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When I first moved to Austin, I pulled my SUV by the side of the road to take a call. Wearing sandals. At some point I looked down and saw a platoon of ants crawling across my toes. I started sweeping them away. Fire ant by name, fire ant by nature. I drove to Walgreens, grabbed some Caladryl and poured it on my foot, right there in the aisle. So, for me, “fire ant” are trigger words. Speaking of triggers . . .

If the Hearing Protection Act (HPA) ever gets to the President’s desk, removing the wait times, paperwork and $200 tax on silencers, it will, well, trigger a silencer gold rush the likes of which the firearms industry has never seen. Since the last time it saw one.

Meanwhile, the suppressor sector has followed the rest of the gun biz into the “I never wanted Hillary to win but…” doldrums. Which hasn’t stopped the flood of new products, or the jockeying for pre-HPA positioning. Here’s AMTAC’s latest entry for the rimfire market. Pardon me while I put on my cowboy boots.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -(Ammoland.com)- AMTAC Suppressors today announced the release of its latest suppressor designed for rimfire-caliber handguns and rifles, the Fire Ant.

The Fire Ant is one of the quietest rimfire suppressors on the market, achieving up to 36dB noise reduction. Its durability and performance make it an ideal addition to any handgun or rifle, enriching any shooting activity from plinking steel to varmint hunting to simply taking the family to the range.

Following the unique manufacturing process of AMTAC’s full-size suppressors, the Fire Ant’s baffle structure is cut from hardened stainless steel in a single operation and threads directly to the barrel. This monocore design increases accuracy, eliminates the potential of baffle strikes, and makes the suppressor durable enough to withstand a lifetime of use.

“Customers familiar with AMTAC’s reputation for quality and performance have been very vocal in requesting a solution for a rimfire suppressor” said Greg Ballash, AMTAC’s General Manager. “With the release of the Fire Ant, we’re providing shooters with one of the quietest and most durable products on the market at a price point that makes suppressor ownership realistic and attainable for every gun owner out there.

“We believe the backlog of ATF 41F is nearly behind us, and with our current Tax Stamp promotion, there really has never been a better time to get into the suppressor game” said Ballash.

The Fire Ant utilizes an end-mount design for attachment on rifles and handguns with a 1/2×28 thread. Thread adapters are available for firearms with non-standard or metric threads.

The four-piece design of the Fire Ant makes it easy to disassemble for servicing. A simple hex wrench can be used to dissemble when more detailed maintenance is required due to prolonged use without cleaning.

Full-auto rated, the suppressor is compatible with .22LR, .22WMR, .22 Hornet, .22Mag, .17WSM, .17HMR and 5.7×28, and like all AMTAC Suppressors, is backed up by a lifetime warranty.

To learn more about the Fire Ant, visit their website.

About AMTAC:

AMTAC builds suppressors to meet the needs of the most demanding users—durability, accuracy, and innovative design that integrates seamlessly into your weapon system and backed by a lifetime warranty. Born at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, in the same state-of-the-art facility that serves the Department of Defense, Bell, ATK, Northrop Grumman, SpaceX and others, AMTAC is fueled by some of the most experienced engineers, designers and shooters in the game.

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23 COMMENTS

  1. Happened my first day in Georgia, and I’ve not been outside barefoot since. But some other invasive ant has pretty well wiped them out around here… which is good, I guess.

    • I learned the lesson about fire ants pretty quickly when I lived in FL for six years. We don’t have those nasty guys here in the NW.

  2. I had a very similar sandals-and-fire ants encounter when I took a summer weekend stroll into a beautiful bamboo grove growing out of the sandy soil of coastal Georgia. I was happily lost in the breezy rustling of all those thin little leaves, when I felt a weird, mildly distracting twinge of pain on one of my feet. Then another. And another, and another, then more and more, the intensity of the pain growing exponentially by the second.

    Looking down to see what was wrong, I realized that the clearing I’d wandered into was crawling wall-to-wall with the little red bastards. I hot-footed it (literally) out of there, trying to shake them off my feet as hard as I could.

    That was the beginning of one miserable weekend. I gave up my sandal habit as soon as I got back home.

    Oh… nice looking suppressor.

  3. “Since the last time it saw one.” I just loved that.

    “Pardon me while I put on my cowboy boots.” Just wait until the fire ants get inside those. I still remember the time when I was a little kid and they didn’t start biting until they were all in my clothes.

    • It says that it’s a rimfire supressor yet it’s rated for 5.7. The .22 TCM is pretty close to the 5.7, I wonder if it’s good to go with that too.

  4. 36dB is pretty good. Like to see those #’s creeping up.

    Hoping for the HUSH / SHUSH / HPA to come by Christmas.

    I call my Senator (who I like) and tell him to tell his colleagues that Trump said drain the swamp and I’m ready to help the President.

    Let’s have some hassle free gun fire for a change.

    END

    THE

    OPPRESSION

    OVER

    SUPPRESSION

  5. My intro was during my second day of college in New Orleans, playing football on the quad outside the dorm. I’d never seen one before, being a Yankee from Chicago. Luckily, I only suffered a couple of bites, and had one the southerners explain to me what they were and to stay well clear. I also learned that when you play in the Louisiana mud after a rain storm, it will NEVER come out of your clothes!

    As to the silencer, that’d be nice, but “they” won’t let me have a silencer much less a threaded barrel to screw it on to.

  6. “36dB is pretty good. Like to see those #’s creeping up.”

    They can ‘claim’ all they want.

    I’d rather see some independent numbers.

    Has TTAG considered dropping the coin for a decent DB meter?

    It doesn’t have to be Brüel & Kjær, just enough dynamic range to get the job done…

  7. 12 years old I double stomped a massive fire ant mount and instantly regretted my decision (it was the biggest hill I’ve seen to date) I had never seen or heard of them before, I ran around like a maniac and finally got them all off using a hose bib which coincidentally had a yellow jacket nest (7 stings later). I got ice cream for a whole week! Btw your banner that pops up is so bad guys im not even joking it makes your site extremely frustrating

  8. I cut open a bale of hay and grabbed a couple of flakes out of the middle, half awake at 4am in a dim feed room when I was 17. Woke up in a hurry when the first fire ant bit me and I looked down to see my forearms covered in ants.

  9. Fire ants don’t bother me as much as the big red ants they replaced/ran off here in North Texas. Those big red bastards would make me sick as a dog for several days after a single bite/sting. The only thing I miss about the big reds are the horned frogs who used to live off of them. Damned fire ants ran them off as well.

  10. I have no idea whether this works universally for everybody, but it sure works for me. Rub a fresh cut slice of lime or lemon on the fire ant bite. For me, the pain ceases at once – and I mean less than two seconds – and there are no aftereffects. None. May it work for you if you get bitten.

    • Most ant bites have formic acid in them.
      Fire ants, however, are made up of proteins and alkaloids. The acid in the lemon/lime juice is denaturing (breaking down) the proteins in the venom, reducing the allergic reaction.
      Not quite sure what it would be doing to the alkaloids.

      For wasp bites, kitchen meat tenderizer powder, mixed into a paste with water, and applied to the bite works very well.
      Since meat tenderizer degrades proteins, it would probably work well for fire ant bites, too.

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