I was baffled by the baffleless suppressor that’s currently being produced by Angstadt Arms. Okay, I’ll admit that’s not my joke, but the guy at the Angstadt Arms booth hit me with it. The Vanquish did seem somewhat confusing to me. I’m no suppressor expert, but I thought baffles were kind of a requirement.
Luckily, the folks at Angstadt Arms were willing to explain it to me, maybe more than once. Luckily, they had one on hand to take apart and explain to me. It bears mentioning that the Vanquish isn’t a traditional suppressor, but it’s a barrel for a 9mm AR-15 design. It doesn’t attach to the barrel’s end, but it replaces the barrel.
The Vanquish: Keeping It Quiet
With that said, Angstadt Arms is also producing a Vanquish rifle that will have the barrel and suppressor integrated into the firearm. This includes an SBR and a full-sized rifle, but there is no pistol variant in production.
The barrel that drops into the rifle is strategically vented to allow gas to escape from the bore. The gas escapes into the tube that wraps around the barrel. The tube that goes around the barrel is the NFA-registered component. Kinda like how the 80 lower is the SBR.
This design does two things. First, it does exactly what you expect from a suppressor and cuts the volume of the shot significantly.
Next, the venting barrel system reduces the speed of the projectile to the point where it’s subsonic. You can launch 115-grain projectiles. The Vanquish will render them subsonic. This same idea was integrated into the MP5SD decades ago.
The Vanquish does allow you to customize the venting system to reduce the amount of gas that’s venting. A set of set screws allows you to block some of the vents. Depending on the weight and speed of the round, you can block some venting to ensure it’s only reaching subsonic velocities and not reducing the velocity lower than necessary.
I think the Vanquish is a fascinating step forward for the AR community. As a fan of integrally suppressed weapons, I think the Vanquish is an interesting step in that direction.