas port in order to operate the action before the bullet exits and the pressure drops.
Outside of that specific setup, I was impressed with the Scythe-Ti’s design, which clearly helps move gas pressure out the front of the silencer efficiently. It’s noticeably less gassy than a suppressor with traditionally-designed baffles.
Front caps are swappable with the rest of SilencerCo’s Bravo line, but the included Single-Port Anchor Brake is pretty darn slick.
A fully-welded, tubeless design, perhaps the most impressive stat on the Scythe-Ti is its weight. The darn thing weighs only 7.3 ounces. It barely feels real. Plug the ends and it’ll float.
It’s also only 6.16 inches long. It’s one of the lightest and most compact .30 cal silencers ever. And, if memory serves, that’s with the included 5/8×24 titanium direct thread mount.
Speaking of mounts, the base of the Scythe-Ti is compatible with SilencerCo Bravo series mounting options, which means it’s threded in the now-industry-standard HUB 1.375×24 TPI size. Right off the bat this opens up scores or maybe hundreds of mounts from dozens of manufacturers, should you want to use your new SilencerCo can with mounting systems you already own.
The Scythe-Ti includes a radial tool (for the mount and Anchor Brake), a Bravo tool, and a basic tool in addition to the fixed thread mount and the Single-Port Anchor Brake.
With its precise laser welds and its oil-rubbed, Type II anodize finish, plus its larger-than-average 1.73-inch diameter, I also find the Scythe-Ti to be a very good-looking silencer (if that’s important).
Kamas, Utah was likewise good-looking and provided a nice, if brief, break from the oppressive Texas heat this summer.
TTAG has a loaner Scythe-Ti on the way and we’ll be sure to shoot it side-by-side with a few other suppressors for a thorough review. That said, I’ve a lot of trigger time behind a lot of suppressed guns, and I’m quite confident in stating that I’m a massive fan of the SilencerCo Scythe-Ti.
While, as with any titanium silencer, you don’t want to heat it up beyond 800 degrees, this covers most sporting use cases from targeting shooting to hunting to self-defense. It isn’t a silencer you’d buy for longer firing cycles on semi-auto firearms and it isn’t rated for full-auto use, of course, but a well-made, modern, titanium silencer can handle a lot more than some people think.
The Scythe-Ti has no barrel length restrictions and is rated for up to 300 RUM. It sounds absolutely fantastic, weighs next to nothing, is one of the shorter .30 cal/7.62 suppressors on the market, seems to be of an efficient baffle design in terms of gas flow, and it looks good to boot. So far, my hands-on impression is that it’s a top performance and a top choice.
MSRP is $1,174 (via SilencerCo’s site). Expect to save about two hundred big ones by ordering one through the experts at Silencer Shop.
Looks interesting, but if it was just a scosh bigger in bore for 9mm, they’d sell a lot more…
Anyone still buy a silencer without a pew-science test report first?
Of course they do. They have a loyal following, but it’s still a small niche thing within the silencer market, so the vast, overwhelming majority of people are choosing a silencer without referring to Pew Science. Even for those who know if it, it’s one data point among many. I find great value in those reports and data but it’s also a bit of a black box in terms of what’s actually happening in the testing. And it’s expensive to have it done. Valuable, but expensive and an unknown entity that cannot be verified. I understand why some manufacturers are hesitant.
At the same time, dB metering data doesn’t always align with what sounds better to human ears. I don’t think Pew’s data does, either. I think you’ll almost always be happiest with the suppressor that delivers known-to-be-sufficient sound suppression performance but precisely meets your preferences on size, weight, duty cycle requirements, mounting system, gas management, maybe warranty, etc. I believe all of those things are much more important than chasing sound suppression. Everyone starts out in this game selecting one silencer over another because it has a slight edge in the data, and then they realize that the other factors I mentioned are actually a lot more meaningful. Where I’m usually at in choosing a silencer for myself these days is a simple yes/no checkbox on if it’s “hearing safe” how I intend to use it, and if that’s a yes then I literally do not care how it stacks up to other silencers on sound suppression unless it’s also competitive on the other things I mentioned.
FYI I’m excited about this SiCo can because it does so much so very well. It really nails its niche. The sound suppression performance given its size and weight (or just in general) is incredible. I could easily see having this one for “sporting use” and something else for hard use and feeling fully equipped for all rifle scenarios.
A Pew report is really nothing to rely on overall as there is no such thing actually as a “hearing safe” suppressor.
