There are those who view .45 ACP as the “one true caliber.” It goes by many names: “forty five,” “Browning’s bullet,” “Manstopper.” Some even claim that it’s accurate to rediculous distances, such as 600 yards. It does have one small issue — it’s loud as shit. Thankfully, Advanced Armament Corp. has a solution. And it comes in two flavors, “long” and “short.”
As a preface, I just wanted to emphasize that this is not a “full” review of this product. Here at TTAG we usually reserve judgment until we’ve put a couple hundred rounds through something and tried it out in different conditions. Unfortunately the BATFE here in the U.S. prevents us from getting our hands on silencers for protracted testing unless we go through months of waiting, spend $200 per transfer, and live in certain states. It’s impractical. Luckily I recently had a chance to visit the Advanced Armament Corp. factory and test all of their cans under their supervision. While the tests may not have been as complete as I want, they were good enough for a brief review.
Oddly enough, the Ti-RANT 45 and 45 S are similar to the Ti-RANT 9 I reviewed earlier this week. They’re designed almost identically, one simply larger than the other. They look the same, function the same, and even have the same seemingly complicated A.S.A.P. system (which allows semi-automatic pistols to cycle with the silencer attached). But do they get the sound of the gun firing to the same “hearing safe” levels?
The silencer goes on at about 3:52 in this video, skip ahead if you don’t care about the 9mm offerings. The fact of the matter is yes, the Ti-RANT 45 gets the sound of the .45 round going off to hearing safe levels. It’s not completely silent, but it’s quiet enough to not damage your ears. Compared to the 9mm, however, it was most definitely louder. Not uncomfortable, but your friend with a 9mm and a can is going to be laughing at your loudness.
When wet, the game changes a little bit. And by a little bit, I mean almost completely. AAC claims a whopping 41 decibel reduction in noise and I completely believe it. I would happily shoot that can wet all day long, and it would be about neck and neck with the 9mm (dry, that is) in terms of noise. To be honest, I was blown away.
When I was interviewing Kevin (an interview I hope to have transcribed from the audio recording I made Monday-ish) he talked a little about how different customers want different things from their silencers. Civilians, for example, prize sound suppression above all else. They don’t particularly care if it’s clunky, they just want it to be whisper quiet.
The Ti-RANT 45 S was initially designed for the military, who had different ideas about the perfect silencer. For them, all that mattered was that the silencer was short. Their rationale was that this was going on a secondary weapon system, and if they had to go to this then they were already in some deep shit. And while going unsuppressed would make the pistol even shorter, they still wanted the ability to mask their position a little bit. The difference is drastic. With the longer can the .45 was comfortably quiet, something you could shoot all day long.
With the shorter can that’s not so much the case. The best way I can describe it is “just this side of uncomfortable.” To be honest, my ears were ringing just a little bit after firing a few rounds through it. So while it works well enough to shoot without earplugs, if you’re looking for a gun that you can giggle a little bit at how quiet it is this probably isn’t it.
When wet the situation improves, but not a whole lot. The 45 S, when wet, is ALMOST as quiet as the 45 when dry. Personally, I’d gladly trade the extra weight and length for that extra noise reduction, especially since the things cost exactly the same amount of money.
The Ti-RANT 45 and 45 S are both functioning silencers that drop the ungodly racket of a .45 ACP pistol to a manageable murmur. If you want something that you can impress your friends with how quiet it is, get something in rimfire. But if the Manstopper is calling your name you’re going to want one of these.
Ti-RANT 45 / 45 S – .45 ACP Silencer
Length: 8.74″ / 6.42″
Weight: 11.5 oz / 9.2 oz
Diameter: 1.38″
Sound Reduction: 30 — 41 dB / 18 — 28.5 (dry/wet)
MSRP: $850
Ratings (out of 5):
Sound Suppression: * * * * (*) / * * * (*)
Obviously bigger is better.
Build Quality: * * * * *
It feels solid, and looked pretty damned good to me. Then again, I only had about 20 minutes to play with it.
Ease of Use: * * *
That A.S.A.P. system looks like a bitch and a half to clean, and the reason that I dropped a couple of stars. Plus, threading the thing onto your pistol takes some rearwards pressure (which I couldn’t figure out on my own). Other than that it’s easy as pie to use. Just like the other Ti-RANT.
Overall Rating: * * * * / * * *
Like I said in the body of the review, this isn’t a silencer that you’re going to buy because it’s impressively quiet — this is a silencer you’re going to buy because you’re an aficionado of the 45 variety. If you accept no substitutes, accept no substitutes.
(Pictures courtesy Advanced Armament Co.)
Does increasing the diameter of the can not provide any benefit?
The 9 and 45 and their ‘s’ counterparts are all 1.38″ diameter tubes. You can only increase a tube diameter so much before it blocks the taller suppressor sights, which is why some other companies go the non-cylindrical approach to get more internal volume. IIRC Ti-rant and Osprey are the only hearing safe .45 cans (for pistols) in existence.
If you increase the diameter of a cylindrical can, it blocks the (already taller) sights and makes it impossible to aim.
.45s are easier to shoot suppressed, since no .45 ACP rounds go supersonic. Standard 9mms are all supersonic, so you have to shoot special (wimpy) 9mm ‘Subsonic’ ammo if you want to use a suppressor effectively.
Rule number 1 anyone?
How was the blow back? My first experience with a suppressed semi-auto left me glad that I hadn’t dropped the cash on one. The amount of blowback due to the increased pressure took all the fun out of shooting it.
Blowback exists.
When shooting wet there’s a nice fine mist of lukewarm water and nasty soot that flies out of the breech. But that happens with 9mm as well.
When dry, it’s not really all that noticeable. Again it exists, but to me it didn’t degrade the experience at all.
Do they make a model that fits Magoo?
Hey Nick, quick question. I was looking at AAC’s site and they claim there are multiple pistons so that you can use this suppressor on differing guns and even smaller calibers down to 9mm. I was curious if these things were in the box and come with it when you buy it. I can’t find information on what exactly ships with the suppressor, just things that can be added that may or may not be in the box.
Can you inventory what exactly is in the box with the TiRant .45 Suppressor?
I just sent my papers in,and already I am very anxious to have it,but I expect a wait of a couple months or more.My neighbor’s won’t even know I am giving a CCW class. Have a ti-rant 45 on order for my Glock 21, It won’t get here soon enough.
In reply to your question about what comes withy the suppressor,The Ti-rand 45 comes with canvas case and the tool to take the suppressor apart,Don’t know about other makes
One Ti-RANT, one piston. You can buy varieties other than the type that comes with the can for about $80 a piece.
Funny you mention the Desert Eagle hitting you in the head with the casing. I was shooting my DE50W and it actually through a piece back so hard that it cut my eye brow. It launches the brass way back when you shoot it. My FNX-45 tactical had the same issue with cycling the first round as you did with my Osprey attached.