“Hearing Safe” has never been actually defined ‘scientifically in terms of hearing damage or safety’ for a suppressor its self. Its only been ‘defined’ by Pew based upon their own methodology which basically goes with a ‘sounds quieter’ vs ‘sounds louder’ foundation and uses a ‘positive-to-negative phase oscillatory events’ concept using The Auditory Hazard Assessment Algorithm for Humans (AHAAH). The AHAAH ‘model’ is an electro-acoustic analytical model of the human ear which was intended for (testing) protected hearing (based upon cochlear energy) only as in, ya got it, not the source of the noise (the suppressor) but rather protection after the source of the noise or in other words hearing protection in the form of, for example, ear muffs or other protection like that.
Not that the AHAAH can’t be used as a ‘measurement’ ‘tool’ though, and Pew tries to use a scientific methodology so its not completely useless.
But although Pew says/indicates it may be ‘quieter’ it does not mean its actually ‘hearing safe’. Energy is a complex thing, for hearing its not enough to say the sound was reduced by a certain level or it sounds ‘quieter’ or even that ‘doesn’t seem to affect my hearing’ thing some people say nor even that “I can hear the action cycle with this suppressor that’s how quiet it is”. And especially do not trust the dB rating from any suppressor manufacturer as a ‘gauge’ to determine actual hearing safety. There can be dB reduction towards ‘sounding quieter’ and sometimes even ‘more safe’ in terms of hearing damage (if its not a repeated prolonged exposure) … but a suppressor dB (reduction) rating does not tell the whole story of the energy involved and its the energy involved that damages hearing and not what you ‘hear’ or don’t ‘hear’.
Wear hearing protection when using a suppressor, even with a (supposed) ‘hearing safe’ suppressor.
This. IIRC, years ago TTAG posted an article written by a deaf person who wanted to prove something by shooting a magnum indoors w/o ear pro. The concussion wave f’d up his inner ear – he was immediately on the floor in pain & had nausea & balance issues for weeks after.
I was in a defense situation a few years back. I’ve told about it here before so I wont go into all the details now, but basically, I had to rescue my wife from two armed abductors/rapist who were trying to abduct her to rape and murder her. Anyway, one armed with a knife the other a gun – they saw me coming from across the enclosed parking lot so a lot of fire and maneuver on my part to get to her as the one with the gun engaged me and I fired on both of them to keep them away from my wife who had managed to break free but was trapped between them.
Ended up taking both of them down and saving her. But every time I fired in that ~30 long yards of fire-n-maneuver under fire and advancing on them, that sound energy in that enclosed parking area structure hit me then hit me again bouncing back off the concrete walls. Then as I got closer the bad guy firing had its worse sound energy effects too. It hurt, it was excruciatingly painful but I had to keep going – and it damaged my hearing. But basically; It was weeks before I could hear anything clearly overall, and still today I have tinnitus and a loss of hearing in certain frequency ranges. The doctor told me that as I get older the damage is going to take more of a toll and I might lose more of my hearing. But it was worth it to save her.
@ Jeremy
I blew Mountain Dew through my nose when I read your comment regarding the urinals…I’m still chuckling.
You are evil!!
Looks good. What about cleaning?
PS: I too LOL at the issues with the darn urinals.
Jeff, I mostly piss off the porch and never sit down to do it. Doesn’t bother me.
Postscript:
I want the 1/3rd wall that you photographed – you can have the other 2/3rds sight unseen.
“While, as with any titanium silencer, you don’t want to heat it up beyond 800 degrees,…”
Whoa, what?
Ti has a MP of over 3,000 F, and it’s useless above less than 3X of that???
Yeah. There’s a lot that happens to most metals way way way way way before they approach their melting points. Strength, softness or ductility or whatever, abrasion resistance, etc. That’s why blacksmiths heat metal up to move it, because it doesn’t do anything at room temperature but if they overheat it they can completely ruin it, despite all of these things happening at a fraction of the melting point.
@Geoff “I’m getting too old for this shit”
“Ti has a MP of over 3,000 F, and it’s useless above less than 3X of that???”
melting point (MP) is different from service temp (ST).
I think Jeremy left out that its 800 Celsius (C) degrees, and just the ‘800’ alone implied Fahrenheit (F) degrees to some. But maybe not, but if he did…
Titanium its self has an MP temperature close to 1670 deg C (3038 F) which is over 3,000 F as you pointed out. Most titanium alloys have a maximum ST of 600 deg C (1112 F). Titanium its self has an ST of around 800 C (1472 F), that’s why you don’t want to heat it up beyond 800 C as to do so exceeds the ST which is the temp beyond which ‘performance and reliability’ can decrease (even though most times in common uses if its a very short and not repeated or prolonged heat rise above the ST ‘performance and reliability’ tends to remain more intact) – so its correct that you do not want to heat it beyond ‘800 degrees’ Celsius (C) if its all Titanium and not an alloy and if it is a Titanium alloy you don’t want to heat it beyond 600 deg C (for most Titanium alloys).
No, I meant 800* F. In a firearm application where the suppressor is being blasted by high temperature, high pressure gas and debris, which is often traveling at supersonic speeds, erosion is a big concern far before tensile strength or other things start happening. Titanium baffles begin to erode somewhere around the 800* F mark. There’s oxidation and other things that’ll happen at those temperatures also. But you’ll start wearing away the baffles from the muzzle blast far before (probably 1,000* before) you begin to worry about tensile strength of the suppressor.
To be clear, this isn’t much of a limiting factor as you still have to shoot the thing pretty darn hard to reach these sorts of temperatures and it’s beyond what most people do during recreational, sporting, or defensive shooting. Quality Ti is a good material for a silencer and it holds up well as long as you stay within its limitations, which are mostly temperature-related due mostly to baffle erosion at elevated temperatures.
“No, I meant 800* F.”
“Titanium baffles begin to erode somewhere around the 800* F mark.”
Ok….
erode at 800 F? You sure?
Can’t erode at 800 F if its actually really only Titanium. I think the term of what you are looking for here is really ‘brittleness’.
Titanium doesn’t begin reacting with oxygen until it reaches 1,200 °C (2,190 °F) in air, and at 610 °C (1,130 °F) in pure oxygen (pure oxygen is present for a brief time in weapons fire gases, and air is present also with oxygen in it, in which case titanium dioxide would be formed at 1,130 °F and above). And all the other components of weapon fire gasses, if its really only Titanium, don’t react with it at temps lower than 1,200 °C (2,190 °F) except for nitrogen gases (produced for a brief time in weapons fire gases) which reacts with Titanium at 800 °C (1,470 °F) to form titanium nitride. If there is no titanium dioxide or titanium nitride formed it means there was no erosion of the Titanium in the suppressor due to heat, these form at above 800 °F and if you took the suppressor apart after a few rounds fired you would notice this material because the suppressor would be full of it either in a power form or as a deposited ‘fused’ coating on the baffles and the suppressor interior in other words you would really really notice it and it would be different from any carbon fouling.
Sure there may be something that looks ‘erosion like’ in terms of being battered by the gases and particles combined with temps but this is an effect of brittleness of the material and not erosion of the material. If its that brittle to be have an ‘erosion like’ effect at 800 ° F it means its not all Titanium but rather a Titanium alloy or an ‘adulterated’ Titanium.
So yes, at 800 ° F there can be what looks ‘erosion like’ in terms of being battered by the gases and particles combined with temps but this is an effect of brittleness of the Titanium if it happens at 800 ° F (‘brittle’ means ‘small pieces’ are actually breaking off it and not eroding away) and not erosion of the material due to temp at 800 ° F if its really all Titanium.
But its claiming to be really all Titanium, and you are saying ‘erosion’ happens at 800 F … so is it not really all Titanium ?
1200 degrees where? Temp is usually measured on the outside of the tube, but that blast baffle is getting significantly hotter, significantly faster. Blast baffle erosion is a known issue among titanium cans with any kind of a rapid firing cycle, hence a lot of manufacturers using stellite or simlilar for the blast baffle.
This looks great. No no barrel length restrictions means they have a lot of confidence in it. Thanks for mentioning the gas blowback or lack thereof.
I don’t shoot suppressed, but if I did, I’d use hearing protection with supersonic rounds unless it was a spur of the moment defensive action where time was of the essence. You never know how much damage you are doing until it’s too late.
Screw silencerco! I’ll never buy another product from them. I had product malfunction on an omega. Even though they have “lifetime warranty” and a one time “stupid” fix they told me to kick rocks. Said best they could do is half off a new one and new stamp and wait 8 months. Some customer service! Thanks but Dead Air here I come.
SilencerCo did me exceptionally right on an old can that was purchased from a company they bought out back in the early 2k’s. And more recent purchases have been very satisfying.
Now when I purchase they get a def preference.
Apparently your mileage varied. But I’d be curious to hear the other side of the story.
Hmm. Imagine how light they could have made it if hey limited it to .308 or 6.5 Creedmoor.
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